Éomer

Scholars have noted that while in a book the imagery remains ambiguous, and can combine suggestions of Gothic as well as Anglo-Saxon origins, film such as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy inevitably has to choose.

Aragorn arrives unexpectedly from Pelargir, and joins forces with Éomer, fulfilling his prediction that they would meet in the midst of their enemies.

[2] The name Éomer, meaning "Horse-famous" in Old English,[3] occurs in Beowulf, at line 1959, as that of a king descended from Offa of Mercia.

[6] The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey contrasts Éomer's behaviour with that of Faramir, son of the Ruling Steward of Gondor.

In his view, Faramir is courteous, urbane, and civilised where Éomer is "compulsively truculent",[7] in both cases reflecting the character of their nations: Gondor "a kind of Rome",[7] subtle and calculating, Rohan a simple but vigorous Anglo-Saxon society.

[8] Shippey writes further that prominent at the critical moment of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the decisive charge of the Riders of Rohan, is panache, which he explains means both "the white horsetail on [Eomer's] helm floating in his speed" and "the virtue of sudden onset, the dash that sweeps away resistance.

[10] In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Éomer was played by the New Zealand actor Karl Urban.

Éomer's crest of horsetail, and the riders' flaxen hair give the impression of "continental Gothic" rather than Anglo-Saxons, but the film collapses that ambiguity.

Drout writes that this carries the suggestion of "veiling and Orientalism", whereas Éomer's face can be seen between his cheek-guards, making him seem more open and less threatening.