The inscription on
Snowmane's Howe
from
The Return of the King V 6
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Snowmane was the steed of King Théoden, on which he rode to the Battle of the Pelennor. In that battle the horse was driven mad by the approach of the Lord of the Nazgûl, and, shot by a dart, he fell and crushed his master. After the battle a grave was dug for Snowmane, and a stone placed on it inscribed in the languages of Gondor and of the Rohirrim. This was Snowmane's Howe, a green grave-mound on the Fields of the Pelennor.
Notes
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The old word howe was adapted into English from Old Norse haugr, which could mean either an artifical mound or a small natural hill. As used in early English, the word was rather more specific. In this sense a howe described a particular kind of burial mound, a 'bowl barrow', which was a low circular mound with a shape like an inverted bowl. We cannot know whether Tolkien meant the word to be interpreted quite so specifically, but this at least gives some impression of how Snowmane's burial mound might have appeared.
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- Updated 25 May 2024
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