The older Woodmen still remember when the Wizard, Radagast, dwelled with them, and taught them much subtle lore of beasts and of growing things. Even before this, the Woodmen had tamed wolves (once tamed, they were called hounds), but it was a lengthy, arduous, and dangerous process. With the wisdom of the Wizard, it became much more subtle, more effective. Still a tremendous challenge, though, for one needed to find a strong wolf, away from its pack. A weak wolf, one left behind or shunned by its pack, was of little value to the Woodmen in their struggles to survive and to beat back the Shadow. And a lone wolf, one that chose to eschew a pack, would be unable to live amongst and work with the settlement, its people and its hounds. But a strong wolf away from its pack was a rare thing to find, an opportunity that could not be ignored when it occurred.
The rest of the time, the Woodmen would have to breed the hounds they did have. Heriwulf was the one in his settlement who tended the hounds, bred them, trained them, made them ready to aid the others of the settlement in hunting, guarding, and whatever else they set out to do. He had learned this trade from his stepfather, and considered it nearly the only good to come from the man, who he otherwise despised, because he was too weak to lead, but too insecure to follow.
There were only a dozen or so hounds in his settlement, and you could only breed them so far, without new blood, and he had not tamed a new wolf in two years. As the winter snows were melting up the sides of the Misty Mountains and the bitches were starting to get frisky, Heriwulf selected the strongest male and the strongest female from his pack, and set out west towards the Anduin, bound for another Woodmen settlement beyond it in the foothills.
He brought little by way of gear and supplies. His cloak would serve to keep him warm at night, along with the two hounds sleeping on either side of him. Water came from streams, and later, the Great River itself. While hunting in the early spring was not plentiful, between his spear and bow, and his hounds, no one would go hungry. The journey was not without its challenges, but they were familiar challenges for any Woodman. For him, the hardest part was hoping he had timed the journey well. If the bitch went into heat too early… His hounds were well-trained enough that he could throw meat in front of one while it was hungry and it would not take it until he said it could, but even his training could not compete with a female in heat.
It took ten days to reach the other settlement, then two for the breeding to be done. His sire was bred to the strongest female in the settlement, and their strongest stud was bred to his female. Each pack was bettered by new blood from the other. He enjoyed the company of the settlement's hound-friend while he waited for the hounds to do their business. She was a colorful sort, lively and prone to saying unexpected things. He liked her, though he found her company challenging after more than a day; hound-tamers were, by nature, strong personalities, forceful and domineering, and two of them together too long could wear on one another.
He was glad to be on his way back home, just him and his hounds and the vales of the Anduin.
