It may have struck you as curious, dear reader, to have heard few mentions of horses in this land of ours. It is certain that we had them, for their hides mock travellers to the Black Ziggurat (18.26), some still ride with Sir Aland on his futile hunt (23.10) and the knights of Thring raise up the bones of their dead horses (16.16.04).
Where did they go?
I’ve heard it said that when the elves fought and the Courts split (29.07), the exiled elves called all the horses to join them as they departed for the Golden Realm. Along with the great herds, the elves boarded those mysterious white barges and left our lands, swearing never to return.
The story has it that the stallion of the king of Gore had demeaned himself by rutting with a donkey. Not even the fact that this was the donkey of a middle-ranked aristocrat checked the amusement of the horses and disgust of the donkeys, who shared the news with their riders and companions.
When the elves went out of this land, the stallion stayed beside his mule son. The elves sent a courtier to fetch him. The courtier turned up his nose at the stink of the stables. The stallion turned up his muzzle at the perfume of the elf, and that was that.
The stallion is long dead, but the mules of Gore are curiously fertile and breed with donkeys, zebras and fellow mules.
Many mules—disguising their ability to talk—arrange to be purchased by bands of adventurers to ensure that the mules know of any momentous events. They try not to interfere, but are sometimes moved by pity or expedience.
Famous horses[]
- Telamar was the steed of Ulthar the Loved; he may be available for sale from Castle Tarengael's horse market (16.16)
- Alarion was the steed of The Knight of Constant Sorrow; he may be available for sale from Castle Tarengael's horse market (16.16)
- Garendar's bones lie beyond the World's Edge (50.03)
Connections[]
- Mules meet at The Conclave of Mules (07.21).
- Since the departure of the horses, the knights of Thring mostly ride donkeys, ostriches (16.09) or stranger beasts.
- Castle Tarengael has a horse market (16.16) where dead horses are revived for sale.
- In the (near) absence of horses, the knights of Thring have taken to riding a wide variety of beasts.
Hooks[]
- Does this mean that the residents of the Golden Realm are unseelie elves?
- Isn’t a unicorn (29.07.02) a type of horse? Why did it stay?
- Are there still horses in the Golden Realm?