Héafod of Edoras

Heáfod is the captain of the King’s Guard and the Doorwarden of the Lord of the Mark. Soon he will be considered an old man, as he was born a handful of years before King Thengel. But he is determined to serve for as long as he will have the strength to carry his spear. He served old King Fengel for most of his life, not out of personal devotion to the callow king but out of love for the line of Eorl. Fengel, for his part, kept Heáfod close for his value as a bodyguard whose loyalty came cheap.

Heáfod quietly disapproved of Thengel’s flight from his homeland, and eyed suspiciously the new Lord of the Mark when he returned, for he suspected that Thengel had abandoned his people’s ways. Yet he kneeled before him when Thengel came riding from Gondor and brought him the sword of his ancestors. From that day, Heáfod serves the new king as steadfastly as he served the old, and for the same reasons. Heáfod’s opinions are not as well guarded as he thinks. Thengel knows how Heáfod feels, but is determined to win the old warrior over, however long it takes. Queen Morwen knows, too, and fears that Heáfod might be manipulated by Thengel’s enemies, nobles who once prospered under the rule of his father Fengel.

Heáfod’s once-golden plaits have turned grey, but his dark blue eyes have lost none of their keenness. His wide shoulders still bear heavy mail with ease. Heáfod crops his silvery beard short with a simple knife. No one in Edoras can ever remember seeing him smile, only rare occasions when his scowl lightened.