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Originally Posted by Bęthberry
...when Aragorn's horse nuzzles him awake from the dream of Arwen. Haha, sure, funny, but how does that develop Aragorn's character or depict this supposedly iconic love and romance? It doesn't. It is just a but of cheap humour thrown in.
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That didn't strike me as funny at all-- because horses do that. I can't be the only person who's had affectionate horse slobber on my face, or grass-stains on my shirt.
When two horses meet, they sniff noses, and then if they are friends, they each dig their chin into the other horse's crest (arch of the neck.) Watch two horses greet in a field, you'll see it. And if you walk up to a horse and sniff, his eyes will light up, and he will put his nose up to yours with great, deep snufflings. You have just spoken his language. If he likes you, he will try to dig his chin into your shoulder (or sometimes the top of your head-- ouch.)
Be cautious, because if he decides he doesn't like you, he may strike at you.
Aragorn, in the barn at Edoras, was speaking in both a tone ('horse-whispering', if you like) and a language (elvish) that Brego understood. And, he brought his face close to Brego's as he spoke it; good equine body-language. You could see Brego respond. I thought this was brilliant script-writing, because it was a blend of Tolkien's elf-to-horse communication-- that readers understand-- and 'horse-whispering', that horsemasters understand. Blend them together, and the most obvious thing for Brego to do when he finds Aragorn is nuzzle and sniff noses.
It's a pity that horse-greetings aren't more widely understood. That moment was, to me, anything but cheap humor; it was a tribute to Aragorn's bond with Brego, and Brego's friendly and trusting response.