Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: the Rohirrim. As personified most clearly by three key members of its royal family – the elderly but reenergized king Théoden, his passionate, driven niece Éowyn and his equally loyal and fearless nephew Éomer – the people of Rohan come across in The Lord of the Rings as a noble people, proud but warm-hearted, willing allies to both surviving members of the Fellowship after its breaking and to their long-time geopolitical partner Gondor, whose Stewards long ago gave the land that became their kingdom to them. Yet more than once in the narrative there are signs that this was not a universally welcome situation to other peoples of the area, as well as moments that seem to suggest a casual cruelty – or much worse – at the heart of the Riddermark in its history, something further underlined by the short history of the nation Tolkien created for the book’s appendices. With a key story from that short history soon to be dramatized via the anime production The War of the Rohirrim later this year, a look into these complexities is well worth considering. What are the possible connections to Tolkien’s own understanding of imperialism and colonialism, both as he directly experienced it and in the larger context of his legendarium? How do the jarring moments that suggest something darker in Rohan’s ruling elite and its soldiers play out across the centuries, and is there a wider complicity with attitudes that adaptations like Peter Jackson’s put more to the fore? What kind of possible wish fulfillment was Tolkien looking for in creating the Rohirrim, as he discussed it himself in his letters and other conversations? And just how wound up is Helm anyway if he can kill someone with one punch?