horncall of buckland

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

There was no "magic talking horn" involved. In the Scouring of the Shire, when Merry rides off, he says that he's going to blow the horn of Rohan to give the ruffians some "different music," and shortly thereafter, Sam "heard Merry change the note, and up went the Horn-cry of Buckland, shaking the air." If a specific magic horn was required, Merry would not have been able to play it on another horn. It was nothing more than a specific sequence of notes, devised by the folk of Buckland to be a warning of danger, summoning aid. Heaven knows there are plenty of examples in history of specific horn or bugle calls being used for specific purposes — like attack, retreat, go to sleep, etc., or to identify certain inidivuals, as Tolkien mentions Faramir's horn call in The Siege of Minas Tirith.

I actually did write my take on the horn call of Buckland as the introduction to my theme for Merry in my FotR symphony, but it's in one of the movements that currently exists only as a rather mediocre sounding recording of a MIDI instrument rendition. Maybe I should post it on my site, anyway, 'cause it doesn't look as if I'll finish rescoring it in the near future....