By Oshun
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The horse Asfaloth is first and gloriously described in The Fellowship of the Ring along with his equally magnificent master Glorfindel. Along with the members of the Fellowship, we hear their approach before we see them:
As they peered out from among the bushes, they could see the Road, faint and grey in the failing light, some thirty feet below them. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. They were going fast, with a light clippety-clippety-clip. Then faintly, as if it was blown away from them by the breeze, they seemed to catch a dim ringing, as of small bells tinkling.1
But even the act of hearing alone warns the reader that this is no ordinary horse, nor is it a sinister one like those of the Black Riders: "Clearer and nearer now the bells jingled, and clippety-clip came the quick trotting feet."2 These words are a fine example of Tolkien's ability to set a scene, capture the reader's imagination, and hold them in a state of high suspense.
Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider's cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil.3
Indeed, this is no ordinary horse, much less so is his rider a mere mortal. Clearly Glorfindel is hinted at first sight to more likely be one of those immortal Elves of myth and legend, while Asfaloth is certainly no Bill the Pony of humble origins.
Tolkien's legendarium has no shortage of unique and heroic horses in both The Lord of the Rings and the chronologically earlier Silmarillion. I have already written a biography here about one of my favorite among the many noble Silmarillion horses: 4 the brave steed of Fingolfin who carried the King of the Noldor into single combat against the dark Vala Morgoth: "Now Rochallor had stayed beside the king until the end, but the wolves of Angband assailed him, and he escaped from them because of his great swiftness, and ran at last to Hithlum, and broke his heart and died."5 He is brave and loyal to the end and dies doing the work he has been trained to do.
Like Rochallor, Glorfindel's Asfaloth also is brave and exceptionally well-trained. When Glorfindel discovers that Frodo has been injured and the Fellowship is being pursued by the Black Riders, he places the Ring-bearer Frodo upon Asfaloth's back and orders the horse to carry the Hobbit to safety across the Ford of Bruinen.6 Asfaloth is a remarkable horse, intelligent enough to understand Glorfindel's verbal instructions, brave enough to protect Frodo at all cost, and fast enough to outpace the "great black horses of the undead Ringwraiths"7 reaching the Fords ahead of them.
Lynn Forest-Hill wrote an interesting article for the British Tolkien Society, focusing upon horses in Tolkien's work, and notes that "[a]cross the world, many cultures include an appreciation, even reverence, for the beauty, power and faithfulness of horses, and many myths depict their close association with heroes," going on, however, to mention that Tolkien "in his literary quest to create a mythology for England, would have been hard pressed to find indigenous English myths or legends as sources for his horses and their heroes. England has little in the way of horse-based mythology. . . ."8 Forest-Hill mentions the Uffington White Horse as a hint of prehistoric interest in mythical horse tales. Some scholars believe the giant abstract white chalk outline of a horse on an Oxfordshire hillside may have been designed as early as the beginning of the Iron Age nearly 3,000 years ago, a "monumental reminder of Britain's ancient past."9 But one does not have to assume Tolkien looked back into the prehistory of the British Isles or Alexander the Great's mighty Bucephalus to have found inspiration for his remarkable fictional horses.
Humphrey Carpenter in his biography of Tolkien notes that, during his summer vacation of 1912, Tolkien "went into camp for a fortnight with King Edward's Horse, a territorial cavalry regiment."10 In his book Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth, John Garth assumes this brief experience caused Tolkien to further develop "a strong affinity with horses, which he loved." According to Garth, he "became a de facto breaker-in. No sooner had he broken one horse in but it was taken away. Another would then be given to him and he had to start the process again."11 In any case, Tolkien gained some personal know-how relating to working with horses, which I for one have found engenders not simply familiarity but attachment.
A much-cited letter from a Tolkien fan Rhona Beare raises the kind of question related to literary canonicity, which makes me twitch with impatience. Ms. Beare needed to know why "Glorfindel's horse [is] described as having a 'bridle and bit' when Elves ride without bit, bridle or saddle?"12
Professor Tolkien had a lot more patience than I have and gave great fan service in those early years after publication. He wrote a response saying,
I could, I suppose, answer: 'a trick-cyclist can ride a bicycle with handle-bars!' But actually bridle was casually and carelessly used for what I suppose should have been called a headstall. Or rather, since bit was added long ago . . . I had not considered the natural ways of elves with animals. Glorfindel's horse would have an ornamental headstall, carrying a plume, and with the straps studded with jewels and small bells; but Glor. would certainly not use a bit. I will change bridle and bit to headstall.13
And he did, in fact, make that change within the next edition of The Fellowship of the Ring.
However much one enjoys Tolkien's horses, it seems a shame that, as Una McCormick writes in one of my best loved nonfiction anthologies focused upon Tolkien and women (Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J. R. R. Tolkien), "there are more named horses than named women in The Lord of the Rings."14 I care far more about the lack of women characters than Ms. Beare's concern for Asfaloth's bridle and bit. When Peter Jackson in his film trilogy gave Arwen the role of Glorfindel in riding Asfaloth and saving Frodo at the Ford, I complained. There were so many other ways of giving canon Arwen more screen time. There were other women characters whom Jackson might have included as well. Instead, he deprived us of that magical scene of our first glimpse of Asfaloth and Glorfindel and replaced it with the hackneyed trope of a spunky female character wisecracking with a dour if intrepid hero (neither characterization particularly close to the canon ones). At the same time, Jackson took the agency from Frodo for summoning the courage to save himself and made Asfaloth simply one among many handsome horses in the film.
In the film version, Arwen holds Frodo in her arms as she rides Asfaloth toward the Ford and safety. Book Frodo takes responsibility, trusting Glorfindel and Asfaloth, to control his own destiny. Glorfindel explains to Frodo that to succeed he must ride alone, but reassures him that Asfaloth is a capable and worthy mount:
'You shall ride my horse,' said Glorfindel. 'I will shorten the stirrups up to the saddle-skirts, and you must sit as tight as you can. But you need not fear: my horse will not let any rider fall that I command him to bear. His pace is light and smooth; and if danger presses too near, he will bear you away with a speed that even the black steeds of the enemy cannot rival.'15
Frodo is reluctant to ride, not only because he is terrified, which he certainly is, but because he is unwilling to leave his comrades behind. Glorfindel explains that it is his role as ring-bearer that endangers the Fellowship at that point. When the Riders draw close, Frodo rises to the occasion despite his fear:
'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called to the horse in the elf-tongue: noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth! At once the white horse sprang away and sped like the wind along the last lap of the Road. At the same moment the black horses leaped down the hill in pursuit, and from the Riders came a terrible cry, such as Frodo had heard filling the woods with horror in the Eastfarthing far away.16
And Asfaloth, as Glorfindel predicted he would, also does his duty to Frodo and his master. The Dark Riders and their demon horses draw close but never overtake Frodo and Asfaloth:
He shut his eyes and clung to the horse's mane. The wind whistled in his ears, and the bells upon the harness rang wild and shrill. A breath of deadly cold pierced him like a spear, as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider. Frodo heard the splash of water. It foamed about his feet.
He felt the quick heave and surge as the horse left the river and struggled up the stony path. He was climbing the steep bank. He was across the Ford.17
What manner of horse is Asfaloth? Within the text, one reads that he carries Glorfindel and is named only as an elf-horse. Over the years readers have speculated extensively about his origins and even mortality, comparing him to other great horses, recalling Nahar, the steed of Oromë, or comparing him in courage and skill to Rochallor, the warhorse of Fingolfin mentioned above.
Others have suggested that perhaps Asfaloth is a descendant of those horses of the Noldor who accompanied the host of Fëanor to Middle-earth:
From few their horses had increased swiftly, and the grass of Ard-galen was rich and green. Of these horses many of the sires came from Valinor, and they were given to Fingolfin by Maedhros in atonement of his losses, for they had been carried by ship to Losgar.18
All we are told in the texts of Asfaloth is his name, that he is white, that he carries Glorfindel, succeeds in bringing Frodo safely to the haven of Rivendell, and that the terrifying black horses of the Nazgûl are no match for this mighty elf-horse.
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Oshun's Silmarillion-based stories may be found on the SWG archive.
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