In the Land of the Horse Lords
Wading clear of the swampy areas near the Anduin, we headed west towards the remarkable land of Rohan. These mountains are called "The Remarkables". They really are. Everyone remarks on them.
Only one of us had a horse...
...so the rest of us had to get there the best way we could.
But the farther we got into Rohan, the more excited we got. Mariole felt the warrior blood building up in her.
Maggie too caught the Horselord Fever.
Merry rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease! King Éomer is going to escort us off his lands, if he catches you pretending your hiking stick is a lance!"
Humbled, we went on our way. But it was difficult not to be excited to be entering Rohan, land of many special-effect battles.
The grasslands teemed with life. Fortunately, we saw few of the ferocious Wargs, and those we did pass seemed content to gaze at us and calmly chew their cud.
In addition to the fierce Wargs, we saw Wargdeer...
...wargpigs and warggasses...
And a few Warggoats clinging to the treacherous cliffs.
Rohan horses were rare. Perhaps Éomer had the troops out on manuevers. These ponies had a baby to look after, so we continued on foot.
There was much to see. Here is the spot where the Warg attacked and ate Háma, just as he did in the book.
Here is the spot where Legolas jumped on his horse in that weird special effect. I can't get over how it looks exactly like it did on the day of filming.
If that weren't enough excitement, here's the place where Gimli fell off his horse in front of the people evacuating Edoras, just as Tolkien had written!
Giddy with seeing these literary landmarks made real, we continued on to the true marvel of the downs: the place where Aragorn Fell Off the Cliff!!!
Peachy and Maggie climbed down to explore.
In a clearly unsafe manuever, Maggie leaned out to look over the edge. I hope the Middle-earth safety people write her a stern note!
"This rock isn't so high," said Peachy's Frodoll, no doubt grown blasé to the magic of foreshortening.
But Mariole can't help but shed a tear every time she recalls reading the moving the passage of Aragorn falling off the cliff and finding true love in the neglected horse of Rohan. Truly, Tolkien was a master storyteller.
But as stirring as these movie sites were, our hearts beat a little faster as we neared Edoras, capital of Rohan and the site of even more dramatic encounters than CGI Wargs.
We approached it eagerly.... Ah, Edoras!
Click here for a complete list of our NZ adventures.
Only one of us had a horse...
...so the rest of us had to get there the best way we could.
But the farther we got into Rohan, the more excited we got. Mariole felt the warrior blood building up in her.
Maggie too caught the Horselord Fever.
Merry rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease! King Éomer is going to escort us off his lands, if he catches you pretending your hiking stick is a lance!"
Humbled, we went on our way. But it was difficult not to be excited to be entering Rohan, land of many special-effect battles.
The grasslands teemed with life. Fortunately, we saw few of the ferocious Wargs, and those we did pass seemed content to gaze at us and calmly chew their cud.
In addition to the fierce Wargs, we saw Wargdeer...
...wargpigs and warggasses...
And a few Warggoats clinging to the treacherous cliffs.
Rohan horses were rare. Perhaps Éomer had the troops out on manuevers. These ponies had a baby to look after, so we continued on foot.
There was much to see. Here is the spot where the Warg attacked and ate Háma, just as he did in the book.
Here is the spot where Legolas jumped on his horse in that weird special effect. I can't get over how it looks exactly like it did on the day of filming.
If that weren't enough excitement, here's the place where Gimli fell off his horse in front of the people evacuating Edoras, just as Tolkien had written!
Giddy with seeing these literary landmarks made real, we continued on to the true marvel of the downs: the place where Aragorn Fell Off the Cliff!!!
Peachy and Maggie climbed down to explore.
In a clearly unsafe manuever, Maggie leaned out to look over the edge. I hope the Middle-earth safety people write her a stern note!
"This rock isn't so high," said Peachy's Frodoll, no doubt grown blasé to the magic of foreshortening.
But Mariole can't help but shed a tear every time she recalls reading the moving the passage of Aragorn falling off the cliff and finding true love in the neglected horse of Rohan. Truly, Tolkien was a master storyteller.
But as stirring as these movie sites were, our hearts beat a little faster as we neared Edoras, capital of Rohan and the site of even more dramatic encounters than CGI Wargs.
We approached it eagerly.... Ah, Edoras!
Click here for a complete list of our NZ adventures.