Where is Aeglos?

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by davem

A bareback cavalry charge is a recipe for disaster. In fact, mounted combat of any kind is incredibly difficult without saddle & stirrups.

I was thinking the same thing. Having been involved with Civil War Reenacting, I've seen plenty of people on horseback enter into a staged "battle" and still have problems staying on the horse when "combat" was engaged -- and they weren't fighting with high-impact weapons like a lance. Lack of experience of course can account for this, but it seems to me that even the greatest Elven rapport between man and beast can't make up for the laws of physics when a collision occurs. I'm more inclined to think that the Elves, having such strong affinity toward other creatures, would not have been inclined to take many of their horses into battle, unless the animal was willing, and in that willing to suffer whatever was needed for the protection of itself and its rider -- including such things as saddles and barding. The only other culture I can think of that did fight from horseback without saddles were certain Native Americans, and to the best of my knowledge, they fought that way largely by using projectile or thrown weapons in a running attack, which would allow them to stay on their mounts because there would be no impact to push them off.

That said, I seem to recall a reference somewhere to the fact that Gil-galad was burned to death by Sauron. If that was so, and he was holding Aiglos at the time, it's likely that not much of it really survived. Perhaps the point, which may be kept somewhere, likely with Elrond or Cirdan. I tend to think that it did not survive intact. Tolkien seems to have a fondness for the symbolism of the breaking of the weapon when a noted character falls in battle. Even the sword of the Balrog of Moria was broken when its fall was imminent. Glamdring probably survived only because he know Gandalf was coming back very soon and would have need of it.