Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings and all related people, places, things, and poems are the property of the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm using them without permission. The original characters are "mine" in that I named them, but they still belong to Tolkein because they existed in his Rohan but were never important enough to earn names in his work.

Author's Note: I attempted to write this in a Tolkienesque fashion and humbly think I managed to succeed to a degree. I know this probably belongs in the "Lord of the Rings" section of , but I know there it would be quickly drowned in a sea of Mary-Sues and Gary-Stues and other bad fanfics, and I think this deserves better than that. It also references a whole lot of stuff from the various appendices at the end of Return of the King that only folks who know their Tolkien would understand. One last thing--my muse is a fickle one, so I can't guarantee that I'll be able to finish this story. I promise to do my best, though.

Lords Took and Lowly

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 harpstring, and the red fire
glowing
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn
growing
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind
in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills
into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?

Of the House of Mundburgson

Of old, Aldred Mundburgson, soldier of Gondor, was Aldred Halethson, soldier of Rohan, and he called the Westfold his country. But the days of Aldred's youth were also the days of King Fengel of Rohan, a man who cared more for food and gold than honor and valor. In Gondor, Ecthelion the Second reigned as Steward of the lost King, and he was a man both wise and noble. To bolster the waning strength of his kingdom, the Steward proclaimed far and wide that all men skilled in the arts of war would be welcomed in Gondor, if they pledged their swords to the service of the Steward. Therefore, when word of this reached Aldred Halethson's ears, Aldred happily left the service of his lord Fengel. After making the long journey to Minas Tirith, or Mundburg as it was known among the Rohirrim, Aldred pledged his sword to Gondor. Ecthelion the Second received his sword and made him a soldier of Gondor. Thereafter, did Aldred change his name to Mundburgson, in honor of his new country.

Mundburg proved more akin to Helm's Deep, the great fortress of the Westfold, than anything else Aldred had ever called home. The great stone city with its gates of steel and iron, and its roads of stone, and the absence of anything that grew or was green weighed heavily on Aldred. For a time, he regretted his choice and nearly repented of swearing his fealty to the Steward. However, the efforts of a certain fair maiden helped him grow accustomed to the new life he had chosen.

She was Imloth, daughter of Hirluin the innkeeper. The King's Chalice, as the inn was known, lay nigh the barracks of Aldred's company, and he went oft there to drown his sorrows in Hirluin's fine mead. Oft did he spy her there, and oft did she fill his mug, and slowly a friendship grew between them. Hirluin at first was not pleased, for Imloth was his only daughter and he was loathe to see her give her heart to one of the Rohirrim when there were other men of Númenorean blood to be had. In time, as Aldred's service would allow, a great love developed between the two, and Hirluin took kindly to Aldred when he saw their love, seeing that he could not prevent it and that Aldred was as noble as any in Gondor he might have chosen. So, with the blessing of Hirluin, Aldred and Imloth were married shortly before the arrival of Thorongil, a man who would become the most beloved of all the Captains of Gondor.

The blood of Easterlings, Southrons, and orcs stained Aldred's blade many times through the years in his service to Steward Ecthelion, and in time, Imloth bore him a son, whom they named Déored, as a remembrance both of Rohan and Déored, sire of Aldred, who served and fell with the sons of Folcwine at the Crossings of the Poros in the days of the Steward Turgon II, sire of Ecthelion II.

Déored grew to manhood in Mundburg, the only son of his father and mother, and listened with joy to the tales of his father's adventures with Captain Thorongil. When Déored was old enough, Aldred began teaching him the art of swordplay, but though Déored showed promise, he also showed an interest in the forging of the blades and armor. So Aldred arranged for Déored to be apprenticed to Baranor, his company's weapon smith. (It is interesting to note that Baranor was the sire of Beregrond, who afterwards became Captain of the White Company, the Guard of Prince Faramir of Ithilien, and who in turn sired Bergil, friend of Peregrin the Halfling.)

Déored did not show as much promise at forging as he had at swordplay, but through the skillful teachings of Baranor, Déored became a good apprentice, and from there, an accomplished smith. Though not famed for his work, he was nonetheless held in high esteem by the men of his father's company, for they esteemed his work as good as that of his master.

However, as the years and skills of Déored waxed, the years of his father slowly waned after the fashion of men not of Númenorean blood. Déored had only just come to manhood and married Miriel of Mundburg when his father passed from this realm, being seventy and five years of age and having lived a full life.

This happened in the days King Théoden of Rohan, before his bewitchment at the hands of Gríma Wormtongue, and after Denethor the Second had become Steward of Gondor in his father's stead. There was little love between the Steward and those of Aldred's generation, who remembered Captain Thorongil with love, for the Steward had long mistrusted the great Captain, though he had long ago departed Gondor and gone no man knew whither.

Therefore, it was Aldred's wish that he be buried in beneath the long grass of the Westfold, his home of old. Déored obeyed the wishes of his father and, because of the Steward's mistrust of Aldred, Déored also renounced his service to the Steward. Denethor the Second gladly freed Déored from his service, and paid him a small weregild for his and his father's service to Gondor. Thus did Déored and his small household (for he had as yet no children and only his wife and mother to care for) leave Mundberg and make the long journey northwards and westwards to the Westfold, where his father's brother Elfred and his family dwelt.

A mound was raised for Aldred near that of his parents and Elfred, for Elfred (being some three years older) had died the previous year. Déored pledged his forge and his blade to the service of King Théoden, who gladly accepted both. Thus it was that Déored Mundburgson became Déored of Rohan and mustered with the Rohirrim as a soldier of Erkenbrand of Westfold. Because of his service in Gondor, Déored was made a captain of twelve in the éored of his village.

In time, Miriel bore Déored a son, and they named him Thorongil, after the man whom Aldred and indeed all of Gondor had loved so dearly. Thus, like his father before him, Déored chose his son's name as a reminder of the land of his birth. When Thorongil was six, Miriel bore another child, this time a daughter, and they named her after the great forest in the south of Rohan, and she was called Firien.

As Thorongil grew slowly to manhood and his sister to womanhood, Rohan's borders became increasingly harried by orcs and Dunlendings and great wargs from the north. Like his father before him, Thorongil became an apprentice smith and learned quickly the art of forging blade and hauberk, helm and shield. About this time, Imloth joined her husband in the Halls of Men beyond the Great Sea, having lived to the age of ninety because of the blood of Númenor which flowed in her veins.

When Thorongil had seen his fifteenth winter, the great War of the Ring began. What follows this brief family history is an account of the fates of the family of Mundburgson, as recorded by Aldred Garulfson, grandson of Déored Mundburgson.