#horse lords of middle earth

[theworldsoftolkein]

Dernhelm by Matthew Stewart

#tolkien legendarium #jrr tolkien #the lord of the rings #dernhelm #the ride of the rohirrim #the rohirrim #éowyn of rohan #shieldmaiden of rohan #shieldmaiden #éowyn #éowyn fanart #éomunds daughter #middle earth #the horselords of rohan #the horselords #home of the horselords #horse lords of middle earth #ridermark #riders of rohan #kingdom of rohan #rohan

[annihilatedthenightstalker]

Of all the lotr horses why does absolutely no one talk about Arod??? LIKE- HES THE GOODEST BOY.

He's the unofficial third wheel when aragorn isn't around, he loves to trot, and legolas calls him his friend in the books!! Like please I love him so much you guys give him some love.

#lord of the rings #tolkien #lotr #middle earth #legolas #arod #lotr horses

[g-m-kaye]

Asfaloth and Glorfindel in the meadowlands of Eriador 🌳 ☘️ 🌱 ☁️

#art #illustration #sketchbook #concept art #the silmarillion #painting #tolkien #jrr tolkien #silmarillion #middle earth #glorfindel #Asfaloth #Glorfindel and Asfaloth #laurefindil #the lord of the rings #lotr fanart #lotr #lotrart #Rivendell #horses #tolkien elves #fantasyart #fantasy painting #fantasy landscape #landscape painting #cottage core #cottagecore #faecore #faerie #magical world

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Bill the Pony

Artist: Christina Kraus TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

#mtg #magic the gathering #tcg #$0.07 #christina kraus #bill the pony #the lord of the rings: tales of middle-earth #legendary #creature #horse

[beetnik-jay]

Éowyn

#lord of the rings #lotr fanart #lotr #lotr eowyn #eowyn of rohan #eowyn #eowyn my beloved #digital illustration #procreate #art #fantasy #fanart #shieldmaiden #horse girl #girl boss #shieldmaiden of rohan #Rohan #warrior #middle earth

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

A Need of the Soul

Summary: Éomer is teaching Faramir how to speak Rohirric as a surprise for Éowyn. Come for Faramir being a sweet husband, stay for the emotional links to Boromir and Théodred. Oh, and for Éomer being a big horse dork.

Context: I pulled a JRR and wrote a whole story around a special word I like! More on that at the very bottom. You can read this without knowing any of my personal Rohan head canon, but just in case it’s helpful: In my world, Éomer is married to his childhood best friend, Mereliss. My Théodred (who you can read more about here or here if you’re interested) was a nurturing soul with a curious mind, and I may be obsessed with him. And damn it, my Éomer can absolutely read and write! (See here for why that’s the case in my HC.)

As soon as Éowyn left for the morning, Faramir pulled out his secret stack of papers, the ones he had started requesting from Éomer six months ago when he first decided to try learning Rohirric. He wanted to master the language as a surprise for Éowyn, ever conscious of how much she had sacrificed on his behalf when they married. Although he knew she loved Ithilien, he also knew that sometimes she still longed for the familiarity and comfort of home, for the people, places, and culture that were now many miles away. If he could bring some of Rohan to her in the form of her language, he hoped he could brighten her heart on those days when she looked most in need of a reminder of all that she missed.

With this goal in mind, he had thrown himself wholly into the pursuit, but the process was more difficult than he had hoped. The Rohirrim didn’t keep written records in their own language, nor did they have textbooks or primers made to learn from. All Faramir had were the pages that Éomer would write out and send to him every few weeks, using Westron to describe basic grammar rules and listing common Rohirric words and phrases by their definitions and rough pronunciations. Working from written materials to learn a language that was only taught orally was maddeningly difficult, and Faramir spent long hours alone at his desk laboring at the exercises Éomer sent, unsure if he was even getting close to the sounds he was attempting to produce.

At least he would be aided today by the presence of Éomer in person. The king of Rohan was coming to Gondor to take counsel with his allies on military matters, and he had agreed to make time for some lessons while his own wife, Mereliss, kept Éowyn occupied in furtherance of the surprise. With Éowyn gone now to meet her sister-in-law, Faramir looked down his lists of Rohirric words and tried to commit a few more to memory, repeating them slowly out loud to himself while he waited for Éomer.

“If someone back home heard you slur your way through those words like that, they might assume you were a drunkard.”

Faramir looked up to see Éomer smirking at him from the doorway, still dressed in his riding clothes and holding a small pack. “Well, if the performance of the student falls short, I think we have no option but to blame the instructor,” Faramir returned with a smirk of his own.

“A fair point, I will grant you.” Éomer strode in and tossed his things on an empty chair before pulling Faramir up into a strong embrace, thumping a fist on his brother-in-law’s back with enough enthusiasm to knock the breath out of him.

When they separated, Faramir smiled and held up his stack of papers. “I do appreciate all of this. It’s a lot of work for me, but for you, too, I’m sure.”

Éomer gave a dismissive wave. “I have the easy part. Besides, there’s some benefit to me in all of this, as well. I’ll certainly enjoy the show the next time you visit Edoras and all the ladies at court discover that you can actually understand their scandalous comments about how handsome they find you. Your admirer’s club is in for a big shock.”

They both laughed, though Éomer noted the flush of pink in Faramir’s ears and cheeks and that only made him laugh all the harder. “Don’t let them see you blush, you’ll only make it worse!” He plopped down into a chair and put his feet up, smiling.

As Faramir took a seat across from him, he felt a warm, familiar echo in his heart. The easy camaraderie, the good natured teasing balanced with true affection…it couldn’t help but bring Boromir to his mind. Faramir still missed his brother every single day and looked for reminders of him everywhere that he could. But he didn’t think it was a stretch to see clear elements of Boromir reflected in Éomer–in his strength and brashness, his earnest intensity, his fierce loyalty. They were both proud men of action with an unshakeable sense of duty and love for family. Éomer could never replace Boromir, and he was surely his own man, different in many ways from the brother Faramir lost. But it lifted Faramir’s spirits to once again have such a figure in his life.

Now his brother-in-law reached into his pack and pulled out more pages, covered from top to bottom in his own scrawly handwriting. “I’ve brought you some more to learn–words you’d hear often around Rohan and that any self-respecting Rohirrim would know.”

Faramir accepted the papers from him and skimmed his eyes down the first page, but a look of confusion slowly built on his face as he read. “Am I understanding this correctly? Why do you have twenty different words for ‘horse’?”

“I have not given you twenty words for ‘horse’! Each one of those means something very different.” Éomer grabbed the page back and pointed. “This one here, éotynde, this is an old, calm mare that would be suitable for a young child just learning to ride.” He pointed again. “And this one, éoweder, is a high spirited horse that has quickness and agility but is unpredictable and difficult to control. The others are equally unique. Do you not see?”

Faramir gently extracted the page back from Éomer’s grip, hoping to avoid a further explanation of each specific variant on the list. “I understand those distinctions, but are they really significant enough that I require a whole separate word for each one? We make do in Gondor with but one term. A horse is a horse.”

“A horse is a horse?” Éomer gaped at him, incredulous. “You think the language of the Rohirrim would put a courier horse, whose purpose is swiftness and endurance, in the same category with a farm horse, who sacrifices speed in favor of strength and power? They aren’t remotely the same thing, and a proper language wouldn’t treat them as such. If we went by your rules, we’d all be calling the blacksmith a baker because they both make things with heat!”

It was obvious from the truly scandalized look on his face that Éomer would never concede the point, so Faramir held up his hands in smiling capitulation. And if all these varieties of horse were important to Éomer, likely they would be to Éowyn as well, so Faramir would learn them as best he could. But he desired to speak to Éowyn of many things, and horses were nowhere near the top of the list. He shuffled through the papers one more time. “Have you finally given me anything that would be suitable to say to a beloved wife?”

Éomer shot him a look. “I am not the right person to consult for words of romance. And certainly not when the woman to be romanced is my own sister.”

Faramir laughed. “Fair enough. Let’s get back to your many words for ‘horse’ and I will ask Mereliss to help me with some more emotional thoughts later.”

Éomer sat back, satisfied. “I will have you sounding like a Rohirrim in no time. Now, do you know the word for a horse that likes to cause trouble in the stable with the other horses?”

**********

The next morning, Faramir spent two hours with Mereliss while Éomer and Éowyn went for a ride. When the siblings returned, Éomer sent Éowyn to Mereliss’s quarters and went himself to check on Faramir’s progress. He found his brother-in-law once again at his desk, bent over his work, and dropped casually into a nearby chair.

“Did you get all of the flowery and eloquent phrases you need?”

Faramir put down his pen and smiled. “Mereliss helped me to write a special toast to Éowyn for our upcoming anniversary. I knew what I wanted to say, and Mereliss made sure it will sound not just like a bunch of Westron bluntly converted into Rohirric words but rather something that was written by a native speaker. Something truly of Rohan. She has quite a talent for beautiful language and imagery.” He gave a sly smile. “Though she told me that you also have something of a poet’s heart when the two of you are alone in your own chambers.”

Éomer’s head snapped up, a tinge of dark red sweeping across his cheeks. “She told you what?”

Now it was Faramir’s turn to laugh at his brother-in-law’s furious blushing, so out of character for one who was otherwise always self assured and confident. Faramir had faithfully reported Mereliss’s remark, and it was clearly true that Éomer really did speak his softest thoughts to her or he would not be so flustered by the possibility that she had shared those thoughts. But Faramir had no need or desire to prolong Éomer’s self-consciousness.

“There is nothing to worry about. I know only that you are capable of words to enchant and delight your wife, which is no bad thing. But she didn’t reveal what those words are. She wouldn’t betray your privacy, and I would never ask her to.”

Éomer’s shoulders noticeably relaxed, and he laughed a little at his own embarrassment. “Well, your discussion of my clumsy attempts to please my wife aside, I am glad that she helped you. Westron is very useful, but there are some things that just cannot be said as effectively without our own words and expressions.”

“Indeed. She gave me a number of things that I quite like, ways to convey entire concepts with a single word that has no direct equivalent in any language that I know. Like sáwolthearf. Every language should have such a term.”

Sáwolthearf. The word sent a wave of fond remembrance through Éomer’s heart. It translated literally as ‘a need of the soul’ and was used in Rohan to mean someone who is necessary in order for another person to feel truly happy and complete. His late cousin Théodred, who had always been so free and generous in expressing his feelings, used to call his bride-to-be sáwolthearf, and Éomer could easily picture Eadlin practically glowing with love and pride whenever Théodred referred to her that way.

To hear Théodred’s words coming now from Faramir’s lips was no great shock to Éomer. On the contrary, it only intensified a feeling he had long had in the presence of his brother-in-law: a sense that he was not with Théodred himself, but with a kindred spirit of his cousin. Someone whose modesty, eagerness for knowledge, gentle heart and dreamer’s mind so thoroughly echoed Théodred’s own nature that Éomer felt immediately at ease in his company. Théodred had been many things to Éomer–a deeply loved cousin, but also much like an older brother and at times even a father figure–and he had carried Éomer through some of the most difficult moments he would ever experience. Éomer could never truly reconcile himself to Théodred’s loss, but having Faramir in his life helped to salve that wound.

Watching Faramir now—shuffling again through his notes and drafts, applying himself so diligently to such a difficult task and all for the purpose of simply making Éowyn smile—Éomer was struck by a profound feeling of gratitude, one that he felt should be voiced even if it was not normally in his nature to speak of his innermost feelings. He cleared his throat, and Faramir looked up.

“What you’re doing for my sister is very admirable. I know it will mean a lot to her, and for that reason it means a lot to me. Thank you, eyre-brothor.”

Faramir frowned slightly and looked back at his papers. “Eyre-brothor? I don’t think I’ve learned that yet.”

Éomer smiled. “It means ‘brother by choice.’ Write that one down.”

**********

[Language nerd notes:

“Sáwolthearf” is a real Old English word (though I modernized the thorn in the middle for readability–it’s actually “sáwolþearf”) and it really does mean “a need of the soul,” which I just think is incredibly beautiful.

I made up “eyre-brothor” by combining two other real Old English words, “eyre” (“a choice made of free will”) and “brothor” (“brother”, though once again I turned the thorn in broþor into a “th” to make it smoother to modern English-reading eyes).

“Éotynde” comes from an approx combo of “eoh” (“horse”) and “tyende” (“teaching”) for a horse that’s calm enough to be good for beginners.

Éoweder comes from an approx combo of “eoh” (“horse”) and “weder” (“weather”) because to be impressive but quick-changing, unpredictable and uncontrollable is to be like the weather.

And it’s not in the story, but Éomer’s word for a horse that likes to cause trouble in the stable with the other horses is an “éodrefa” from “eoh” (horse, again!) and “drefan,” which is “to stir things up or cause mischief”.]

#lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien #lotr fanfiction #eomer #éomer #faramir #boromir #theodred #théodred #brothers #making up words #middle earth languages #brotherly bonding #divider by saradika #the rohirrim are such horse dorks #y’all of course i’m gonna put théodred in anything i can!

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Knights of Dol Amroth by Eelis Kyttanen

#Magic the Gathering #MtG #MtGLTR #Universes Beyond #Lord of the Rings #Middle Earth #LotR #Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth #Knights of Del Amroth #Knight #Armor #Horse #Fantasy #Art #Eelis Kyttanen

[alinaturner]

I may not fight, but I do know many other things

#lotr #lord of the rings #oc #the hobbit #middle earth #lotr oc #lord of the rings oc #oc character #original character #horses #Rohan #Aragorn #aragorn x reader #legorizzzz #they’re taking the hobbits to Isengard

[thunderin-brainstorm]

What made you decide to use a Lizalfos for the character as opposed to the others? Imagine an Octorok, or Aerocuda character. maybe Liz isn't the Only Isekai...

i dunno! Lizalfos just happen to be my favorite monsters here, not to fight but like the design, their behavior. it's fun to put on the mask and bounce around with them like we're buddies for just a minute. i do really like Aerocudas though, and Stals are cool even though they're a pain. a friend of mine has a fantastic Stal isekai OC!

honestly it's more about the implications of monster nature. i know a lot of it is the nature of a game with clear villains and playable mechanics, but still! they don't speak, form societies, salt and burn the land, or have a clear commander like the invading army they're meant to be, so they act mostly like grunts and henchcreatures. the player isn't really led to ask questions about their sentience. but at least a few types are clever enough to smelt ore and forge steel weaponry, they can set up forts and scavenge tools, they're instantly aggressive towards any non-monster and yet will ride horses and have cookouts with each other no problem. it's like there's something there that's almost personhood but, because they're video game mooks, they can't be. i'd like to think this is an instance of game mechanics providing world lore ala the blood moon, with Ganon's influence over them being both their creation and drive but also the limiting factor that keeps them as nothing more than monsters, according to their magical and literal programming

and then what happens when you take someone who already is a person, who always has been a person, and put them into the form of a mass-produced, deathless non-person?

that's specifically why she's an isekai here, aside from me just loving isekai. it's that exploration of individuality and autonomy in a world where, apparently, a monster like her has never had that before. she's both a pioneer and a prisoner. i could have made her a Hylian who got poofed into a Lizalfos, or a Lizalfos who independently gained sapience, or something like that, but part of the interest for me is that complete shift from the familiar and normal real world to the scary and unknown fantasy. also the hilarity of trying to figure out what the heck Link's deal is with only vague pop culture knowledge about some old game franchise

also the funniest way i ever died in BOTW was getting kicked off a cliff by a wild horse, falling way too far into shallow water, and then immediately getting struck by lightning. therefore that is how Liz died and got isekai'd

#she wasnt even a horse rider as a human this was just a very bad day for her #also i generally think of isekais as individual stories. if theres more than one person isekaid its about the event not the people kinda #isekai oc #liz the lizalfos #brain's babbles #loz #zelda oc #botw #totk #legend of zelda #botw oc #totk oc #i think more people should do isekai ocs. mary sue era resurgence #i grew up on tenth walker lord of the rings modern girl in middle earth fics and it kind of stuck can you tell

[walking-in-blood]

I believe Edhelroch nin was very similar to the horse I knew in this life. I’ve never had such a strong, indescribable bond with a horse before Chico while in my current body. It was as if my soul “knew” his. Tbh he reminds me of Asfaloth or the horse Legolas and I share. It’s so intriguing because it felt like I was always in sync with Chico. He was only truly comfortable with me, letting his guard down. It felt as though we had an unspoken understanding between us. In fact, I could steer him without using my reins all that much. We just got each other and Chico knew what I wanted if I moved my weight a certain way. He was very affectionate which wasn’t the case for other people.

All Elves have that one horse that’s “theirs” which their soul is tied to. We’re more in tune with horses and have deeper relationships than other races of Middle-earth which is a blessing. I believe Eru/the Valar themselves gifted us horses while we were in Valinor. I know Chico was mine. He was “the one” so to speak. (In this life.)

His fur was the softest I’ve ever felt. I loved how he was endearingly rebellious in a show off sort of way, as if he wished to impress me sometimes. In terms of speed, he’s the swiftest horse I’ve ridden. Which is natural for Edhelroch’s.

I can’t describe what I’d love to put into words. It would make a ton of sense if I knew a horse similar to Chico, back then, because he felt so familiar to me.

My instructor told me whenever she was grooming him or getting him ready for my lesson, she’d talk about me. His ears would immediately perk up. After lessons he would gently nibble my arm or wrap his head around my body in his form of a hug.

In my opinion the purest love someone can have is with their horse. He was always so sweet, attentive. I’ll forever cherish him.

—Tauriel/Arwen

#Elf-horse #I’ll never have a bond like this again #this is so difficult to describe #but i tried #LOTR kin #Lord of The Rings kin #The Hobbit kin #Middle-earth kin

[theworldsoftolkein]

Riders of the Mark - by Antonio J. Manzanedo

Illustration for Magic The Gathering - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth

#riders of the mark #tolkien legendarium #middle earth #the lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #tolkien #horse lords of middle earth #kingdom of rohan #ride of the rohirrim #the rohirrim #the horselords #the horselords of rohan #rohan illustration

[swordwhale]

TODAY'S HOBBITHOLE: ELVESSSSSSS

Tolkien never said anything abut pointy ears (as I remember, and as I fervently asserted for many eons of playing them in D&D and illustrating them). He did mention "sea-grey eyes and "the elven-light" in their eyes. (cough*Arondir*cough)(IRL too*cough).

According to some knowledgeable sources, the pointy ear thing comes from the Victorian Age, where oral traditions had become legend become myth and then were bawlderized by new cultures and religions. As a one time keeper of Northern Dogs, I see the pointy ear thing as the "wild type", the Original Model. Roundears, whether canine or peoples, are the later version, less tied to the natural world, less cognizant of a connection with it.

Deep in the appendices of LOTR Tolkien states: "Elves... this old word was indeed the only one available, and was once fitted to apply to such memories of this people as Men preserved, or to the making of Men's minds not wholly dissimilar. But it has been diminished, and to many it may now suggest fancies either pretty or silly, as unlike to the Quendi of old as are butterflies to the swift falcon--not that any of the Quendi ever possessed wings of the body, as unnatural to them as to Men. They were a race high and beautiful, the older children of the world..."

In European mythology, there are a few Elven types who stand out: the Irish Sidhe (Tuatha de Dannan), the Welsh Tylwyth Teg, and the Norse Ljósálfar (light elves). Cultures around the world have their own versions of these beings who stand somewhere between gods and humans.

In my tales, some are still here, still at work in a world that is overrun by humans, and losing its natural places. For some humans, the veil is thin, and we see through it, perhaps becoming allies in the fight against darkness and greed.

#elves of color #silvan elves #high elves #elves #dnd elves #noldor elves #tolkien fanart #the silmarillion #noldor #silmarillion #tolkien #middle earth #rings of power #lotr #hobbit #fanart #art #horses #lord of the rings #arondir #legolas greenleaf #legolas

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Horses of the Bruinen

The black horses were filled with madness, and leaping forward in terror they bore their riders into the rushing flood.

Artist: Kasia 'Kafis' Zielińska TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

#mtg #magic the gathering #tcg #$0.02 #kasia 'kafis' zielińska #horses of the bruinen #the lord of the rings: tales of middle-earth #sorcery

[s0fter-sin]

galadriel walking onto that boat might be the easiest way to describe what i don’t like about this show

#its supposed to be this big triumphant moment #shes finally gotten people to believe her and shes going back to middle earth to fulfill her purpose #and its so flat #theyve tried to make it grand with the lense flare of the sun but its so washed out #the harshness of the sun on all of their armour looks like it hasnt been light balanced #and shes filmed with a basic mid shot? #this was her moment it needed to feel huge #instead it was just a chick walking onto a boat with a bunch of people watching her #even the wide shot where it pulls back and shes walking down the boat #why did you include the people on the other side? #it makes it feel small and cramped #and i know the numeanorians were huge but you can still frame her to feel taller #in that moment she shouldve felt the centre of everything #dont even get me started on the horse riding scene what was that #they tried to do this beautiful moment of here relaxing and its completely undeserved?? #she hasnt got any information at this point she still should be broody and angsty #but no we need this so it feels like when aragorn loved his horse remember that? how much you loved him loving his horse?? #the entire show feels soulless #like they went okay heres our list of everything that makes lord of the rings what it is we need to include everything #and they ticked all the boxes without ever giving it more thought #the dwarves character design is so basic #its just short and hairy people #disa is the only one that has a good design #i dont look at durin and see this dwarf prince #theres nothing that makes him stick out #say what you will about the hobbit but everything and everyone was so carefully considered and designed with love #they thought all they needed was to tick all the fantasy boxes and wed lap it up thankfully #coming out of my cage and ive been doing just fine.txt #home is behind. the world ahead #rings of power

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I deeply love all of the little echoes between the Silmarillion and LOTR, but this is one of my faves:

Last of all Húrin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe smoked in the black blood of the troll-guard of Gothmog until it withered, and each time that he slew Húrin cried: ‘Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again!’

-Húrin at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears (C. 20, the Silmarillion)

"Hail, Lord of the Mark," said Éomer. "The dark night has passed, and day has come again."

-Éomer at the Battle of Helm's Deep (C. 6, Two Towers)

Naturally, I adore the fact that Éomer is the echo of Húrin, almost definitely the single most badass human of the entire First Age (and arguably of the first two ages!). What an honor for our horse boy! The echoing quote could easily have gone instead to Aragorn or an elf, both of whom are descendants of traditions that go all the way back to those First Age events where Húrin did his thing. But instead, the line went to the heir of a newer, younger people—a people who are, in many ways, more representative of the future of Middle Earth than the old, historical communities that have been in decline or fading for some time. So I love that choice of pairing. Húrin and Éomer feels less expected but more fitting to me.

Of course, the outcomes for these two are starkly different. Húrin is facing a crushing defeat and is about to be subjected to the wrath and punishment of Morgoth himself, which leaves him permanently destroyed emotionally. Éomer has just come out of an unexpected victory and is headed for another, at the end of which he can rebuild a happy life and even come to carry the royal title of Éomer Éadig, the Blessed. But I think that's the point of the echo.

Húrin did all that was possible (and arguably more!) for a human to do in the circumstances he faced, and in the end it wasn't enough. He never gets to enjoy a new morning. But that doesn’t mean he was wrong. Day does come again. It comes for Éomer. Because if there is one thing Tolkien wants us to know, it’s that you never give in to despair. You keep going and you try again, because eventually someone will find that sunrise and live to enjoy its warmth and brightness.

#lord of the rings #lotr #silmarillion #tolkien #hurin #eomer #éomer #húrin #day shall come again #aurë entuluva #éomer is the cultural descendant of húrin

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

I went horseback riding today and my horse Dolly was pretty chill though she kept trying to eat the meadow grasses when we weren’t in the woods and a few times she’d gallop to meet her friends that got ahead of us when she was taking her good time but I had a blast

#the day was seriously so beautiful I couldn’t have asked for a better place and horse #the forest trails were so amazing and the huge meadow and the grassy hills oh my lord #ngl I was lowkey imagining in my head myself riding in middle earth #it was enhancing the experience 100% #if you’ve never gone horseback riding and have the opportunity to go sometime #I highly recommend giving it a go #I’ve gone a few times in other places but in my home state of Pennsylvania in the more forest and mountain area of the state #ohhh it was so so beautiful I felt like I was in middle earth