The White Council

Re: Wonderfully erudite, but...

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : And they prefer to ride bare-back as well, which sounds : : : *extremely* uncomfortable to me. Is it part of their' : : : unfallen (or at any rate less-fallen) nature to have less : : : concern than men do about physical comfort, part of they`re : : : being less decadent? Or is it part of the natural strength : : : of an immortal body that it`s quite indifferent to ordinary : : : discomforts?

: : If you read the discription of, for example, Glorfindel and : : Asfaloth, the passage concerning mounting Frodo on Asfaloth, : : you will see that the Noldor do use saddles. In 'Letters' : : JRRT comments (in response to a readers query on how Legolas : : rode Arod bareback and without bit and bridle, yet the : : description of Glorfindel and Asfaloth was at odds with this) : : that he should not have put a bit and bridle on Asfaloth, : : merely a (decorative) headstall. He (pointedly) makes no : : comment on saddles. Saddles and stirrups are too useful in : : combat for even the Eldar to do without. Unfortunately my : : copy of Letters disappeared long ago so I can't provide an : : exact quote.

Unfortunately, I'm too tired to quote it myself, but your information is correct.

: Thankyou. I`d forgotten that. Still, most people use saddles : for reasons of comfort as well as for their usefulness. When : Gandalf rides Shadowfax bareback, he calls it "elf-fashion," so : it must have been the elvish way, at least a lot of the time; : Gandalf would not have used that description out of ignorance, : or if it were untrue. : : Of course, it might be that the customs of the Silvan elves : were different from those of Noldor such as Glorfindel - the : former were always more inclined to "fit in" with the natural : world, and the latter more in the business of taming it.

Nonetheless, it IS an important distinction, and we should keep in mind that Legolas came from a very different culture than Glorfindel. Not all Elves were alike.

: My point is that they either didn`t find it uncomfortable, or : they didn`t really care about whether they felt comfortable or : not - and I was wondering which it was.

Legolas had a way with horses, and Shadowfax had a way with riders. It IS possible for a horse to run in such a way as to cause less discomfort to the rider. Note that Legolas never used Arod as a warhorse. I think that is a significant point, whereas Gandalf tended to use Shadowfax as a general's mount -- commanding and directing forces, but not actively participating in the sword-to-sword or lance-to-lance combat. Of course, he occasionally used his inherent power, but for that he didn't need the support of a high saddle or stirrups.