A lord of far western Rohan, who was descended from King Fréawine. His lands stood on either side of the River Adorn, which marked Rohan's western border, and it was said that he had Dunlendish blood in his veins, too, from the people of Dunland beyond the border. Nonetheless he was a lord of Rohan and a councillor to its King, Helm.
Freca attempted to strengthen his power in Rohan by marrying his son, Wulf, to Helm's daughter. He travelled to Edoras with a force of Men to compel the King to agree, but instead Helm struck him a deadly blow with his fist. Freca's family and followers fled from Helm's anger, but four years later Wulf returned, invading Rohan with an army of Dunlendings, an invasion in which Helm was killed. Nevertheless, the slaying of Freca was not forgotten by his people, and even at the time of the War of the Ring, more than two hundred and fifty years later, the memory of his death still kindled hatred of the Rohirrim among the Dunlendings.
Notes
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We do not know the date of Freca's birth, but the fact that he hoped to marry his son Wulf to King Helm's daughter implies that he was born at very roughly the same time as the King (that is, around the year III 2691). This dating seems rather early (so that Freca would be more than sixty when Helm slew him, and their unmarried children would be in their thirties or forties). Apart from the age of his son, there is another hint that Freca may have been somewhat younger than Helm (he calls the 64-year-old Helm an 'old king' in The Lord of the Rings Appendix A II), and so it was perhaps more likely that Freca was born around III 2700 or later.
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- Updated 17 May 2016
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