#lotro

when one of the mares was giving birth, 14 year old wulfe stayed with her the whole time because this was the mare's first baby and both the mare and wulfe were stressed as hell. i like to think that wulfe's terribly empathetic heart was channeling a lot of the horse's stress.

all went well, and wulfe was immediately smitten with the foal. her father said that since she witnessed the entire birth, she could name the foal. she named her ridda, vaguely meaning knight (according to tolkien gateway), because she believed that her new best friend would grow to be valiant and loyal.

the two practically grew up together and wulfe was given the responsibility of training ridda. when wulfe ran away from home, she did so on the back of ridda. ridda was her sole companion during the many years that she roamed eriador. they went through angmar together, faced the darkness of moria and mirkwood, and eventually traveled south alongside the grey company.

after the battle of the fords of isen and returning to lorien, wulfe unfortunately had to make the difficult decision to leave ridda behind as she ventured down the anduin. the elves promised that ridda would be safe with them until wulfe was able to return. wulfe did not believe this was an adventure she'd come back from, but she appreciated their words nonetheless. because even if she did never make it back, she knew that her beloved horse would be in good hands.

in rohan, she acquired her war steed who she calls lore, in honor of lorniel. it took quite some time for wulfe to get used to riding a horse that wasn't ridda, but she has grown to love lore and sees her as a great companion. lore has served as a steady presence as wulfe faces returning to her homeland after so long away. needless to say, wulfe adores both of her horses and would die for them.