Knight of the Helmings

The Helmings (Old English Helmingas, “Helm’s people”) were the kin and followers of Helm Hammerhand, the ninth King of Rohan, of whom many heroic stories are told. Helm and his people defended the fortress of the Hornburg against a long siege by the Dunlendings in IIIA 2758. It seems that nearly three hundred years later, during the War of the Ring, many of the Men of the Westfold still felt strong affiliation with Helm King and the Helmingas, for during the White Hand’s assault on the Hornburg, the commander of the fortress, Gamling the Old, rallied his men by shouting “Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas!”

This man is one of the Riders of the Mark, a knight of the kingdom of Rohan, serving in the Westfold. He is armoured in an iron breastplate and shirt of polished iron scales. His cloak bears the device of two crossed hammers, signifying the heroic deeds of Helm Hammerhand, and he also bears a great iron mallet in honour of his forebear.

His proud steed, one of the well-bred warhorses of Rohan, strong and clean-limbed, is clad in matching heavy barding showing the device of the Riddermark, a white horse running on a green field.

Until recently, our Rider’s captain was Théodred, the son of Théoden King, but word has come to Edoras that the prince has been slain at the Fords of the Isen by the orcs and Dunlendings of Isengard. Now this bold rider speeds with haste in the company of Elfhelm to reinforce the Fords against the forces of Saruman. But what will they find there, within reach of the White Hand?

I’ve been enjoying racing across the plains of Rohan so much that I thought it was high time for a Rohan-inspired outfit! I wanted to create an outfit to match the Steed of the Eastemnet and also to use some of the very nice Riders of Rohan pre-order items. Unfortunately, the pre-order cosmetics are undyeable (I’m not sure why, since they were available with only one pre-order package). Because they are undyeable, they are a bit difficult to personalise but, as always, one way to make them a bit more unique is to combine them with pieces from other sets. The pre-order items have a very interesting colour, a washed out, greyish-green with white and golden-green highlights that I thought looked very nice with the unique base colours of the chest piece and leggings that I used. The helm brought in some more brown, olive and off-white tones, plus a very interesting golden-green shade on its crown when dyed Ranger green that matches the pre-order pieces so well. I just had to use the cloak since, while the colour isn’t a perfect match, the hammer insignia on the back lent itself well to the theme of a Horse-lord who strongly identifies with the Helmingas.

• Head: Eastemnet Battle Helmet (crafted — metalsmith T8), Ranger green
• Shoulders: Shoulders of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan), default
• Back: Veteran Esquire’s Cape (bartered — skirmish camp jewellery and cloaks quartermaster/level 40), olive
• Chest: Armour of Fém (quest reward — Angmar [43] Crannog’s Fifth Challenge), default
• Hands: Gloves of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan), default
• Legs: Ceremonial Town-saver’s Leggings (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Rift cosmetic clothing – medium), washed
• Feet: Boots of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan), default
• Steed: Steed of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan)

Tips: The cloak that I used can also be found as a world drop under a variety of names as well as under the name Hammer-mark Cloak (looted — Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu/Zurm). The chest piece in this outfit has the same appearance as the Breastplate of the North-drake (looted — world drop/level 50). Unfortunately, I have no Man alts even close to entering Rohan and earning a war-steed, so I had to show the outfit with the standard riding Steed of the Eastemnet. If you’d like to use these same pieces on your war-steed, the set is called “Rohirrim Elite”.

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