The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Founded III 2510; still extant during the Fourth Age
Location
North of Gondor
Race
Culture
Settlements
The chief city of the Mark was Edoras; other notable settlements and fortifications include the former capital Aldburg, Dunharrow, Grimslade, the Hornburg, Underharrow and Upbourn
Meaning
'Borderland',1 a contraction of 'Riddermark', 'borderland of the Riders'
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 17 October 2014
  • Updates planned: 1

The Mark

The name among the Rohirrim for their own land

Map of the Mark

A shortening of Riddermark, the common name for the land of Rohan among the Rohirrim themselves.


Notes

1

The word 'Mark' comes from Old English mearc, which would presumably have been the form familiar to the Rohirrim themselves. It signifies a borderland, especially a land that protected the heartland of another realm (as the Mark of Rohan did Gondor). The name is cognate with 'Mercia', the name of an old Anglo-Saxon kingdom in central England, and also appears, for example, in 'Denmark', the 'borderland of the Danes'.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 17 October 2014
  • Updates planned: 1

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