Idis grew up on her mother's farm and horse ranch in the Westfold. From her earliest days, she was told about her father -- a rich lord of the Mark, already gray-haired, who sought shelter from a dangerous thunderstorm. In those days, as her mother tells it, the house was much smaller, and the two strangers found company with each other. Idis's father lingered for a few days, but then left, grim-faced. Idis was born soon after; she has never met this man.

As she grew, Idis developed an elaborate fantasy around her missing father. This fantasy was fed by her mother, who insisted that the man was a great lord of the realm, rich beyond every dream, and also bold, courageous and wise. Secretly, she has convinced herself that this man was none other than Theodenking himself. Idis has not a shred of evidence for this theory, knows she would be mocked and ridiculed by any who knew of it, and has never spoken it aloud to anyone.

Last winter, Idis's mother perished from a wasting sickness. Idis sold the ranch and all its herd to her nearest neighbors, saddled her horse, and rode west. Miraculously, she went through the Gap of Rohan without incident and, following her nose, took the Great Road north to Bree-Land. There, she discovered innocent folk threatened by Orcs and Goblins, creatures which ever serve only one master. Idis had found the opportunity for renown which she has long sought. She will put her body and her sword between the Shadow and the good people of Bree, and when she has earned a name for herself, she will return to the court of Theodenking and claim her birthright...

(In the first draft of his novel The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien describes Theoden as having a daughter and a niece, Eowyn. That daughter's name is Idis. She has no lines and existed for only a few pages until Tolkien eliminated her. "Gyldenfax" is my homage to that woman who never existed.)