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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 6, 2006 20:33:07 GMT -5
Ok y'all, I'm not a complete expert on weaponry but I know a good bit so I'm going to start a new info thread on weapons of Middle-Earth and Medieval Times since, you know, Gondor was once renowned for it's weapons. I will add a new weapon every week on Tuesday (or Thursday) and I will answer questions when I am able.
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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 9, 2006 13:53:51 GMT -5
Ok, the first Weapon of the Week is the Axe.
The axe, while it is widely used as a farming implement also has another use which is as a weapon. It is a highly durable tool and weapon that doesn't break easy and is fairly simple to repair if broken. The axe also has a tremendous amount of crushing power making it effective against even heavy armour.
The Battle-axe is an axe designed specifically to kill people. It is extremely sharp and usually has a wide head on it and sometimes even a double head. In Middle-Earth, the men of Brethil are the first recorded men to have used axes for such a purpose though it is likely to have been used for centuries before.
The dwarves crafted the best axes though, with styles ranging from the popular walking axe to the heavy battle-axe of Balin. Dwarves have also perfected the use of the axe in battle as can be seen by their value in the Wars of Beleriand making them the most notable users of the axe.
Other noted users of axes are the Balrogs. Gothmog, the captain of the Balrogs, himself was said to use an axe crafted from darkness.
In the real world, militia and serfs were often equipped with axes when their lords went to battle because of the cheapness and the extremely low skill requirement to use an axe.
One of the more notable real-life users of the axe were the Franks. The Franks used huge double-headed axes which they used for melee combat, but they also threw and as they advanced they would pick up used axes and throw them.
If there are any questions concerning the axe I will answer them with all the knowledge that is available to me.
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Post by Galawen on Nov 16, 2006 10:04:39 GMT -5
Cool! ;D
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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 16, 2006 17:46:06 GMT -5
Ok, this week's Weapon is the Spear.
The spear was one of the first weapons ever created, it also has many uses, just as the axe. It can be a hunting weapon or it can be a weapon of war.
As a weapon of war it has many uses too, there are throwing spears, pikes, halbreds, lances, and regular spears. Spears are also universal as they are used by both cavalry and infantry alike.
The most famous real-life use of the spear is the Greek Phalanx in which a group of Greek spearmen, called hoplites, would form a box with their spears sticking out from behind their huge shields in all directions. This was definately a defensive measure which was almost impregnable unless a giant ball of lit, flammable material was rolled through it. Most often the phalanx would have archers in the middle who would shoot the enemy from the protection of the hoplites.
Another famous use of the spear is the Roman Legions. They used throwing spears called pilums. The pilum had a long, skinny tip on it made of soft metal so that it would penetrate a shield or body and then bend so that it was impossible to throw back. If it stuck in a shield, the shield was rendered useless and the Legionaire could close in and kill the enemy with his sword.
Just as with the axe, the spear was a common medieval weapon which require little training and low cost. The spears soon turned into long pikes and even halbreds which were pikes with an axe and a spike on the back. The spike was often used to gut an enemy's horse or to catch hold of his cloak and drag him off of his horse so that he would be easier to kill. Spears are usually 8-10 feet in length while pikes and halbreds range from 12 to even 20 feet in length. The standard lance was about 14 feet.
In LotR the spear has been an essential weapon as the armies are usually described as carrying glinting steel spears. Most notable of these armies was Saruman's army of Uruk-hai who carried gigantic pikes that reached at least 18 feet in length. These pikes would not only keep the Rohirrim away, but they could also be used to push seige ladders into place along the Deeping Wall.
Just as with the axe, post me a question and I shall answer.
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Post by Galawen on Nov 17, 2006 14:27:54 GMT -5
20 Feet long? Lol... I couldn't even hold that... Has there been a battle where people have thrown them when they are that long?
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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 17, 2006 16:31:27 GMT -5
No; the pikes, which were sometimes 20 feet long, were only used to ward of cavalry and infantry charges. Very rarely were they used as an offensive weapon. The throwing spear on the other hand was between 5 and 7 feet long.
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Post by Galawen on Nov 17, 2006 17:20:48 GMT -5
Cool... Lol it would be really hard to throw the 20 foot ones  |
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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 26, 2006 20:09:27 GMT -5
I'll update the weapon of the week on Thursday just to let y'all know.
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Post by Sir Langon on Nov 30, 2006 18:23:03 GMT -5
Ok, the new Weapon of the Week is the sword, but since sword is such a broad topic, I will divide it into several categories starting with the short sword.
The sword was the original tool of war, it is one of the only weapons in existence with but one purpose, to kill. The short swords were the first design dating back to the time of Troy and the Greeks, the reason why it was short was because they hadn't refined their forging methods.
In ancient Greece and Rome, every soldier had a sword because they were supplied by their governments so that when it came time to call up the army, they wouldn't have to scrounge for weapons. The Romans called their short sword a Gladius, which is Latin for, well, sword. In these ancient armies though, the sword was a secondary weapon with the spear being their primary weapon because of the utilization of the pilum hails by the Romans and the phalanx by the Greeks.
In Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien works, not much is said of short swords except for the fact that the hobbits, because of their size, were equipped with short swords which served them very well. The most notable of all short swords in LotR is Sting. Originally made in Gondolin for the Goblin wars, it was really just a large dagger, but Bilbo made it famous, or infamous to his foes, because of it's keen edge and the fact that it glows when orcs are near. Frodo inherited the sword and carried it to Orodruin and back, but he didn't us it very much because of his role of Ringbearer. Later in LotR Sam takes the sword and slays a number of orcs and Uruk-hai when he storms Cirith Ungol to save Frodo after fighting off Shelob and mortally wounding her.
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Post by childofmirkwood on Dec 8, 2006 20:13:24 GMT -5
awesome i love swords!
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Post by Sir Langon on Dec 12, 2006 20:30:59 GMT -5
I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been really busy.
The next weapon is the Arming Sword.
The arming sword was the upgrade to the Gladius, it was longer, sharper, probably lighter due to new forging techniques, and it was definately deadlier. While every Roman Soldier had a Gladius, the only medieval soldiers that carried swords were Men-at-Arms and Knights. These were elite soldiers that trained every day and were extremely deadly. The standard Arming Sword was approximately 2-2 1/2 feet long with a single hilt, meaning that it was used with one hand.
In LotR the only armies to use standardized Arming Swords were the armies of Gondor, Rohan, Numenor, and the early Elven armies. These soldiers all had standardized weapons that were perfected and therefore deadly. In the LotR movies, the best examples of Arming Swords were used by the army of Gondor, because the Rohan swords were usually shorter and of slightly varying design.
As usual, you can post any qiestions and I will answer ASAP.
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Post by Móreadhiel on Dec 21, 2006 18:38:19 GMT -5
cool, i found some sort of broken sabre in my house , its missing the handel but has an ornamental peice on it and its real skinny probably about 2-3 foot long and about a centimeter across but anways yah i moved so thats why Iv been gone (and why I found the sabre)
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Post by Sir Langon on Dec 21, 2006 19:02:58 GMT -5
well, if those are the dimensions, it's a rapier
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Post by Sir Langon on Dec 21, 2006 19:14:18 GMT -5
This week's weapon is the Longsword.
The longsword was a common sword towards the end of the middle ages. The standard measurement for a longsword differed from man to man as the measurement of the entire sword was from the ground to the bottom of the ribcage.
While it seems that there would be no especially graceful way to use the longsword, it had many techniques and was certainly not an easy weapon to learn to use. The main technique is seen by Aragorn as he fights in LotR. But this isn't the only technique. One technique that isn't very common is called half-swording. In this technique, the wielder grabs the hilt in one hand and the ricasso(bottom of the blade) so that he would be able to use it in close quarters easily. The main medieval technique is quite surprising because of the size of the sword; the technique is to use a dagger and the longsword simultaneously. This was possible because of the advanced forging techniques used when making a longsword.
The most notable user of a longsword in LotR is Aragorn, but others do exist. Of those, the most important are Elendil, the Nazgul, and the Mouth of Sauron. These master swordsmen are seen fighting throughout the movies (MoS only in the extended version of RotK). Also, because of Tolkien's description of the 1st age Elven blades as being long, it can be assumed that the Elves also used the longsword, hence the references of Aragorn's style being similar to that of the Elves.
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Post by Móreadhiel on Dec 22, 2006 10:25:50 GMT -5
oh.... ok ... the nazgul has a sword..... Isnt it the wraith on top of it... maybe.. i dunno.
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