That being said, horses/ponies remain essential creatures for the characters in The Hobbit, as their presence (or lack thereof) indicates the ease of the company's journey. They also are essential creatures in The Lord of the Rings series as we will later learn about Shadowfax (whose supernatural capabilities may be an exception to the natural rule) and the horses of Rohan and of course Bill the Pony. After thinking about how Tolkien uses horses within Middle Earth,I appreciate how he manages to make them important creatures that have subtle, but definite effects on the state of the characters without adding too many fantastical or unusual elements to them.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Natural vs. Unnatural: Horses
The creatures I listed as being written as having "natural" behaviors in Chap. 6-9 of The Hobbit were the horses/ponies. I was thinking specifically of Beorn's horses/ponies since they are mentioned quite a few times when the company is interacting with Beorn. These horses display affection and loyalty to their master (or would it be more appropriate for Beorn to be their friend?) and know how to find their way home and thus behave. Granted, when the company initially came upon Beorn's horses, they acted sort of like guard dogs and ran to tell him that Gandalf and the dwarves and Bilbo had arrived. As far as I know, this isn't usual horse behavior. But for the most part, they behave as horses in our reality would behave.
That being said, horses/ponies remain essential creatures for the characters in The Hobbit, as their presence (or lack thereof) indicates the ease of the company's journey. They also are essential creatures in The Lord of the Rings series as we will later learn about Shadowfax (whose supernatural capabilities may be an exception to the natural rule) and the horses of Rohan and of course Bill the Pony. After thinking about how Tolkien uses horses within Middle Earth,I appreciate how he manages to make them important creatures that have subtle, but definite effects on the state of the characters without adding too many fantastical or unusual elements to them.
That being said, horses/ponies remain essential creatures for the characters in The Hobbit, as their presence (or lack thereof) indicates the ease of the company's journey. They also are essential creatures in The Lord of the Rings series as we will later learn about Shadowfax (whose supernatural capabilities may be an exception to the natural rule) and the horses of Rohan and of course Bill the Pony. After thinking about how Tolkien uses horses within Middle Earth,I appreciate how he manages to make them important creatures that have subtle, but definite effects on the state of the characters without adding too many fantastical or unusual elements to them.
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Great post, I like the observation that these very important creatures have such a seemingly subtle influence, though it is actually quite an important one. I think the inclusion of these animals contributes a lot to Tolkien's creation of a believable secondary world. Much like middle-earth, our would was greatly influenced by the use of/need for horses to assist with development and travel throughout history, even though this influence might seem subtle at first. its is definitely a parallel to our world.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting view as I'd actually categorize all of Beorn's animals, including his horses and ponies, as unnatural, given all their behaviors described in the scenes while they're in Beorn's land, including the scene you described, where they act like sentries for Beorn. The horses less so, but all Beorn's animals are described in a sort of anthropomorphic way. They're all, also, far more intelligent than I would ascribe to ordinary animals.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the post, I completely agree with. It's fascinating to consider the sort of vital role horses/ponies play for our characters. I had never deeply or fully considered this before, so this post was very enlightening.
I actually made my post about this as well before I saw yours. My apologies. I have to disagree with you though. Very little about Beorn's ponies seems natural, for example them helping to serve dinner. If you want, I discuss this more in my post.
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