Things of Middle-earth
Kine of Araw
Type: Animals
Other Names:
Wild Kine of Araw
Wild Oxen of Araw
Description:The wild kine that were still to be found near the Sea of Rhûn were said in legend to be descended from the Kine of Araw, the huntsman of the Valar, who alone of the Valar came often to Middle-earth in the Elder Days. Oromë is the High-elven form of his name.
The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: The Realms in Exile
In each hand he held up one half of a great horn cloven through the middle: a wild-ox horn bound with silver.
'That is the horn that Boromir always wore!' cried Pippin.
'Verily,' said Denethor. 'And in my turn I bore it, and so did each eldest son of our house, far back into the vanished years before the failing of the kings, since Vorondil father of Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhûn.'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 1, Minas Tirith
Vorondil. born 1919 ... died 2029.... [Added: Vorondil was a great hunter and he made a great horn out of the horn of the wild oxen of Araw, which then still roamed near the Sea of Rhûn.]
The Peoples of Middle-Earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 1, Ch 7, The Heirs of Elendil: The Ruling Stewards of Gondor
Etymology
Kine is the archaic double plural of cow, from the Old English cy, the plural of cu, cow, plus -(e)n.
The Annotated Hobbit, Ch 9, Barrels Out of Bond, Note 11
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 18Jun04
