Kine of Araw

The Kine of Araw, known in the lore of Gondor as the wild oxen of Rhûn, are a breed of great wild cattle that once roamed the far eastern plains of Middle-earth, beyond the Sea of Rhûn. They are named for Oromë the Huntsman of the Valar, whom the Elves call Araw, for it was said in legend that the Kine were descended from the very herds of that Vala, who alone of the Great Ones often came to Middle-earth in the Elder Days. By the time of the War of the Ring, these beasts had become creatures of memory and song, their living presence faded into the remote east.

The Horn of Boromir

The most famous relic of the Kine of Araw in the Third Age is the great horn of Boromir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. This horn was made from the horn of a wild ox of the East, bound with silver and engraved with ancient characters. It was an heirloom of the House of the Stewards, passed down through many generations. The horn was said to have the power that, if blown at need anywhere within the bounds of Gondor as the realm was of old, its voice would not pass unheeded. Boromir bore this horn on his journey from Rivendell as a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, and he blew it in his last stand against the Orcs at Parth Galen, a desperate call for aid that echoed through the woods but went unanswered. The horn was later found cloven in two, one shard discovered among the reeds north of the Entwash and the other spinning on the flood of the Anduin. The broken horn was brought to Denethor in Minas Tirith, a token of his son's death.

Vorondil the Hunter

The tradition of hunting the Kine of Araw is associated with Vorondil, the Steward of Gondor during the reign of King Eärnil II. Vorondil was called "the Hunter" for his prowess in the chase, and it was he who hunted the wild kine in the far fields of Rhûn. From the horn of one of these great beasts, he fashioned the horn that would become the heirloom of his house, passed down to his descendants, including Boromir. This act of hunting a legendary beast in the distant east connected the Stewards of Gondor to the ancient, wilder world and to the hunting traditions of the Númenóreans, who had once ranged far and wide across Middle-earth.

Significance and Legacy

The Kine of Araw serve as a symbol of a lost age of grandeur and wildness. They are a creature of legend, a remnant of the Elder Days when the Valar themselves walked in Middle-earth. Their presence in the lore of Gondor, through the horn of Boromir, links the present-day struggles of the War of the Ring to a deeper, more ancient past. The horn itself becomes a powerful symbol of Boromir's character: his strength, his pride, his desperate courage, and his ultimate failure. It is a physical object that carries the weight of history and the tragedy of its bearer. The Kine of Araw, though never seen in the narrative, thus exert a significant symbolic force, representing the fading glory of Gondor and the wild, untamed world that is passing away.