Overview
Théoden’s renewal under Gandalf’s hand is one of the story’s great images of recovering will. He dies as he wished, in battle, having led his riders to the relief of Gondor.
Relationships
Places
LocationEdoras
The capital of Rohan, its golden hall Meduseld standing on a green hill below the White Mountains.
LocationHelm’s Deep
The fortress of the Hornburg in the valley behind the Deeping Wall, scene of Rohan’s greatest defensive battle.
LocationThe Pelennor Fields
The fertile plain before Minas Tirith, site of the great battle that broke Sauron’s western army.
In the histories
Sources
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
Related entries
CharacterÉomer
Théoden’s nephew, a marshal of Rohan who becomes king after the war.
Éowyn
Théoden’s niece, who defied the prohibition on women going to war and slew the Witch-king at the Pelennor.
CharacterGríma Wormtongue
Théoden’s treacherous counsellor, secretly in Saruman’s service.
CharacterGandalf
A Wizard of the Istari, keeper of the Elven-ring Narya, and the chief architect of the resistance to Sauron.