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Mearas
Jun 25, 2004 7:08:33 GMT -6
Post by Desi Baggins on Jun 25, 2004 7:08:33 GMT -6
In the index of Unfinished Tales the description of mearas is The horses of Rohan. So I ma wondering does that mean all the horses in Rohan are mearas or just special ones are and some are regular horses? Was Snowmane one of the mearas?
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Mearas
Jun 25, 2004 8:38:05 GMT -6
Post by Hilary on Jun 25, 2004 8:38:05 GMT -6
From what I can tell, all mearas are horses, but not all horses are mearas. Encyclopedia of Arda includes the following about the mearas: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/
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Mearas
Jun 25, 2004 9:17:58 GMT -6
Post by Desi Baggins on Jun 25, 2004 9:17:58 GMT -6
Because of this I would think Snowmane a meara. Theoden was Lord of the Mark so I would assume he would want to ride the greatest race of horses, a meara...
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Mearas
Jun 29, 2004 2:21:43 GMT -6
Post by FIUT on Jun 29, 2004 2:21:43 GMT -6
You know something just struck me, that the horses called Mearas must have been in ME a long long time if they came over with the Hunstman Vala Orome, or Bema. He rode about in the mortal lands of ME way back in the Elder Age, even before the waking of the Elves and a long long time before Men.
From the story of Leod and Eorl it sounds like this is their first meeting with the Mearas type of horse and Eorl the Young is dated at 2485-2545 of the Third Age, thousands of years after Bema's last recorded ride through ME in the war that broke Thangorodrim and cast out Morgoth. So the Mearas had to be in ME since at least the very beginning of the Second Age. How come no one "tamed" them before Eorl, some 5000 years later? Wouldn't the Elves or Numenorean folk have had Mearas first, either from ME or from Valinor brought by the Elves to Atalante? But even the Akalabeth does not talk about special horses from either source. Maybe the whole Rohirrim people were a late addition by Tolkien to ME, and have no real backstory with roots?
I also wonder if Tolkien tells us anywhere just when the Rohirim first became horse people? I cannot find any stories that tell of the existence of the Rohan folk before the last third or so of the Third Age. Did they ride horses before Eorl The Young, just regular horses? Or did they become a horse folk as a result of their introduction to the Mearas Felarof?
Oh yeh, btw, are we supposed to see Asfaloth, the Elf Horse of Glorfindel as a Mearas?
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Mearas
Jul 2, 2004 4:30:35 GMT -6
Post by Greenleaf on Jul 2, 2004 4:30:35 GMT -6
According to LotR/Appendix A/The House of Eorl, the forefathers of the Rohirrim were called the Éothéod and were in origin close akin to the Beornings and the men of the west-eaves of Mirkwood. They claimed descent from the kings of Rhovanion and therefore accounted themselves kinsmen of the kings of Gondor. That's all being related about their roots and there seems to be no mention of them before the Third Age, as Heril says. It is clear, though, that they were a horse folk before Eorl, for "They loved best the plains, and delighted in horses and in all feats of horsemanship." And Léod is mentioned as "a tamer of wild horses."Another relevant information is found in The Encyclopedia of Arda: (This refers, I assume, to the time after Eorl.) In the Horse Folk topic (Peoples of Middle-earth board), Desi made an interesting remark: The Númenoreans could call their horses to them with thought. That brings inevitably to mind Felaróf and Shadowfax (and all mearas in general), who understood the speech of Men. As I said in that topic, this makes me wonder whether there was any relation between the Númenorean horses and the mearas. The only certain fact is that the mearas lived in Middle-earth for far too many years. How come nobody tamed them before Eorl will probably remain a mystery. -------------------------------------------------------------------- (Just noticed I became a Dwarf. That means I will now have to have a beard? Hairy hobbit feet were much better than a hairy dwarf face, lol!)
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Mearas
Jul 4, 2004 5:03:59 GMT -6
Post by Lanhail on Jul 4, 2004 5:03:59 GMT -6
You know how Bilbo was meant to find the Ring....perhaps, it is the same type of situation with the Mearas and the Rohirrim. This would be the only "logical" reason why Elves and other Men could not ride them. Perhaps, the whole purpose of the Mearas was so that Snowmane could stand his ground against the fell beast. (though in terror and in moments killed by a black dart) Without Snowmane pinning Theoden to the ground, later events might not have occurred. Of course, I say all this tongue in cheek. It's more fatalistic than even I can stomach. But, there are a few other things we can infer about the Mearas. There must be very few within Rohan. Since only the King and his sons may ride them, it stands to reason that the herds of Rohan wouldn't be loaded with grass-guzzling free-loaders. There are only three ways that this might be possible: Regular horses (with Mearas ancestry) might be able to produce the few genetically "pure" Mearas needed each generation. Or they are "semi-divine" and can bypass the problems associated with inbreeding. Or the few (of divine nature) that are needed each generation just appear on a nearby hill and announce themselves.
Tolkien didn't have to create the Mearas in order to produce a logical explanation for Shadowfax. But, he did create them. Tolkien loved horses. He loved the Anglo-Saxons. Why not give his Rohirrim something extra special even if it is one of the very few instances that he practiced a bit of "fuzzy logic"? Lanhail
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Mearas
Jul 4, 2004 6:25:11 GMT -6
Post by Desi Baggins on Jul 4, 2004 6:25:11 GMT -6
I have often wondered about the ancistery for the mearas. I wish Tolkien made some kind of family tree like he did for the Hobbits. I wonder if the mearas bred with other regular horses, they almost have to. I agree that there would not be too many of them in Rohan since only few could ride them and who wants the extra usless ones around! I wonder who Shadowfax's parents are....
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Mearas
Dec 30, 2004 16:36:20 GMT -6
Post by illadria on Dec 30, 2004 16:36:20 GMT -6
Desi,
I would have to disagree about the Mearas breeding with other horses. Just as Elven blood was weakened in sireing (sp) a child with a human, so would the Mearas bloodline. They seem a bit too proud to allow such "common" blood to mix with their own, or at least if it did, that those offspring would not be considered to be of the same standards.
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Mearas
Dec 30, 2004 20:41:43 GMT -6
Post by Desi Baggins on Dec 30, 2004 20:41:43 GMT -6
You are most likey right about that. I guess they really couldnt; keep the same greatness if they bred with regular horses. They just must have kept a very small herd of mearas around and when they needed they would breed them and some how they didn't get any bad seeds from inbreeding.
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