[snip]

: I've looked at the particular passage in the Appendices, and it
: runs like this:

: "Most of all the horses were praised, for many of them came
: from the Vales of Anduin, and with them were riders tall and
: fair, and proud princes of Rhovanion."

: Well this says that many of the mounts of the cavalry were from
: the Vale of Anduin, it says nothing of the ethnicity of the
: riders, also it implies that some of the horses were not from
: this area. Gondor may merely have purchased mounts from the
: area, the Nazgul rode Rohanish horses for example. The
: following part of the sentence implies that the horses were
: accompanied by some Rhovanion cavalrymen (though fair might
: just mean fair of face and not hair). The use of the phrase
: "... and proud princes of Rhovanion" rather than "... led by
: proud princes", suggests that this was far from being a wholly
: Northman cavalry army.

You're right that it implies some of the horses were not from the Vales of Anduin (and I was apparently incorrect to say the BULK of the cavalry came from the Vales). But the reference to tall, fair men and the princes of Rhovanion implies a strong ethnicity. The horses were most undoubtedly ridden by Northmen from the Vales of Anduin.

I have just suggested in another thread that perhaps some of the Eotheod had been recruited into Gondor's standing army, though they might not have been permanent immigrants.

: Another point, the Gondorian army arrived by sea via a long
: voyage. This suggests that the Gondorian naval forces were
: equipped with specialised horse-transports, which then in turn
: suggests that Gondor's army normally had a moderately large
: cavalry arm.

Well, it suggests that Gondor had an established cavalry. "Moderately large" is too strong a phrase for me, given we have no idea of how many horses were actually transported.

: : :...Earnur was certainly mounted when he was cowed by
: : : The Witch King, this is suggestive that the upper classes,
: : : if not others as well, of Gondor had some skill in mounted
: : : combat, though they were not from a purely horse-based
: : : society like Rohan...

: : It suggests that the officers of the army, not necessarily
: : derived solely from the upper classes, would have been
: : mounted.

: Earnil was personally leading the cavalry into battle, if this
: force was a largely allied corps, why was he not personally
: leading the native infantry of the main body?...

He may have felt the most important part of the battle would be conducted by the cavalry. However, Earnur was leading the cavalry only in the pursuit. Tolkien doesn't say where he was before and during the initial battle with Angmar's army.

: ...A leader from a foot-slogging nation would be a positive
: menace in charge of a large, wholly cavalry force. If the
: Gondorians were so little versed in mounted warfare Earnil
: would have been much better advised to leave the cavalry
: leadership to one of the Rhovanion princes.

I did not say the Gondorians did not have their own cavalry forces. I said it's debatable whether Gondor would have sent its cavalry north (although the reference to Gondor's cavalry with Earnur at their head seems to settle that point, unless the phrase is intended to be all-inclusive). I was also pointing out the fact that Earnur's being mounted doesn't mean anything more than the officers of the army were probably mounted. Earnur was the army's leader. He could have fought mounted or on foot as he pleased.

: Later again Earnur is described as going to meet his doom at
: Minas Morgul with the passage "... he rode with a small escort
: of knights." This shows that the kings of Gondor had a similar
: body of troops as the Swan Knights who were attached to the
: person of the Prince of Dol Amroth. This is conclusive proof
: that the folk of Belfalas were not unique within Gondor in
: having a mounted component to their armed forces.

The conclusion that Gondor's kings had a similar body of knights to Dol Amroth's is premature. We have no idea of whose knights they were. I'll grant you I would suspect they were Gondorian knights, but again, I never said Gondor didn't have cavalry forces.

: : There is no way to connect the Rangers' use of horses with
: : any traditions in Gondor. The Rangers had to cover a lot of
: : territory. Gondor had a standing army to maintain its
: : borders and keep bad things outside from getting in. Whether
: : it also relied upon local forces in that operation doesn't
: : reflect on the fact that the Rangers had to be a different
: : kind of force from what Gondor had. Faramir's rangers in
: : Ithilien, serving in a similar capacity but over a much
: : smaller area, were not mounted.

: Both the Rangers and the elite of Gondor were of Dunedain
: extraction and may have shared in a common inheritance of
: mounted soldiering. It isn't conclusive but it is part of the
: general evidence for Dunedain equestrianism.

There is hardly any evidence for such inheritance, if any at all. After all, the Numenoreans of the Second Age relied on other forces for cavalry. The people of Arnor were impressed by the horses in Earnur's army, not just the horses from the Vales of Anduin. Prior to this time the only indication we have of mounted troops are Arvedui's bodyguard, who fled north by horseback. Equestrianism could have arisen independently in both kingdoms, or it could have been developed for the War of the Last Alliance. But the Rangers of Eriador had a very distinct mission from the forces of Gondor.

: : : I think 300 is too high for the knights, and the
: : : men-at-arms are never said to ride into battle.

: : : The bulk of the cavalry led by Imrahil at the battle are
: : : not described, they could have included his men-at-arms,
: : : and possibly some of the Tower Guard (who as elite troops
: : : probably had mounted capability).

: : Or just a cavalry company or two stationed in Minas Tirith.
: : There is no reason to give a high probability to Imrahil's
: : leading a thousand horsemen to battle. Such a force should
: : have been able to accomplish more than they did against the
: : vanguard of the Witch-king's army.

: There were enough of them to rout the vanguard at least
: temporarily, and the enemy was being constantly reinforced,
: whereas it is explicitly stated that all the horsemen in the
: city had been commited to the counter attack. I would say that
: 1,000 cavalrymen would be around the minimum figure I would
: estimate as capable of this exploit. The army retreating from
: the causeway forts had itself a small cavalry rear-guard. This
: tends to support the view that any considerable body of
: Gondorian troops would normally be given a mounted element, as
: cavalry are not suited to the defence of static fortifications.

How large was the vanguard for the Witch-king's army? 1,000 horsemen could have overrun 3,000 Orcs and Haradrim. The figure seems much too large.

I don't argue that Gondor had its own cavalry. But Imrahil's force was probably mostly on foot, despite Tolkien's use of the phrase "men-at-arms".

: : He also studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Gothic, and other
: : languages. Tolkien did not confine himself to Anglo-Saxon.

: But at various times he was a Professor of English or Professor
: of Anglo-Saxon, which shows his special interest and expertise.

It is nonetheles inappropriate to refer to Tolkien as a medieval scholar. He was a linguist, a philologist, and he did not teach or study the history of medieval peopels or cultures.

: : I'm not saying he would have been unaware of the meaning. In
: : fact, dictionary.com gives essentially the same meaning as
: : you, so it's supposed to still mean the same thing (although
: : modern fantasy authors seem to be trying to change that).
: : But the only possible indication of numbers of horsemen
: : Tolkien gives for Minas Tirith is in "The Last Debate" where
: : he writes that "another company of five hundred hundred horse
: : there should be, among which would ride the sons of Elrond
: : with the Dunedain and the knights of Dol Amroth".

: This should be seen in the context that Gondor provided half of
: all the cavalry attached to the expeditionary army. The other
: half being provided by Rohan whose army was wholly cavalry
: (though some were unhorsed by this time).

Which context provides no indication about how many mounted men came from Dol Amroth.

: : If Imrahil was the only guy in town to have horses, I'd say
: : this was a strong argument in favor of your interpretation
: : (in addition to the traditional meaning of the term
: : "man-at-arms"). But Denethor had SOME horsemen of his own.
: : This is established at least indirectly through references
: : to the stables by the beacon towers in UNFINISHED TALES.

: The provision of royal knights for Earnur suggests that the
: Stewards probably had similar forces at their disposal.

There WERE knights of Gondor under Denethor's command. Some of them stood guard over the body of Theoden with knights of Rohan.

: Interestingly in the charge of the Gondorian cavalry attempting
: to rescue Eomer's forces at the Battle of the Pelennor Field
: the leaders of this body are enumerated as, (in addition to
: Imrahil) Hurin the Tall, Warden of the Keys (which tends to
: confirm that the Tower Guards operated as cavalry in the
: field), the Lord of Lossarnach and Hirluin of Pinnath Gelin.

Hurin was not the commander of the Tower Guards. We don't know who the commander was (if it was't Denethor). In fact, Tolkien doesn't refer to these lords as the leaders of the body of cavalry. It just looks like Hirluin, Forlong, and Hurin all joined Imrahil and his knights.

: Why the latter two were leading the cavalry and not leading
: their apparently all-infantry contingents is not clear.
: Perhaps they had small escorts of mounted men not mentioned in
: the earlier descriptions of their troops, or perhaps the charge
: of the Gondorian cavalry was deemed so imprtant to the fate of
: the battle that a number of senior, and probably charismatic,
: leaders was deemed necessary.

Perhaps. It may be Imrahil commanded them to ride with him, and to send their men to support other captains.

: : But Tolkien used old words in new ways. He delighted in
: : giving them new but familiar meaning. Who is to say he did
: : not do this with "men-at-arms"?

: I think the number of the references to Gondorian cavalry
: confirms the overall impression that mounted warfare, whilst
: not all pervading as in Rohan, was an important part of the
: Gondorian armed forces.

Which doesn't answer my question.

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