Horn of the Mark

A small silver horn, made originally by the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains. It was stolen from them by the Dragon Scatha, and later recovered from the Dragon's hoard after it was slain by Fram of the Éothéod. At some point in its history, apparently after its recovery from the Dragon, the horn had been carved with a spiral line of horsemen running from one end to the other.

The silver horn became an heirloom of the Lords of the Éothéod, and was brought southwards by Eorl the Young when he settled in the new land of Rohan. So it was held by the Kings of the Mark until the end of the Third Age, when King Éomer and his sister Éowyn granted it as a gift to his friend Merry Brandybuck. Merry took the horn back with him into the north, where he used it to rally the Hobbits against Sharkey and the invaders of the Shire. Those events were commemorated by a festival held in Buckland every 2 November at sunset, when the Horn of the Mark was blown and feasts held in memory of the victory of the Shire-folk.