All stories have a beginning and this is such a begin. If you are to know more about Theogorn, you have to look no further, for this is his first chapter. Many ages have past and many deeds are done: These by the great lords of the Undying lands and the mighty elves of the first age, as well the high men of westernesse. But the lesser heroes are forgotten: yes, I said lesser heroes indeed. Those whoms deeds are too small to be remembered, but too great to be forgotten. Theogorn is one of these heroes, too small to deserve respect and yet too great to be ignored. It's about Theogorn Heolfling of The Red Company here and he was one of those who rallied in the north. But that's not for now, as his story starts in Rohan, the land of the horselords.
The best moment to start off is somewhere 24 years from now when this piece of parchment was written. In that time, a little boy and his father walked to the east. They followed the Entwash, towards Fenmarch to head south from there to Beaconwatch... And yes, this boy was Theogorn indeed. He had quiet a confused look. He did not fully realize what happened. What would you expect?! He's only eight years old! On the counterpart, his father who was usually a proud and impressing man, looked a bit shocked.
Actually, they were coming from Edoras in their wagon. This wagon wasn't led by horses of course. The Rohirrim treat their horses better than that. They rode not even two days ago in the opposite direction, their wagon loaded with lots of clothes, but also tapistries. Cléowyn, Théogorns mother, was a master weaver and all the goods in the wagon were handmade by her. Héolf, the shocked father, then carries these goods to various places. This can be Minas Thirith, or little places in Rohan that barely could be called settlements, but this time the merchant decided to visit Edoras. This for a special reason of course.
Elfhild, queen of Rohan and wife of Théoden King, was pregnant and finally the day had come to give birth to her child. You see that Héolf and his son parted from Beaconwatch in excitement to witness the newborn prince. How odd would it be if you then arrived in Edoras, only to see a mood appropriate for a graveyard?! Elfhild died in childbed and the Rohirrim thanked Béma that Théodred made it alive. So it came to be that Héolf and Théogorn attended a burial instead of a feast. The King was griefed and his people mourned his fate and that of their queen.
Normally Héolf would have sold his tapistries in a stand. After a week, he would have sold most of it and he'd return. Instead of selling their goods now, Théogorn and Héolf already returned with a filled cart. Nobody would feel something for buying tapistries right now. In Beaconwatch probably nobody knew of the queens death. There was always joy in their little village, but now there was going to be sadness.
