Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Scholars have compared Théoden to Theodoric, King of the Visigoths, and Théoden's death in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields to Theodoric's in the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields. He has been contrasted, too, with another protagonist in "The Lord of the Rings", Denethor Steward of Gondor; where Denethor is harsh, Théoden is open and welcoming.