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Post by Draven on Dec 6, 2015 20:40:46 GMT
Like many, I had a pretty good image in my head of Tolkien weapons before Jackson started making his movies. They came up with some great looking weapons, but almost none of them were what I was expecting. Sting's alright (has a bit of a xiphos feel, to my eye) but I would've done it differently. I think that the Rohan swords were great, as was Boromir's, but I think I would probably change everything else. The single-edged elven swords were particularly bad, IMO. The reforging of Anduril should have made it look different (Aragorn was a foot and a half shorter than Elendil, after all) and glamdring looked awfully plain for the sword of the King of Gondolin. Hell, Sting had more decoration. With that in mind, I started sketching my imaginings of Tolkien swords. First to be finished is Orcrist - leaf blade, part Viking age and part Migration period inspired hilt with a healthy dose of fantasy thrown in. First sketch The seven stones in the crossguard represent the Valacirca, which I thought was appropriate for a Morgoth-era Elvish sword. I envision them as being opal and the wood grip being rosewood. Comments welcome! Pete
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Post by Draven on Dec 8, 2015 2:19:50 GMT
Next up is Glamdring. My original sketch: I like the leaf blade idea for Elvish swords - both because it reflects the nature-loving aspect of elves and because it's evocative of bronze age swords. The guard and pommel continue the nature theme - the crossguard finials represent the leaves peeling open on a fresh shoot and the pommel a bud. The leaf parts of the pommel are to be in a white metal, with the egg-shaped part in sapphire (I wish). For absolute canonical accuracy it would probably require gold fittings (I think I recall?) but I hate gold, so... I revised the grip for the detailed drawing: The bulk of the grip is ivory, with each of the 7 spacers being a different material, as the 7 gates of Gondolin - wood, stone, bronze, iron, silver, gold and steel. I'm not sure I like the spacer idea - might be better with cabochon-type pieces set into the grip.
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Post by KaOsBlaKbLaDe on Dec 8, 2015 14:59:17 GMT
I really like this version! I also like the spacer idea as representations of the gates of gondolin.. Spacers could work if you could make them a little thinner, and put the first one between the grip core and the guard as more of a "bolster". Don't forget about the gem settings either, as they were one of the only things specifically mentioned in tolkeins writing. I'd love to see all(or every other) spacer set with jewels around their circumference. It's hard to keep a hilt classy l;ooking without getting all gaudy, but it can be done.
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Post by Draven on Dec 8, 2015 22:53:57 GMT
It's hard to keep a hilt classy l;ooking without getting all gaudy, but it can be done. Definitely is difficult! The main reason I decided on a precious-stone pommel was to go some way to satisfying the 'jeweled hilt' requirement of Tolkien's writing. I could see adding a few more to the crossguard, but I tend to think having gems on the grip would be uncomfortable - cabochons would definitely be better than faceted, though. I tend to be quite minimalist in my tastes, so Orcrist and Glamdring probably weren't ideal starting points!
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