Strange beast. He was a she in Oblivion and it has to be the same horse. Maybe it's some evil effect from the armor, I dunno.

Naw, mere means a type of lake as in "Mirrormere" a lake located in the southeast corner of Dimrill Dale, ahhhh.... the beauty of Kheled Zaram ! But I do ramble on. As I was saying he/she is named Shadowmere since the lake he/she emerged from.

Anduin?

Anyway, enough of the lotr/shadowfax-parallels...

In skyrim she emerges from black water but how about oblivion?

wrong, in the game they referenced shadowmere as "him" when Astrid says "Noone's ridden him in a while"... that sly dog

Shadowmere is referenced as "he" and also "him".

In Oblivion she was female, Lucien Lachance himself said so.

Or its a curse and Shadowmere was born a boy. It has been 200 yrs you know

Maybe he/she's transsixual or a hermaphrodite?

Poor Shadowmere, he must be so confused when it comes to wich ball park he/she plays on...

How come this post was completely ignored? Catherine The Great references ftw!


Maybe Shadowmere, being a truly unique horse, is really genderless? It would explain why people refer to her as both male or female. Same case as with the Daedra
She'll always be a mare to me, though.

Maybe she is genderless? The Avatar of an abonimation of the Void? Maybe she's a manifestation of Sithis's will on Nirn?

Shadowmere first appeared in Oblivion, in which she did not appear from a lake.

Well they do refer to Shadowmere as he or she all the time. It makes one think the horse actually has a gender... If anything, Shadowmere looks more or less like any other horse, so s/he should have appropriate body parts, no?
I know it doesn't really matter because of Shadowmere's origins. It's simply curiousity; Azura is traditionally referred to as female, even though Daedric Princes are genderless. It would be nice to know if Shadowmere has this sort of habit too: if she usually appears as male or female. Or if she's actually genderless even in her visible form and people just say he or she for lack of a better term.

Here's a thought. Astrid just doesn't know a thing about horses, and can't tell a mare from a stallion. The rest of the Brotherhood laughs quietly behind her back every time she calls Shadowmere "he".

Mere - That is solely or no more or no better than what is specified: "it happened a mere decade ago".

It doesnt mean a type of lake...

And the horse came from a pond, not a lake. Lakes are vast bodies of water.

I think you have found the correct explanation

Not to mention that mirrormere/Kheled zaram is from the lord of the rings and not TES

Trojanmere!

Or a mere shadow of her old self?

Means a lake as well. Look it up I'm 100% sure. Also, lakes can be quite small but what the horse cam out of is really a puddle.

And you think Tolkien was incapable of using proper English?