Posted: May 10, 2000 at 15:50:24: by Jim Gregors
: How come it took, according to the Tale of Years, over three days for Shadowfax to take Gandalf and Pippin to Minas Tirith from the campsite? The distance was: "Thrice as far as the dwellings of King Theoden,and they are more than a hundred miles east from here, as the messengers of Mordor fly. Shadowfax must run a longer road." So, let's say 400 miles, or about 650km. A cyclist could almost go that fast, what took Shadowfax so long? Probably Tolkien just didn't think of it that much, but perhaps someone can come up with something else in the poor beast's defence.If you have ever ridden a horse at more than a canter for any period of time, you would understand that the physical demands upon the rider are as great as those upon the mount. Even if Shadowfax could have maintain a constant speed of 10 mph for 72 hours without rest, Gandalf and Pippin could not have stood the pace. Therefore, Shadowfax was probably forced to move at the quickest pace his riders could stand, which may have been considerably slower than his maximum speed.
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