Éomer became King of the Mark upon the death of Théoden son of Thengel.
As King of Rohan, what was Éomer's royal sword?
Did he continue to claim Gúthwinë as his blade? Or did Herugrim pass into his keeping?
In
The King of the Golden Hall, Háma presents the King's reclaimed sword and says,
Here, lord, is Herugrim, your ancient blade
By Háma's usage of the word "ancient", I had assumed that its lineage exceeded Théoden's life, making it a royal heirloom, not limited to one owner. (If the sword was made in Théoden's lifetime, Háma would inadvertently be calling
him "ancient"!
)
But in
Many Partings, we learn that Théoden
was laid in a house of stone with his arms and many other fair things that he had possessed, and over him was raised a great mound, covered with green turves of grass and of white evermind.
By "arms", does Tolkien mean that Herugrim, along with Théoden's other armour/weapons, was laid to rest with him? Or was the royal sword left out?
How "ancient" is Herugrim?
Eomer's sword, would still have been Guthwine. There would have been a royal sword for Theoden and a royal sword for Eomer. Thus, when But in
Many Partings, we learn that Théoden
was laid in a house of stone with his arms and many other fair things that he had possessed, and over him was raised a great mound, covered with green turves of grass and of white evermind.
By "arms", does Tolkien mean that Herugrim, along with Théoden's other armour/weapons, was laid to rest with him? Or was the royal sword left out?
means that Theoden with his royal armour and arms (his sword) would have been buried. As for the age of Herugrim, none of my sources have found the actual age of the blade. 
