Lord Of The Rings Horses Brego And Hasufel Have Passed Away, Viggo Mortensen Says

It's not hard to get attached to animals, and that's exactly what happened to Viggo Mortensen during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Mortensen purchased three of the horses used during filming when they went on sale, and said this week that two of the horses Mortensen adopted have passed away, the actor said in a recent interview.

Speaking to NME about his new film, Falling, Mortensen talked about the steeds when the interview touched on the trilogy.

"There were actually three horses that I bought, they were up for sale once the movies were done. There were the two I’d ridden–a chestnut and then the big bay that Aragorn rides–but I also bought the white horse that Arwen rides in The Fellowship Of The Ring when she’s being chased through the forest by the Black Riders," Mortensen explained. The first two horses, named Uraeus and Kenny, Mortensen said, have passed away. Uraeus was credited as Brego in the films, and Kenny as Hasufel. The third horse he purchased for the stuntwoman who rode the horse in that scene, and that one is still around.

"The other two have passed away. They were of a certain age already when we were shooting and that's 20 years ago now," Mortensen said. Mortensen isn't the only actor to adopt an animal they worked with; Sophie Turner adopted her Game of Thrones dire wolf, Lady, as well.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy arrived on 4K UHD Blu-ray just in time for the holidays. The long-running Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG is apparently coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X with enhancements to capitalize on the upcoming Amazon Lord of the Rings television show. Amazon is working on a Lord of the Rings MMO, too, though the company is shooting for a 2023 release.