Eomer
Encyclopedia
Eomer also spelt Eomær, was (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
) the great-great-grandfather of Creoda
, the first King of Mercia
. He is considered the ancestor to the Kings of Mercia. Eomer himself was the son of Angeltheow
. Eomer's son was Icel
.
He is mentioned in lines 1958-1963 of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf
as the son of Offa of Angel
and grandson of Garmund
.
His name may have been the basis for the name of the fictional character
Éomer
, as J. R. R. Tolkien
was an avid student of the history and language of Mercia
, and based many of the names of Rohan
on Mercian examples.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
) the great-great-grandfather of Creoda
Creoda of Mercia
Creoda was the first monarch of Mercia, reigning from 584 to 593.Creoda is recorded as having been the son of Cynewald, the grandson of Cnebba, and the great-grandson of Icel; consequently, members of the Mercian royal line were known as Iclingas...
, the first King of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. He is considered the ancestor to the Kings of Mercia. Eomer himself was the son of Angeltheow
Angeltheow
Angeltheow, also spelled Angletheow, Engengenthe, or Angenwit was the great-great-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia and the son of Offa of Angel.Angeltheow's son was Eomer...
. Eomer's son was Icel
Icel (person)
Icel was an early king of Mercia, according to an eighth-century life of St Guthlac. Early genealogies record him as the great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia and the son of Eomer, last King of the Angles in Angeln. Icel led his people across the North Sea to Britain, and gave his name to the...
.
He is mentioned in lines 1958-1963 of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
as the son of Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
and grandson of Garmund
Wermund
Wermund or Garmund is an ancestor of the Mercian royal family, a son of Wihtlaeg and father of Offa. Mythology claims him to be a grandson of Woden, but the Danish histories written by Saxo Grammaticus disagree with this concept....
.
|
|
His name may have been the basis for the name of the fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
Éomer
Éomer
Éomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the second and third volumes of Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings....
, as J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
was an avid student of the history and language of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
, and based many of the names of Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
on Mercian examples.