I think the headstall and bells on Glorfindel's horse are all part of the 'there are few even in Rivendell who can ride openly against the Nine'.
Unlike Aragorn, who is like Middle Earth SAS, hoping not to be noticed by the bad guys until decisive action must be taken, Glorfindel is not undercover. He is a helicopter gunship of ME: the bad guys can hear him coming and they KNOW he is bad news, so unless they are at the Balrog level, they get out of the way.
I also assume that Glorfindel's bling, and the beryl that he leaves on the bridge, are not merely decorative but actually have a power of their own: not anything like the Rings, of course, but maybe something more like the Lembas that Gollum cannot eat, or the smell of Lorien on his hands which he finds repellent. Or even the threat of Sting in Sam's hands, when we see it briefly through goblin eyes in the tower of Cirith Ungol.
Glorfindel does ride with a saddle, of course, so I suppose Fingon might too. I believe saddles can be more comfortable for the horse in terms of weight distribution? But I'm OK with the idea of Elves in general preferring to ride without bridles, or at least only using bitless ones. The idea that Men aren't quite so good at riding so invented the bit seems convincing to me.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-09-18 01:45 pm (UTC)I think the headstall and bells on Glorfindel's horse are all part of the 'there are few even in Rivendell who can ride openly against the Nine'.
Unlike Aragorn, who is like Middle Earth SAS, hoping not to be noticed by the bad guys until decisive action must be taken, Glorfindel is not undercover. He is a helicopter gunship of ME: the bad guys can hear him coming and they KNOW he is bad news, so unless they are at the Balrog level, they get out of the way.
I also assume that Glorfindel's bling, and the beryl that he leaves on the bridge, are not merely decorative but actually have a power of their own: not anything like the Rings, of course, but maybe something more like the Lembas that Gollum cannot eat, or the smell of Lorien on his hands which he finds repellent. Or even the threat of Sting in Sam's hands, when we see it briefly through goblin eyes in the tower of Cirith Ungol.
Glorfindel does ride with a saddle, of course, so I suppose Fingon might too. I believe saddles can be more comfortable for the horse in terms of weight distribution? But I'm OK with the idea of Elves in general preferring to ride without bridles, or at least only using bitless ones. The idea that Men aren't quite so good at riding so invented the bit seems convincing to me.