Kingdom of Rhovanion

The Kingdom of Rhovanion was a realm of Men in the Middle-earth region of Rhovanion. 
== Summary ==
The kingdom of Rhovanion was founded by the Northmen and stretched from Mirkwood, in the west, to Dorwinion, in the east. One of a number of Northern principalities, it had strong ties with the kingdom of Gondor and fought with them in wars against the Easterlings of Rhûn.
== History ==
The Kingdom of Rhovanion came to prominence in the mid-13th century of the Third Age, when Minalcar served as Regent for his uncle, King Narmacil I of Gondor. About this time Vidugavia, "the most powerful of the northern princes" called himself King of Rhovanion, though the land he governed lay only between Mirkwood and the River Running. The Regent led a great expedition into Rhûn in TA 1248 and utterly defeated the Easterlings, with substantial help from the Northmen and from Vidugavia in particular.
Vidugavia became Gondor's strong ally, and in TA 1250 the Regent sent his son Valacar as ambassador to Vidugavia. But Valacar, much taken with the culture of the North, "far exceeded his father's design" by marrying Vidugavia's daughter Vidumavi, and their son Vinitharya was born among the Northmen.
When Minalcar acceded to the throne of Gondor as Rómendacil II, Valacar became the heir to the throne. The mixed ancestry of Valacar's son (known as Eldacar in Gondor) became a matter of contention: many were not prepared to allow as king a man whose Númenórean blood was mingled with that of a "lesser" race, and many feared that he would be short-lived (as his mother's people were, compared to the ruling line of Gondor). This led to the Kin-strife in Gondor, a bloody civil war that decimated the royal house and nobility.
Tolkien makes little further reference to the "Kingdom of Rhovanion" and it is unclear if Vidugavia's kingdom endured after his death. It is clear from his discussion of the early history of the Éothéod in Unfinished Tales that the Northmen in Rhovanion were defeated and enslaved by the Wainriders. The Battle of the Plains (in TA 1856) was fought by Gondor and the Northmen against the Wainriders; King Narmacil II of Gondor and the Northman Marhari (a descendant of Vidugavia) were both killed in this battle. Tolkien does not, however, call Marhari "king", nor is there any direct evidence that the kingdom had survived to this point.
Refugees from this defeat were reorganized on the other side of Mirkwood in the lower Vales of Anduin, under the leadership of Marhwini, son of Marhari. These people became known as the Éothéod. Much later, the history of the House of Eorl (recounted in Appendix A) tells that "the forefathers of Eorl claimed descent from kings of Rhovanion, whose realm lay beyond Mirkwood before the invasions of the Wainriders, and thus they accounted themselves kinsmen of the kings of Gondor descended from Eldacar." Tolkien does not state whether the kinship came through Marhwini and Marhari, though they are the only leaders of Northmen mentioned in this time.