 The Dúnedain of Gondor and the Rohirrim are distantly related (having, in-universe, descended from the same place), However, as opposed to the inhabitants of Gondor, who were portrayed as enlightened and highly civilized, the Rohirrim were portrayed as being on a lower level of enlightenment.The names and many details of Rohirric culture are derived from Germanic cultures, particularly that of the Anglo-Saxons and their Old English language, towards which Tolkien felt a strong affinity.Anglo-Saxon England was defeated by the cavalry of the Normans at the Battle of Hastings, and some Tolkien scholars have speculated that the Rohirrim are Tolkien's wishful version of an Anglo-Saxon society that retained a "rider culture", and would have been able to resist such an invasion.