Freca

A lord of the Adorn

Freca held wide lands on both banks of the river Adorn, where it runs down from the White Mountains to join the Isen on the western border of Rohan, next to Dunland. He claimed descent from Fréawine, the fifth King of the Mark, but the Rohirrim noted that he was dark-haired and that most of his blood was that of the Dunlendings, the older people of the region whom Eorl's folk had displaced. He was rich, kept a strong following, and grew so powerful that he came to the king's councils only when he chose and paid little heed to the commands of Edoras. His son was Wulf.

The council of 2754

In 2754 Freca rode to Edoras with a large armed company and, before the council of King Helm Hammerhand, asked that the king's daughter be given in marriage to Wulf. The proposal was as much a demand as a request, and Helm treated it as such. He answered with mockery, remarking on how fat Freca had grown, and put the matter aside until the council's other business was done. Then he took Freca outside the hall, told him the matter was between the two of them alone and that his followers could not help him, and struck him one blow with his fist. Freca fell dead. Helm then proclaimed Freca's son and kin the enemies of the king, and they fled west over the Adorn.

Legacy

Freca's death was the seed of the war of 2758, when Wulf returned with the Dunlendings and the enemies of Gondor, overran the Mark, and drove Helm into the Hornburg. Helm's own death in the Long Winter and the end of the first line of kings both followed from the blow he struck at Freca. The lands of the Adorn remained a region of mixed and doubtful loyalty afterward.

Killed outside the Golden Hall of Edoras in 2754 by a single blow of Helm Hammerhand's fist.