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Originally Posted by Kuruharan
There is one interesting difference between the Rohirrim and most of the steppe peoples that would periodically sweep into Europe. The Rohirrim way of war seemed to revolve heavily around the armored charge, much like the typical Western European knight. Most of the steppe peoples revolved heavily around horse archery. While the Eorlingas are mentioned as having horse archers, it does not seem to have been a primary method of battle for them.
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It is my sense that Rohan is decidedly NOT feudal. The nature of rule seems rather pointedly based on historic Anglo-Saxon governing, pre-1066, obviously. It's like the reader finds in
Beowulf at Héorot, intentionally by all accounts from the author himself. In fact, "Eorlingas" is apparently meant to translated, according to Tolkien, as "knight". But not a feudal knight; rather, a man, loyal to the king, who has a ring from that king, owns land, and rides into battle on his horse (at least in Rohan).