Hi JeffF,
what a busy Bank Holiday!
The reference for the 10,000 infantry is from an earlier draft in HoME, so perhaps not to be taken as 100% reliable. In this early version they include men on foot and mounted on ponies (possibly some sort of mounted infantry?) plus volunteers from the Woodmen and even some reconciled Dunlendings. We certainly see foot soldiers at Helm's Deep and the Fords of the Isen.
I've thought that Rohan is really like two countries, one around the foothills and mountains thats more settled (probably some farmers), townsmen of Dunharrow, Edoras, Aldburg etc, similar to Dark Age English. The other of semi-nomadic herdsmen on the plains (Goth-like, given the acknowledged device of Rohirric names changing from earlier to later forms of Germanic).
Eorl was 400 years ago, so a lot had changed, plenty of scope for 'multiplication' of the Rohirrim
.
Agree that it may well be less than 10,000, but the infantry might not be sufficiently mobile to concentrate against any major attacks, just to put up a defence at the various strongpoints, and would likely be a part-time militia (seen too many summers, or too few!). We see upto 2,000 foot in the Westfold, could there be similar numbers in the Eastfold and Edoras district for approx 6,000 in total? These could not put up much oppostion to a major attack from Dol Guldur, though with some thousands of cavalry left behind should just about get away with it.
Though it does make Theoden's decision seem a little less heroic.
Perhaps Grima had made some 'defence-cuts' on the sly between the 2 versions
