From the link below: "[The Scythians] were expert horsemen, and were one of the
earliest peoples to master the art of riding and using horse-drawn covered
wagons. The Scythian people travelled and settled extensively throughout
Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and Russia. They shared a common
language, and maintained well-used trade routes that connected their many
distant settlements. They were a nomad people, shepherds and herdsmen, who had
no fixed habitations, but roamed over a vast tract of country at their pleasure
and according to the needs of their cattle. They lived in a kind of covered
wagon which Aeschylus described as "lofty houses of wicker-work, on
well-wheeled chariots." Although they were nomadic, they had a single
patriarchal sovereign that the different chieftains all paid tribute to. His
position was passed on to his son at his death."
And much much more. Look for "Scythian wagons" on Google.
Since the Scythians first appeared about 600 B.C., and first harnessed horses
for open warfare, they are good to know about when thinking about Gondor's
travails with the Wain Riders, as Gondor is an analog for the Roman Empire and
its Byzantine successor.
Without doing further research right now, I can imagine that the Scythians
passed some of their nomadic styles of life and war, including their use of
wagons, to their successors, the Huns, Magyars, etc. Maybe more stuff there...
But thanks for getting me to read up on the Hussites and their wagonburgs!
Fascinating, I'd never come across that story. But I think they are rather too
high-tech, contemporary (the Reformation! horrors!), and specialized to serve
Tolkien's
purposes.
"Bilbo's self-sacrifice does not work out as planned, however...Tolkien's solution of the complex problem of ownership is finally moral. It comes about through the dying Thorin's repentance for his greed, which leads his followers to a generous sharing of the hoard with their new friends. This strongly fortifies the moral tone of the adventure, which began sordidly enough from motives of profit and revenge. But a good deal of rather adult territory has to be traversed to reach this consummation. One wonders what most child auditors would get out of it beyond the general impression that it is wrong to fight over who owns what. In this climactic spot the story really operates at two separate levels of maturity." -Paul Kocher, Chapter II, "The Hobbit" in "Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien", 1972.
