"Then at last
Húrin sprang into his saddle, and his golden banner was unfurled, and the trumpets sang again in the morning..."
Húrin mounts Arroch on his departure for the
NirnaethUnfinished Tales Part One II
Narn i Hîn Húrin
The name of the steed of Húrin, meaning simply 'noble horse'. Arroch would have been stabled at Húrin's house in the southern parts of Dor-lómin. It was on Arroch that Húrin rode away one bright morning in the month of Lothron to join the great and disastrous battle that would become known as the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Húrin was captured in that battle, and held in long captivity in Angband, but the fate of Arroch is not recorded. In accounts of the battle itself, Húrin was not mounted,1 which might mean that Arroch had been slain by that point in the battle, or that Húrin had left the horse stabled and marched into the battle on foot. Though Arroch's fate is not recorded, it does not seem likely that the horse would have long survived the battle.2
Notes
1 |
As the forces of Morgoth came against the defending Elves and Men, it is said of Húrin that he 'stood beside Fingon' (Quenta Silmarillion 20, Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad). So, whether or not Arroch had entered the battle itself, it seems clear that Húrin had no mount by this stage in the fighting.
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2 |
If we assume that Húrin had left Arroch behind before the battle, then the horse would presumably have been stabled at the fortress of Barad Eithel. We're not told precisely what happened to the defences of Hithlum, but the lands that Barad Eithel protected were soon overrun by Morgoth's forces, so we can presume that the defenders were slain, and their fortresses either captured or destroyed. In such a case, Arroch's chances of survival would have been slim.
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- Updated 7 January 2023
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