Fréaláf probably derives from the Old English for 'last surviving lord' (Fréaláf was the only survivor of Eorl's line in his own time); the surname Hildeson simply means 'son of Hild' (emphasising that he was not the direct heir of Helm)
The nephew of Helm Hammerhand, who survived the privations of the Long Winter in Helm's Deep after Rohan had been overrun by the Dunlendings. In the spring after the Winter, Helm having been lost, Fréaláf led a daring raid on captured Edoras and succeeded in reclaiming it, ultimately driving the Dunlendings from Rohan altogether. At Fréaláf's coronation, the WizardSaruman appeared, and StewardBeren of Gondor, with Fréaláf's approval, granted him Isengard to dwell in. Fréaláf was the tenth King of Rohan, and the first of the Second Line. He ruled the Rohirrim for thirty-nine years, and was succeeded by his son, Brytta Léofa.
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