Gamling

Gamling
Tolkien's legendarium character
Race	Men
Book(s)	The Two Towers And The Return of the King

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Gamling is a Man of Rohan. He appears in The Two Towers, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings. An older man (he is called "Gamling the Old"), he was from the Westfold.

Gamling means "old man" in Old English, (cf. OE gamol "old") which is used to represent the language of Rohirric. Thus "Gamling" is not the character's actual name. Nevertheless, it is a linguistic pun reflecting the character's age. The word and its meaning still survive in modern Scandinavian languages such as; Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic.

Gamling understood the language of Dunland and was familiar with the hatred that the Dunlendings had for the Rohirrim.

In Tolkien's book, Gamling is left in charge of the forces defending Helm's Dike (a fortification across the Deeping-coomb before the stronghold of the Hornburg defending Helm's Deep) by command of Erkenbrand. About 1,000 men had been left to defend Helm's Dike, including Gamling's grandson, and Gamling notes that most of the defenders were either very old (like himself) or very young (like his grandson).

King Théoden of Rohan arrives at Helm's Deep with reinforcements from Edoras on March 3, 3019. As the forces of Isengard approach, Gamling and his men pull back from Helm's Dike and enter the stronghold of the Hornburg. Gamling hears Gimli's warning that Orcs have entered a culvert under the wall and leads the Men of the Westfold in a charge that drives them back.

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Wikipedia