Rohirric

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In the fictional world of Middle-earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Rohirric (also Rohirian and Rohanese, see below) is the language of the Rohirrim of Rohan.

In the novels it is always represented by Old English. This is because Tolkien saw the relationship between Rohirric and the Common Speech to be the same as that of Old English and Modern English, which was used to represent Westron. Only a few actual Rohirric words are given by Tolkien: kûd-dûkan, an old word meaning "hole-dweller" which led to kuduk, the name the Hobbits had for themselves. Even these terms were translated in the book: "hobbit" is said to derive from the Old English word holbytla, or hole-builder.

The only other Rohirric given is the element "lô–"/"loh–" corresponding to Anglo-Saxon "éo", horse, and the derived names Lôgrad for Horse-Mark, and Lohtûr for Éothéod, horse-people, or horse-land. Coincidentally, the Rohirric word for horse is an exact homonym of the Hungarian word for horse, ló. [1]

All names beginning with Éo– are actually names beginning with Lô– or Loh–, but the real forms of Éomer, Éowyn etc. are not given. Only one proper name is given, that of Théoden: the actual form was Tûrac, which shows that Rohirric had adopted the Sindarin element "tur–" also present in names like Turgon, with meaning power/mastery (i.e. King).

The languages of the Kingdom of Rhovanion, Esgaroth and Dale (often called Dalish or Dale-ish) were related to Rohirric.

[edit] Rohirric, Rohirian, or Rohanese?

While Tolkien referred to the language of the Rohirrim as "Rohan" or "Rohanese", the term "Rohirric", coined by Robert Foster, the author of The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, is far more commonly used. "Rohirian" is an alternative form that would parallel forms like "Telerian" (for the language of the Teleri) that were used by Tolkien.