The Lord of the Rings: The White Rider [Part Four and Last]

From Lothlorien, Galadriel has sent messages by Gandalf to Aragorn and Legolas. She tells Aragorn that it is the time for him to come forth, that the Grey Company shall ride from the North, and to remember ‘the Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.’ She warns Legolas that if he does indeed come to the Sea, he shall no more rest content in the forest.

Gandalf falls silent, and Gimli is at first disappointed that there seems to be no message for him: he would be glad to hear from Galadriel even if she only prophesied his death. Gandalf snaps out of his reverie and says there was a message for him: ‘Lockbearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!’ Gimli capers with joy, singing in the strange dwarf-tongue. ‘Come, come! … Since Gandalf’s head is now sacred, let us find one that is right to cleave!’

That won’t be hard to find. Gandalf rises from his seat and says they must leave now. The reunion is over; they must get to work. They climb down Treebeard’s Hill and go back to the edge of the woods and into the fields beyond.  Legolas notes their horses have not returned, and it will be a weary walk. Gandalf says he shall not walk; they’re in a hurry. He whistles three times, a high and piercing note.

Across the plains come THREE horse; not only Arod and Hasufel, but ‘a very great horse.’ Gandalf identifies him as Shadowfax, the chief of the Mearas, who themselves are the lords of horses. This is the very horse that Theoden begrudgingly gave him, that took him to Rivendell, then returned to Rohan. Now he has come to Gandalf to be the steed of the White Rider. ‘Does he not shine like silver, and run as smoothly as a swift stream?’

At seeing Gandalf, Shadowfax outpaces the other two and races forward to bow his proud head and nuzzle the old wizard’s neck fondly. ‘Far let us ride now together, and part not in this world again!’ The other two horses catch up and stand, as if awaiting orders, and Gandalf addresses them, saying they shall all return to their home, and, by their leave, shall ride on them. Legolas understands now their joy last night: they had met their chief! Yes, yesterday Gandalf had already ‘bent his thought upon him’, calling the great horse to him.

Aragorn gets on Hasufel once more and Legolas on Arod, with Gimli up behind Gandalf on Shadowfax. The great horse has a keen sense of direction and chooses the quickest path to Edoras. He sets a fast pace, but no faster than the other horses can run, and leads them all to safe fords and past treacherous bogs, knowing all the ways of his native land. ‘For many hours they road on through the meads and riverlands. Often the grass was so high that it reached above the knees of the riders, and their steeds seemed to be swimming in a grey-green sea.’

As the sun sets, it seems to be darkened to the color of blood by a distant rising smoke.

‘There lies the Gap of Rohan,’ said Gandalf. ‘It is now almost due west of us. That way lies Isengard.’

‘I see a great smoke,’ said Legolas. ‘What may that be?’

‘Battle and war!’ said Gandalf. ‘Ride on!’

 

Bits and Bobs

Galadriel’s messages are not prophecies; they are not things she has seen in her Mirror, but deductions and wise guesses that she can divine from the great knowledge she has of the world, counsels and reminders of important facts. Gimli is delighted by her message to him, and since he has ‘set his axe to the wrong tree’ by wanting to attack Gandalf thinking he was Saruman, he must find another head to cleave in his excess of good spirits. Gandalf’s head is now ‘sacred’, an interesting term to use in Middle-earth, suggesting his hallowed and protected person.

Gandalf is shown to have quite a few powers here: to bend his thought upon things from a distance (perhaps suggested before in his struggle with the Eye over Frodo on Amon Hen) and communicate with even ordinary horses (maybe shown in his words of blessing and direction on Bill the Pony before the Doors of Moria).

Shadowfax is described as a very wise beast indeed, and quite the leader among horses, tempering his speed to his comrades, leading them all through tricky and dangerous landscapes, and running almost tirelessly over the leagues. It is interesting to note that Tolkien himself loved and respected horses; he even had the job of breaking in horses for the army during World War One, another unsuspected talent for a man mostly renowned for his imagination and scholarly skills. Perhaps he even met Colonel Potter sometime along the way. (Yuk Yuk!)

Mearas is simply the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘horses’; you can easily hear it in the word ‘mares’. Gandalf (and the Elves) do not use saddles, bridles, bits, or spurs, but a close connection and friendship with their beasts to guide their paths and urge them to speed.