Talk:Helmingas

who are they?

"Gamling the Old looked down from the Hornburg, hearing the great voice of the dwarf above all the tumult. 'The Orcs are in the Deep!' he cried. 'Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas,' he shouted as he leaped down the stair from the Rock with many men of Westfold at his back."

Is it enough context to suggest that the "sons of Helm" are specifically the Rohirrim of Westfold? When I first read the passage I thought it is just another name for the Eorlingas (they are sons of Eorl, and and all other kings, including Helm) or just the Rohirrim who man the Helm's Deep; the appearance of the men of Westfold after Gamling can be a coincidence (could be any other Rohirrim). There is nothing in the article of Helm to suggest that he had a connection to Westfold or its men so that they are colled his "sons". Sage (talk) 11:05, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

The context is not enough to suggest that the term "Helmingas" refers specifically to the Rohirrim of the Westfold. Helm was the King of Rohan and not merely the Lord of the Westfold. Like all the Kings since the moving of the King's House to Edoras from Aldburg, he had his home in Edoras in the Folde and not in the Westfold. He only flew to the fortress of Aglarond (known as the Hornburg and later known with the rest of the fortifications after Helm as Helm's Deep) when the Dunlendings invaded Rohan, because the Hornburg was more defensible than Edoras. Hammond & Scull translate -ingas less literally as "people of" and not as "sons of" on p. 407 in The Lord of the Rings A Reader's Companion. At the battle of Helm's Deep the defenders of Helm's Deep probably did not only consist of men from the Westfold. Since Helm as a King of Rohan who fought at the Hornburg the motivation call "Helmingas" is meant to summon all the Rohirrim as the people of Helm. Hammond & Scull write on p. 407 that "Eorlingas" means the "people of Eorl, the Rohirrim". Helm is simply another King of Rohan like Eorl, the first King of Rohan so why should adding -ingas to his name signify a different people? The entry Helmingas see Westfold: men of and the entry Westfolg (Helmingas, Westfolders, etc.) in the index of the 50th anniversary edition of LOTR are not authoritative, because they were compiled by Hammond & Scull and only content within square brackets in the index was written by J.R.R. Tolkien according to the introduction of the index. --Akhôrahil (talk) 14:35, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

However it is notable that H&S (mis)interpreted the name Helmingas as referring to the Westfolders, and should be included in the article. Sage (talk) 15:15, 24 January 2024 (UTC)