Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the Mark or the Riddermark, names recalling that of the historical kingdom of Mercia, the region of Western England where Tolkien lived.
Tolkien stated that there was no link between Rohan and the noble family of Brittany, though he borrowed the name. Stained-glass window depicting Marguerite de Rohan (c. 1330–1406)
Mead hall at Borg, Norway
The Uffington White Horse, from where according to the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey the emblem of the House of Éorl – a "white horse upon green" – is derived.
Anglo-Saxon arms and chainmail armour
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction, Man and Men denote humans, whether male or female, in contrast to Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and other humanoid races.
Men are described as the second or younger people, created after the Elves, and differing from them in being mortal. Along with Ents and Dwarves, these are the "free peoples" of Middle-earth, differing from the enslaved peoples such as Orcs.
Tolkien modelled the Rohirrim, the Riders of Rohan, on the Anglo-Saxons (here in an 11th-century illustration).
The Variags of Khand are named for the Varangians, medieval Germanic mercenaries. Painting by Viktor Vasnetsov
A sword fit for a hero: Andúril, "Flame of the West" is forged anew, "for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor".
