SPOILERS: The Grandeur of the Epic

[Daeross]

At long last, the Epic has continued... and how.
But in this, I'm concentrating on a single locale. Before that, though...

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Now, let us continue.

Meduseld, the Golden Hall of Edoras, is the house of the King of Rohan. And boy, did Turbine do it wonderfully, imo...

"Inside it seemed dark and warm after the clear air upon the hill. The hall was long and wide and filled with shadows and halflights; mighty pillars upheld its lofty roof. But here and there bright sunbeams fell in glimmering shafts from the eastern windows, high under the deep eaves. Through the louver in the roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale and blue. As their eyes changed, the travellers perceived that the floor was paved with stones of many hues; branching runes and strange devices intertwined beneath their feet. They saw now that the pillars were richly carved, gleaming dully with gold and half-seen colours. Many woven cloths were hung upon the walls, and over their wide spaces marched figures of ancient legend, some dim with years, some darkling in the shade.
But upon one form the sunlight fell: a young man upon a white horse. He was blowing a great horn, and his yellow hair was flying in the wind. The horse's head was lifted, and its nostrils were wide and red as it neighed, smelling battle afar. Foaming water, green and white, rushed and curled about its knees.

"Behold Eorl the Young!" said Aragorn. "Thus he rode out of the North to the Battle of the Field of Celebrant."

Now the four companions went forward, past the clear wood-fire burning upon the long hearth in the midst of the hall. Then they halted. At the far end of the house, beyond the hearth and the facing north towards the doors, was a dais with three steps; and in the middle of the dais was a great gilded chair."
-The Two Towers, 'The King of the Golden Hall'

As we enter the Mead Hall and look to our left, go clockwise 'till we reach the doors again, we can follow a succession of woven tapestries in the half-shadows by the walls, all with . Alas, they don't really seem to be in any chronological order.
Quotes from the Appendices.

Helm Hamorhand Freca gestileð

* Helm Hammerhand slays Freca
in 2754, Freca, a wealthy and willful man with Dunlending blood, asked for Helm's daughter's hand in marriage with Freca's son Wulf. Helm, already getting on in years, refused; jabs veering into insults were exchanged. The men went out of the King's Hall, alone, and Helm struck Freca once, with enough force for the man to die soon after.
Afterwards, Helm was called Hammerhand, and all of Freca's kin were pronounced as enemies of the king of Rohan.

Aldor Eald Dunlendingas scuft

* Aldor the Old (Eald) drives away (scuft) the Dunlendings
"In his time (2544 - 2645) the Rohirrim increased, and drove out or subdued the last of the Dunlendish people that lingered east of Isen."

Frealaf Wulfe swicol acweleð

* Fréaláf kills (killeth; acweleth) Wulf the treacherous (swicol)
Wulf, son of Freca, led the Dunlendings in 2758 and overran Rohan after Easterlings had already weakened the nation. Then became the Long Winter, and things went from bad to worse, with both of Helm's sons and Helm himself dying. After the Winter broke, though...
"Fréaláf, son of Hild, Helm's sister, came down out of Dunharrow, to which many had fled; and with a small company of desperate men he surprised Wulf in Meduseld and slew him, and regained Edoras."

Eorl Geong Langflod Oferwædð

* Eorl the Young wades over (oferwæd) the Great River.
In 2510, "Eorl the Young came with his riders and swept away the enemy, and pursued the Balchoth to the death over the fields of Calenardhon."

[Daeross]

Folcredes ond Fastredes doeð

* The deaths of Folcred and Fastred.
In 2885, the twin sons of Folcwine, the elder brothers of Fengel, are slain in the service of Gondor, under attack by the Haradrim, and are buried in a single mound, Haudh in Gwanur, upon the shore of the river Poros.

Bryta beoorgorcfruma ofsleth

* Brytta fights Orc-Chief (fruma) from the Mountains (beorg)
"In his time there was war with Orcs that, driven from the North, sought refuges in the White Mountains."
The Orcs were fleeing from the wrath of the Dwarves and the Battle of Azanulbizar/the Dimrill Dale, in 2793-2799.
"2800 - 64 Orcs from the North trouble Rohan. King Walda slain by them (2861)"

Folca Hunta holteofor gefeð

* Folca the Hunter (Hunta) seizes (geféhth) the great Boar of Everholt (holteofor) in Firien Wood.
"He was a great hunter, but he vowed to chase no wild beast while there was an Orc left in Rohan. When the last orc-hold was found and destroyed, he went to hunt the great boar of Everholt in the Firien Wood. He slew the boar but died of the tusk-wounds that it gave him." He lived from 2804 to 2864.

Searuman Orðanc cægas gecie

* Saruman (searuman, man of skill) is given the keys (cáega) of Orthanc by the Steward of Gondor, Beren, in T.A. 2759, after Fréaláf reclaimed Rohan from the Dunlendings and was crowned king.

[Daeross]

And upon the floor "branching runes and strange devices intertwined beneath their feet"-.

From top to bottom:
* Hwær nucwom hors ond hererinc? Hwær cwom herehorn blawende?
* Hwær cwom helm hereserce ond fæger feax
* flowende? Hwær cwom hand on
* hearpestrengum ond read gled
* glowende? Hwær cwom wyrta ond
* wæstm ond lang corn growelde?

Literal translation:
* Where now-is horse and warrior? Where is warhorn blowing?
* Where is helm coat of mail and beauty locks
* flowing? Where is hand on
* harpstrings and red fire
* glowing? Where is planting and
* produce and tall corn growing?

Correct translation, with lines and punctuation fixed:
"Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harp-string, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?"
-The Two Towers, 'The Riders of Rohan'

(Further enlightenment can be gleaned from a bit in this video with Aaron Campbell.)

ETA:
Like on the tapestries, and Eorl's Hallow, the runes used are the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc.
Look here and/or here and/or here for more info.

[Beastnas]

Wow. I am extremely impressed with details like this.

[Legolose104]

Very Impressive

[Redvers]

I was awe-stricken with the detail, but I play on low so mine Golden Hall looked nothing like that. Am getting a new machine next week, so I very much look forward to my next journey. Great post. Thank you.

[StrideColossus]

Completed the epic story last night and spent some time in Edoras looking at the various tapestries, the floor, the roof, etc. Absolutely stunning. I managed to link some of the images to my hazy recollection of the books but couldn't remember them all - so thanks for this!

[Arannir]

+ Rep!

Awesome history thread on Rohan and Meduseld! Thanks!

This is why the game and its players are special in the MMO jungle

[Daeross]

(Nice to see the appreciation for Turbine's version of Meduseld; personally, I never wanted to leave! )

During the Epic, we learn about the folly of Fengel, Théoden's grandfather, and how it brought his kin under a curse. We also get to visit, and can visit even outside the Epic, the Stone of Wyrgende, upon which the crone of the story carved her curse in runes.

All of that is Turbine's and in my opinion, it fits the culture of the Men of the Mark quite well, especially since it's a tale that's told, not written.

Near the Stone there is a learned scholar whom one can question about the Stone.
From this scholar, we also learn what the runes upon the rock are supposed to say:

"Hydig Fengel, wanhoga ic ðe hate
gnornung sceæl bið seedleænung þin grædignysse.
Nan reccend þin ryhtfæderencynnes longe gebideð sceal
Nan sunu sceal on þin stole setteð.
Cynn and cyningdom þin crafiende acwellede hæfð
oð þæt mihte Mearces edniwigende is.
Wyrgende"

I'm not well-versed enough to be able to tell how correct that is, but I know enough to tell it's pretty exact translation of the Modern English version. Below is how the 'Old English' should look like, in the runes used elsewhere in Rohan (Anglo-Saxon fuþorc), line for line.

He also gives us an in-game translation, same that Horn had earlier recited:

"Feckless Fengel, fool I name thee,
Grief shall be the get of thy greed.
No lord of your line shall long live,
Upon thy seat no son shall settle.
Kin and kingdom your craving hath killed,
Until the might of the Mark is mended."

Here's the Stone:

It certainly has runes upon it. It's fitting they're a bit hard to read, imo, but still, one can make out enough...

Here's how the runes translate (top to bottom). The letters in parentheses are missing, or really hard to make out.:

(F)eckless (F)engel, fool
I name thee. Grief
shall be the get of thy
greed ngo lord of
your line shall long live
(u)pon thy seat no so(n) shall
settle kin ænd kingdom
your craving hath killed
(un)til the might of the
(m)ærk is mended

(W)yrgende

[RavnDottir]

Thank you for sharing that!!!

How awesome

[Stephen1981]

i'm looking forward to see the captial city open in western rohan when we can enter and leave freely and see the captial city is only thing i liked about the new books the rest of it was not very good i thought

[Laire]

Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

I envy your skill with Old English and Tolkien's runes. :P

[Kleinwulf]

The tapestries reminds me a little bit about John Bauer (A swedish artist born in the 1880's), specially how the horses are painted.

[Mithithil]

Alliterative poetry was a Saxon skill, it also helped the poets recite the mostly oral, histories of the sagas.

[TrueLokaster]

i'm looking forward to see the captial city open in western rohan when we can enter and leave freely and see the captial city is only thing i liked about the new books the rest of it was not very good i thought

Edoras, you mean?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edoras#Settlements

I can understand you not liking anything else in the books since you hardly mention them or refer to Edoras as the capital city. Usually people who read the book tend to remember names since they actually read over and over it instead of those who watched the films and and just remember it was the capital city of some place.

[Kleinwulf]

Edoras, you mean?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edoras#Settlements

I can understand you not liking anything else in the books since you hardly mention them or refer to Edoras as the capital city. Usually people who read the book tend to remember names since they actually read over and over it instead of those who watched the films and and just remember it was the capital city of some place.

I think he's talking about the epic books when he mentioning the new books. But I could be wrong =)

[TrueLokaster]

I think he's talking about the epic books when he mentioning the new books. But I could be wrong =)

Actually makes a lot of sense now. And realizing that that makes me a jerk.

[Urwendil]

This thread deserves promotion into the Hall of Fame section