Valiant riders vault into the saddles of stamping steeds. Bright sunlight blazes on burnished mail and gleams on golden hair. Spears clash against shields in a clamour and the high note of a horn is heard. The Rohirrim ride in wrath to war! As the din dwindles into the distance and the dust settles, a lone figure is left behind, longing for battle.

This hobbit-lass has found herself far from home indeed. It all began with a waggon laden with the Southfarthing’s finest pipeweed, bound for parts unknown… a tall tower and a stern and terrible Wizard… but that’s a long story. Now she is in the realm of Rohan, and wishes more than anything to join the ride of the Rohirrim, but she has been deemed too small for war and left behind. Nothing can stop her from looking the part though! The best way to blend in with the Rohirrim is clearly to don some impressive armour and then decorate everything with horses. Everything. Horses on her helm, horses on her shoulders, and a great big horse on her cloak. As for a noble steed… well, this one’s not very swift nor very majestic, but it will have to do!

Please excuse the deliberate grammatical error in the title of this outfit, but I’ll do anything — including committing the atrocity of dropping the definite article and using a mass noun as a countable noun — in service of a guise-related pun. “What are you dressed as?” “Oh, I’m a Fauxhirrim.” I suppose you could be more grammatically correct and say “a Rider of Fauxhan”, but without alliteration it’s just not as funny! Anyway, with the release date for the Helm’s Deep expansion getting ever closer, I thought a Rohan-based guise was in order to finish up this year’s collection of Harvestmath “guises”. I think this outfit is funniest if worn by a hobbit or a dwarf — characters that clearly would not be numbered among the Riders. I chose the bright blue, a colour that I would normally avoid in a Rohan-inspired look, to try to call more attention to the jokey nature of the outfit — rose or purple would probably work just as well. But of course on a Man, with the colour toned down to olive or perhaps Rivendell green, I think this would make a perfectly legitimate (if elaborate) Rider’s outfit.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s collection of Harvestmath guises! I’ll now be returning to (ir)regular, (un)scheduled outfit posts. Since I won’t necessarily be posting a new outfit each Wednesday, as I used to do, I invite everyone to follow the blog via Twitter, or by email (click “subscribe by email” in the sidebar to the right), or on Pinterest. That way, you won’t miss what’s new. Until next time, happy outfitting!

• Head: Helm of Rohan (purchased — LOTRO Store), Evendim blue
• Shoulders: Shoulders of the Hammerhand (pre-order — Helm’s Deep), default
• Back: Shieldman’s Woolen Cloak (quest reward — Dunland [72] Trophies of the Enemy), Evendim blue
• Chest: Hall-general’s Breastplate (bartered — Twenty-first Hall Captain trainer), Evendim blue
• Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the Aurochs (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Helegrod cosmetic clothing – medium), Evendim blue
• Legs: Ceremonial Leggings of the Brazen Call (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Moria cosmetic clothing – heavy), Evendim blue
• Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Aurochs (bartered — skirmish camp cosmetics quartermaster/Helegrod cosmetic clothing – medium), Evendim blue

Tips: A ceremonial version of the cloak used in this outfit is available for purchase at Lalia’s Market at the time of this post. The Hall-captain’s Breastplate (bartered — Echad Andestel Captain trader or Caras Galadhon Captain trainer or Ost Galadh Captain trainer) shares the same appearance as the breastplate used in this outfit. The Leggings of the Axe-handler (bartered — Shadowed Refuge heavy armour trader) and Shield-bearer’s Leggings (bartered — Shadowed Refuge heavy armour trader) have the same appearance as the leggings used in this outfit. The hobby-horse is really the “punchline” of this guise. If you’re lucky enough to have won a Hobby-horse at last year’s Yule festival, you’ll be able to gallop around in select locations throughout Middle-earth, but if you were unlucky like me, your hobby-horse riding will be limited to the repeatable quest in Harwick. You might instead have a friend wear the Cloak of the Equine (deed reward — Horsing Around) and tell people that your friend is your steed.

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