Shadowfax and the Mearas | Tolkien Explained

they were the greatest of all horses strong intelligent and wild it was said they would bear no men saved for the Kings and princes of the rohiram and while their most famous member would play a great role in the war of the Ring his ancestry traced back to the very horses of the Valar today on nerd of the Rings we cover Shadow facts and the meras like the great oxen of the East the kind of ARA the meras traced their origin to one of the Valar aurume the Huntsman While most Tales of ancient days in Middle Earth focus on the Elves and the edine of belarian they were certainly not the only peoples familiar with the Valar indeed the north men who lived in the north of rovanian had their own name for orume Bama inspired by the old English word meaning trumpet also known to the north men was oromay's great Steed Nahar these North men the ancestors of the rohiram had a great love of horses and the tale would be passed through the years of how Bama himself brought out of the West The Sire of their great horses the meras for thousands of years we have no information about the meras whether they encountered the northmen or simply ran wild it would not be until 2501 of the third age that we would find the tale of the first domesticated meras the lord of the eothed at this time is leod a Tamer of wild horses earlier he had captured a white foal which had now grown to be a great horse strong fair and proud no man could tame it when leod himself dared to mount the horse it took off and at last through him the Lord struck his head on a rock and was killed leod's son was only 16 years old when he becomes Lord of their people and vows to avenge his father long he hunts for the horse and upon finally catching sight of him his companions expect him to come within bow shot and kill it instead aoral the young stands up and calls in a loud voice come hither man's Bane and get a new name to their wonder the horse looked toward aoral and came and stood before him and aoral said you loved your freedom and I do not blame you for that but now you owe me a great wear Guild and you shall surrender your freedom to me until your life's end then aoral mounted him and felleroff submitted and aoral rode him home without bit or brittle and he rode him in like fashion Ever After the horse understood all that men said though he would allow no man but aoral to mount him and it was upon felleroff that aoral rode to the field of calibrant for that horse proved as long-lived as men and so were his descendants these were the meras who would bear no one but the king of the Mark or his sons until the time of Shadow facts indeed aoral and felleroff would ride to save Gondor from attack and found the realm of Rohan to the north of their great Ally in the end aoral and felleroff whose lives were brought together by tragedy would die together in battle defending the world from easterling attack in 2545. aoral is buried in the first Royal mound of Rohan and felleroff is buried with him centuries later there would be another great white horse believed to be one of the meras descended from the horse of orome that of course being Snowman the horse of King Theoden we'll talk about snowman more in a bit but as for the most famous of the meras Shadow facts despite so many iconic depictions of him as a white horse he is actually described as a silvery gray in the books shadowfax first enters the story of Middle Earth in September 3018 after Gandalf has escaped his imprisonment upon orthank with the help of guay here after Gandalf is taken by the Great Eagle to Rohan theodin who is under the influence of grima's words and poison bids Gandalf to take any horse and be gone on September 21st Gandalf meets Shadow facts but the horse will not allow him to come near he follows the horse far over the fields overtaking him on September 22nd where he would finally tame the great horse he would later recount the Marvel of his Steed I took the best horse in the land and I have never seen the like of him the horses of the nine cannot Vie with him tireless Swift as the flowing wind Shadow facts they called him by day his coat glistens like silver and by night it is like a shade and he passes unseen light is his footfall never before had any man mounted him but I took him and tamed him and so speedily he bore me that I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow Downs though I set out from Rohan only when he set out from hobbiton shadowfax would bear Gandalf away from Rohan at incredible speed arriving in the Shire in just six days coming to the gaffer's home on September 29th the following day shadowfax Bears Gandalf to Crick where the wizard finds Frodo's cloak beginning to lose hope Gandalf and shadowfax make their way to Bree that night where the wizard would converse with barleman butterbur who tells him about the hobbits leaving with Strider three days later Gandalf arrives at weathertop ahead of Aragorn and the hobbits who are also in route to amansul that night Gandalf is attacked by Black Riders he marks a stone left for Aragorn to interpret and escapes leading away four Riders who are in Pursuit Gandalf would take a long and difficult route avoiding the main road to Rivendell in hopes of distracting the Nazgul from The Ring bearer's likely path he would travel north of the trollshaws and finally come to Rivendell from the north arriving on October 18th 15 days after being attacked on weathertop upon reaching Rivendell safely Gandalf turns shadowfax loose free to return to Rohan we would later learn from aomer that shadowfax would finally arrive in eterus the night of February 22nd 3019. five months after leaving with Gandalf aomar also informs the three Hunters that King theodin's anger has not lessened over the situation Not only was it an insult that Gandalf chose the greatest horse in the land but shadowfax is now described as wild and we are told he will let no man handle him on March 1st a couple days after speaking with eomer Aragorn legless and Gimli would meet a resurrected Gandalf the White as they leave fangorn Forest Legolas sees a new horse running with their borrowed steeds hasoufel and arold who recognize him as their Chieftain Legolas Marvels at this great horse saying I have not seen his like before nor will you again said Gandalf that is Shadow facts he is the chief of the meras Lords of horses and not even Theoden king of Rohan has ever looked on a better does he not shine like silver and run as smoothly as a swift stream he has come for me the horse of the white Rider we are going to battle together even as the old wizard spoke the great horse came striding up the slope towards them his coat was glistening in his main flowing in the Wind of his speed the two others followed now far behind as soon as shadowfax saw Gandalf he checked his pace and winied loudly then trotting gently forward he stooped his proud head and nuzzled his great nostrils against the old man's neck Gandalf caressed him it is a long way from Rivendell my friend he said but you are wise and Swift and come at need far let us Ride Now together and part not in this world again shadowfax would bear Gandalf to eterus where he would heal Theoden along the way we are told shadowfax leads the other horses navigating many hidden pools treacherous bogs and Broad acres of land without faltering for he knows the way through every Fen and Hollow after freeing the king Gandalf approaches eomere and the three Hunters outside where is shadowfax said Gandalf running wild over the grass they answered he will let no man handle him Gandalf whistled and called aloud the horse's name and far away he tossed his head and nade and turning sped toward the host like an arrow will the breath of the West Wind to take a body visible even so would it appear said ayomer as the great horse ran up until he stood before the wizard The Gift seems all ready to be given said Theoden but Hawk and all here now I name my guest Gandalf Graham wisest of counselors most welcome of Wanderers a lord of the mark a Chieftain of the aerolingas while our kin shall last and I give to him Shadow facts Prince of horses when Gandalf and Pippin ride from eterus to minus tirith nearly without stopping Pippin remarks at the speed and light footfalls of shadowfax indeed his Speed Rivals that of the waned beasts of the Nazgul Gandalf reveals that shadow facts will have no harness and that one does not ride him he is either willing to carry you or not and if he is willing it is his business to see that you remain on his back unless you purposely jump off after they arrive in Gondor bear gond remarks how strong and proud shadowfax is while he and Pippin are in The Stables saying the horse seems like he is spoiling for a race rather than coming from a great journey while shadowfax would bear Gandalf throughout the war of the Ring theodin would also ride one of the meras into battle it is believed that snowman being the king's Steed was also one of this line of great horses both horses would come to Gondor during the battle of the pelinor fields and both steeds would come into contact with the most terrible of the Servants of the enemy The Witch King of angmar the first would come when Grand breaks the Gate of Mina's tirith inroad the lord of the Nazgul a great black shape against the fires Beyond he loomed up grown to a vast Menace of Despair in Road the lord of the Nazgul under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed and all fled before his face all save one they're waiting silent and still in the space before the gate sat Gandalf upon Shadow facts shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror unmoving steadfast as a Graven image in Wrath Dinan Gandalf and the witch king would have their standoff interrupted by the horns of Rohan coming with the dawn snowman would next encounter the Dreadful foe showing that only Shadow facts the very greatest of their kind could withstand the terror he brought at the coming of the witch King snowman stands upon his hind legs in Terror the witch King then pierces the great horse with a black Dart causing him to fall back Landing upon his rider after the battle the men would bury snowman where he fell and upon a stone was carved the words faithful servant yet Masters Bane lightfoot's full Swift snowman this burial mound would ever after be known as snowman's how and green and Long Grass would grow upon it nearby where they burned the Beast of the witch King the ground was ever black and bare as for shadow facts he would indeed bear Gandalf to the very end of his time in Middle Earth return turning to Rivendell accompanying the Hobbits to Brie visiting Tom Bombadil and finally two and a half years after the destruction of the One Ring taking his rider to the gray Havens as Frodo would observe then kierden LED them to the Havens and there was a white ship lying and upon the Quay beside a great gray horse stood a figure robed all in white awaiting them it is believed that shadowfax would make the trip to the undying lands with Gandalf sailing west as the greatest of the descendants of Nahar and the most memorable of all the meras as always I want to say a huge thank you to my patreon supporters who make this channel possible Tom to Bombadil 19 listen me the Cinda kellebrimbor the mighty MIM team weasel Rabbi Rob Thomas Charles Leisure Toby mob's music CCDC red team nerd sichman any timer pelkey sports cards monkey the brown Christopher carbaugh Joe Tepper Sky carcass slide belts Dane ragnarson salimerman zetrock bertelberg Grand strategy nerd Graham derekot the dark-haired one Wyland Michael Wu Grant McGregor and Debbie if you enjoyed the artwork in this video check out the artists in the description and purchase prints of their great work for yourself thanks so much for watching and subscribing and we'll see you next time on nerd of the Rings

Channel: Nerd of the Rings

Views: 121,317

Keywords: tolkien, lord of the rings, lotr, hobbit, the hobbit, nerd of the rings, silmarillion, Shadowfax, mearas, snowmane, nahar, orome, orome the hunter, valar, lord of horses, Shadowfax lord of horses, history of middle-earth, men of the west, Gandalf Shadowfax, Gandalf the White, Shadowfax witch king, witch king, Gondor, rohan, Felarof, eorl, eorl the young, rohan horses

Id: uKr0Cqh-5CQ

Length: 14min 7sec (847 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 10 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for posting on the sub! Please make sure you are abiding by the rules on the sidebar with this post. If you are looking for a place to post specific things, please make use of the subreddits below:

• Memes - r/lotrmemes
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - r/LOTR_on_Prime
• The War of the Rohirrim - r/TheWarOfTheRohirrim

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.