LotR -- Book 5 - Chapter 03 - The Muster of Rohan

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Did Eomer expect to be heir or not? As far as I can tell he was the closest relative to Theoden and so we might assume he would be the heir, but as there has been a 'history' between them during the time Theoden was under the influence of Grima, here he obviously needs to clarify that Eomer is still heir to Rohan.

I wonder about this...

Certainly, after Theodred's death, Eomer was the logical heir, as both Theoden's nephew and an experienced Marshal of the Mark.

But was he Theoden's only nephew... I wonder....

Remember, Theoden had FOUR sisters. I think it very unlikely that only Theodwyn married. Statistically, I would guess that three of them married. In all likelihood, Rohirrim probably having the large families typical of a pre-modern society, Theoden had a couple more nephews, who were probably a fair bit older than Eomer (the son of the youngest sister), and who may have had grown sons themselves.

Of course, Eomer and Eowyn have a special status in that they were raised by Theoden and were essentially Theodred's adopted siblings.

Still, perhaps there WERE other nephews out there. I think it likely. Certainly, it would explain why Theoden would feel the need to declare Eomer his heir. If Eomer were the only nephew, he would naturally fall in place after Theodred's death, nephew or no.