Riddermark means "land of the knights", derived from the Old English compound Riddena-mearc ("riders' mark" or "The Territory of the Knights"). Mark here is used in the sense of "borderland, especially one serving as a defence of the inner lands of a realm". The original untranslated Rohirric term of the country was Lōgrad.
Sindarin
rohan
place name. Riddermark, (lit.) Horse-country
Cognates
- Roh. Riddena-mearc “Riddermark” ✧ LotRI/Rohan
- Wes. Lôgrad “Horse-mark” ✧ PM/053
Derivations
- S. Rochand “Rohan, Horse-country” ✧ Let/178; Let/382; LotR/1115; PM/053; RC/241; SA/roch; UT/318; WJI/Rohan
Elements
Word Gloss roch “horse” -ian(d) “-land, country” Phonetic Developments
Development Stages Sources S. Rochann > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ Let/178 S. Rochand > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ Let/382 S. Rochand > Rochann > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ LotR/1115 S. Rochann > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ PM/053 S. Rochan > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ RC/241 S. Rochand > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ UT/318 S. Rochan(d) > Rohan [roxand] > [roxann] > [roxan] ✧ WJI/Rohan
The home of the Rohirrim, translated “Riddermark” (LotR/262) or more literally “Horse-country” (RC/241). It is a combination of roch “horse” and -(i)an “-land”, with the [[s|[x] (“ch”) softening to [h] in Gondorian pronunciation]] (LotR/1113).
Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this land was first named N. Thanador of unclear meaning, which underwent several revisions (Ulthanador, Borthendor, Orothan[ador]) before Tolkien settled on N. Rohan (RS/434). At this earlier stage, Tolkien posited that this name developed from (ON.?) Rochan(dor); Tolkien coined the archaic form †Rochand later, while working on the drafts of the Lord of the Rings appendices (PM/53).