Fram

Fram son of Frumgar was the fifth Lord of the Éothéod, a group of Northmen who were the ancestors of the Men of Rohan. The seat of Fram’s chieftainship was the fortified town of Framsburg, set at the northern end of the Vales of Anduin in the shadow of the Grey Mountains. In those days of the mid-Third Age, the Grey Mountains were terrorised by Scatha, a great long-worm. Scatha ravaged both the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains and the Men of the Éothéod alike, and he amassed a mighty hoard. Fram, heroic chieftain of his people, went forth and slew Scatha, but little is known of their battle. Once the long-worm was dead, the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains announced their claim to the dragon’s hoard, but Fram sent them instead Scatha’s teeth, with a message saying: “Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by.” This angered the Dwarves and led to a feud between the two peoples. According to some accounts, the Dwarves took their vengeance by slaying Fram for his insult, and there was little love thereafter between the Éothéod and the Dwarves.

Here Fram is seen at the height of his prowess. To commemorate his slaying of the dragon Scatha, he bears a heavy wooden shield emblazoned with the device of a sinuous long-worm on a field of blue. His strong armour is of wondrous design, crafted in the deeps of time by the cunning hands of Dwarves, and now claimed from Scatha’s hoard. Beneath this enchanted shell he wears the simple but strong mail of his own people, slightly verdigrised to give it a greenish sheen. A matching mail aventail is hung from the sides and back of his horse-crested helm. He is a great chieftain, a mighty warrior, and a dragonslayer, but even a man who is all these things can fall prey to vengeance kindled by an act of greed and pride.

The story of Fram is pretty bare bones; all we are really told of his history is related above. What I find particularly interesting about the story is Fram’s refusal to share the treasure with the Dwarves. Surely the Dwarves had suffered from the wrath of Scatha just as much as the Éothéod had, and deserved a share of the weregild, which makes me think that perhaps Fram fell prey to the fabled dragon-sickness: that affliction of greed that overcomes those who think to claim the hoard of a worm as their own. Though we are never told so, Fram might have justified keeping the treasure because it was after all he who slew Scatha; but the resulting feud with the Dwarves led to his death. Many similar ideas come into play in the final chapters of The Hobbit, with Bard the Bowman slaying Smaug while Thorin the dwarf lays claim to (and takes possession of) the dragon’s hoard. In that book the role of possessor of the treasure and dragonslayer is divided between Thorin and Bard, respectively, yet in both The Hobbit and the tale of Fram, war and death result when the dragon-sickness begins its work.

In this outfit, I wanted to incorporate both the horse motif that will come to characterise the descendants of the Éothéod, the Men of Rohan, as well as a dragon motif to reference Fram’s slaying of Scatha. I have usually used green and rusty brown in Rohan-themed outfits; here, because the Éothéod are the ancestors of the Rohirrim, I decided to alter the colour scheme to muted green and blue. My favourite feature of the outfit is the unusual greenish colour of the mail visible on the arms. Other than the leggings which match this chest piece (and which I didn’t use in this outfit), the only piece I know of that features this greenish mail is the helm used in this outfit, which includes it in its aventail (the curtain of mail hung around the sides and back of the helm).

One final word today: I’m going on vacation next week and thus there will be no outfit on 22 May. We’ll return to our regular scheduled outfits on Wednesday, 29 May. Until then, happy outfitting!

• Head: Helm of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan), default
• Shoulders: Shoulders of the Eastemnet (pre-order — Riders of Rohan), default
• Back: Cloak of the Eorlingas (pre-order — Rise of Isengard), default
• Chest: Lesser Blade of the West Breastplate (bartered — Harndirion novices quartermaster/tier 1 difficulty Champion armour), navy
• Hands: Dwarf-make Protector’s Gloves (crafted — tailor T5; or looted — world drop/general; or purchased — Thorin’s Hall medium armour vendor), Evendim blue
• Legs: Ceremonial Rift-defender’s Leggings (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Rift cosmetic clothing – heavy), Ranger green
• Feet: Lesser Voice of the West Shoes (bartered — Harndirion novices quartermaster/tier 1 difficulty Minstrel armour), navy
• Shield: Veteran Recruit’s Heavy Shield (bartered — skirmish camp heavy armour quartermaster/level 20)

Tips: The shield used in this outfit is the level 20 version, available from the heavy armour vendor at skirmish camps. There are some other versions available that are world drops and quest rewards in higher-level areas.

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