[Man of the Old Hope]

I quite agree with Gwaihir.

I realize that these comments of mine:

the culture of these horsemen is not that of the Anglo-Saxons of early medieval England, nor indeed any of the Germanic peoples, who were none of them renowned horsemen

are certainly open to misunderstanding. What I meant by "culture" was simply their horsemanship and their culture insofar as it was built around their magnificent horsemanship. Otherwise, the culture of the Rohirrim is very reminiscent of old Germanic cultures (though I am perhaps more reminded of Old Icelandic culture - sans the boats! - than Old English, but that's probably splitting hairs). But what is clear is that their language is very nearly based on Old English, and there is no doubt that language echoes culture (and vice versa).

Then there's also that matter of the leaders of the 5th century Saxon invasion of Britain, Horsa and Hengest: or rather, Horse and Stallion.