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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2010 15:10:56 GMT
I was watching The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian yesterday with my mother, who had, to that point, never seen them before for whatever reason. Anyways, since I had seen them several times previously, I found myself drifting to the point at the end of the first where the climax approaches. It was then that I noticed for the first time some of the weapons used by the supporting cast, most notably the Fauns and the Minotaur general, Otmin. The weapons I'm talking about are the sword and polearm used by the Fauns and Otmin's massive two-handed falchion. Below are some images I found through Google, as well as a few screencaps I made myself. First is Otmin's Falchion, the one that caught my eye first:   Second is the Fauns' Weapons, which I noticed have a mixed Japanese and Euro feel to them. I had to get several images here because nobody was very accommodating and showed the whole blade. The most I could find were a few props shown during a Comic-Con, but nothing of the blade, so I had to make the last one, featuring the actual blade (or most of it), myself:      Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but wonder why nobody's ever had these made, whether custom or production, before? Anyone else feel the same? |
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Sébastien
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Post by Sébastien on Dec 27, 2010 17:06:21 GMT
Nice looking weapons, but I believe most viewers wouldn't even notice most of these blades and that very few viewers would want to buy replicas of these. In the end, whoever choose the props that get sent to the replica market probably felt that these blades wouldn't be commercially viable.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2010 17:38:54 GMT
That's probably true. Though I don't think that would really apply to Otmin's Falchion since it's seen close up on at least half a dozen occasions and it's used extensively in the final battle. Still, considering most people would only want the flashiest swords for a wallhanger replica, I couldn't see it being done. Plus, the falchion looks like it'd weight a ton.
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Luka
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Post by Luka on Dec 27, 2010 23:27:23 GMT
Btw, those magic swords in the dawn treader look very nice... Like wide bladed XVIa bastard swords with metal rainguards, slightly curved guards and type T pommels... Delicious...
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2010 23:58:29 GMT
Ah, well, I haven't seen Dawn Treader yet (and probably won't until it comes out on DVD), so I can't comment on those. I did notice one interesting thing about the Centaur's longsword in the first two: they seem to have a katana's proportions, i.e., a 11-12" hilt with a 28-29" or even 30" blade as opposed to the much longer blades typically found on a Euro two-hander.
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Post by frankthebunny on Dec 28, 2010 17:51:10 GMT
pretty cool. it's hard to see clearly but it looks like a form of ito maki on the polearms
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 28, 2010 18:00:23 GMT
I think that's because it is. They certainly have a bit of a mix of Japanese and Euro styling to them; particularly the sword, which has the pommel, cross, and wide blade of a Euro, but the shape and hilt wrapping of a katana.
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Post by Sneakypete on Dec 28, 2010 19:03:08 GMT
Yeah, those are some interesting looking pieces right there. Me, I kinda dig the humongous two-hander Oreus uses, right before he gets zapped by the witch. That thing's a destroyer!
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 28, 2010 19:27:28 GMT
You mean the one on the far right in this image, Pete?  Yeah, I liked that thing, too, but I think that since he uses it several times and Oreius is a rather principle supporting character, it wouldn't count as a "lesser known sword". Still, that thing is impressive. Even his short sword is pretty sweet. |
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Post by adtharp on Dec 28, 2010 19:30:55 GMT
I always liked prince caspian's sword from the second movie, looked like a very nice sidesword. But It was never made either.  |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 28, 2010 19:52:08 GMT
Actually, Adtharp, a version of his sword has been made by Brenno: www.fableblades.com/Telmarine.htmlAnd quite beautifully, I might add. Though, I will admit, the one you posted has charms of its own. |
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Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Dec 28, 2010 19:53:29 GMT
I too like Caspians sword.... and am quite partial to the faun's sword.
I think john (lundemo) would be a great choice to make the faun's sword....
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Post by adtharp on Dec 28, 2010 20:05:09 GMT
hmm...I like Brenno's version, does anyone know how much something like that might cost?
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 28, 2010 20:19:32 GMT
It's odd that you'd mention John, Marc; he's actually who I was considering for both the Faun's sword and Otmin's Falchion. The Faun's sword reminded me a great deal of both his Silvia Ringare and Guardian Warder, so I figured it'd be right up his alley. adtharp: You'd have to discuss specifics with Brenno, but you could probably get a ballpark figure by checking the prices on his "ready to ship" swords. |
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Post by Elheru Aran on Dec 29, 2010 14:39:21 GMT
I don't know if it's just me but I actually dig the prop Caspian's sword rather more than the version Brendan made. Don't get me wrong, Brendan's is very nice, but that's the thing... I like the more utilitarian look rather than the decorative greeblies Brendan put on his sword.
Personally, I think the centaurs' great swords actually conform fairly well to zweihander proportions-- many had rather long grip-to-blade ratios.
I'm not sure if the fauns' weapons actually have ito-maki as in twisted straps. They look more to me like they're layers of leather, the top layer with cut-out diamond holes? I could be wrong, though...
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 29, 2010 14:50:06 GMT
Elheru, I think you're correct about the Faun's weapons, at least as far as the sword. Looking close, they appear to have a layered leather wrap with holes cut for studs, similar to the old Windlass swords of Drizzt. However, the polearms, at least, appear to have something very close to itomaki. As for Caspian's sword, I agree that the prop looks really nice; nice enough that I may consider having Brenno do this version eventually (so many swords, so little money!). However, after rewatching Prince Caspian, I've found that the one Brenno did isn't actually Caspian's sword, but an amalgamation of his sword and Miraz's: Caspian's hilt furniture was silver, but lacked the d-guard while Miraz's had the d-guard, but its furniture was a gold/bronze color:  |
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Post by Elheru Aran on Dec 29, 2010 17:51:32 GMT
Now that I'm looking a little closer at the polearms, the leather wrap is rather interesting. The open 'itomaki' doesn't appear to wrap around the shaft like a strap would. Instead, it looks like some form of wrap where they raised up sections of leather on each side of the shaft but not all around it like conventional risers. Of course, it's not a high-def close-up so I can't rightly say; it could be done either way.
Though as far as Narnia weapons go, I'm rather looking forward to seeing how Weta interprets the Calormenes in 'The Horse and His Boy' and 'The Last Battle'...
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 29, 2010 19:26:09 GMT
Yeah, that's the issue, though; there don't seem to exist any high-def close-ups of the Faun weapons. I mean, if Weta still had them, then it'd be a simple matter of calling them up and asking for some high-def images, but I dunno if they still do, considering the film is 5 years old.
Well, since the Calormenes seem to be based, in part, on the peoples of the middle east in a similar way as the Telmarines being based, in part, on the Spanish, I'd say we could look forward to either some interesting fantasy interpretations of the scimitar or something like the Lord of the Rings Uruk-hai scimitar. Not to get off topic, but while that blade was efficient and matched the crude Uruks, it was hardly a scimitar. Back to the Calormenes, though, it'll be quite some time before we find out. If they keep to the publication order, The Silver Chair is next and The Horse and His Boy comes afterwards.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Jan 1, 2011 16:57:49 GMT
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Post by Elheru Aran on Jan 1, 2011 22:38:32 GMT
Very impressive collection. I would hazard an guess that Edmund is using a centaur officer's sword, as the pommel style appears to be fairly similar. Is that a Telmarine falchion he's got in that last picture?
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