Gram was born in Rohan at a time when his great-grandfather, old Fréawine, held the throne of Rohan. In the years that followed, the throne passed to Gram's generous grandfather Goldwine, and then to his father Déor. Gram himself grew to father two children of his own, a son and a daughter, whom he named Helm and Hild.
In the time that Gram's father Déor ruled Rohan, it was greatly troubled by the Dunlendings, who raided its western holdings through the Gap of Rohan. Ultimately these Dunlendings succeeded in occupying the Circle of Isengard, creating a threat to Rohan's western border that would persist for many years.3
In III 2718, KingDéor died and, at the age of fifty, Gram succeeded him to become the eighth King of Rohan. He would rule the Mark for the next twenty-three years, and while we have no detailed annals of that time, it is clear that the raiding of the Dunlendings in the west would have been a primary concern. On Gram's own death in III 2741 he was succeeded by his son Helm, who would become known as the Hammerhand, and in whose time the Dunlending raiders would go so far as to invade and briefly occupy the realm of Rohan itself.
Notes
1
The literal meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word gram is 'fierce' or 'enraged', but as a noun the word came to be used of warriors and kings. Thus it fits into the pattern of the rulers of Rohan, whose names can usually be translated as meaning 'king' or 'ruler'.
Given what we known of Rohan's traditions, and from Gram's own martial name, we might imagine that he played an active part in resisting the incursions of the Dunlendings. Indeed, following tradition, it is likely that he took on the role of a Marshal of the Mark while heir to the Kingship, though no specific tales of his military activities are recorded.
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