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Published: 2005-11-25 00:51:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 80190; Favourites: 1048; Downloads: 1405
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Ok.. i managed to scan a couple of sketches so i'm posting one.. This is basically a scrap, but i just wanted to show it.. perhaps i'll dump it later. Anyway, i still gave it the "brown paper treatment" just for the heck of it.So, it's a sword design sketch i did a while ago for my Oath of Fëanor illustration (i'm working on that but i don't know when i'll have the time to finish it.. if you like you can go see the current stage here: [link] ).
Normal pencil stuff.. i wanted to show that each of these characters have a different personality and also a different fighting style. So i drew swords that seemed fitting for each of them. Some of these i had already designed and you might recognize from the earlier drawings (they are the more random ones, i guess..
EDIT:
After aswering a comment below I thought I'll need to explain this a bit more:
If i think of fighting styles and weapons i see Maedhros, Caranthir, Fingolfin, Fingon, Angrod and Aegnor as quite military minded characters, Finrod, Celegorm and the twins as more hunter/ranger kind and the rest as people who wielded weapons more out of necessity.
I picture Fëanor, Maedhros, Celegorm, Curufin, Fingolfin, and especially Fingon, Caranthir and Aegnor as aggressive offensive fighters and the others as more careful, "defence comes first" kind.
For defence, all would carry shields to battle except Fingon, Caranthir and Aegnor whom I see as more "running-straight-at-you-obvious-to-danger-while-screaming-and-wielding-a-two-handed-weapon" types as well as Celegorm and Finrod who would be skilled swordsmen and trusting their "parry-riposte-counterattack" style with a two-handed blade rather than a shield. Fingon and Celegorm (and probably Finrod, Caranthir and the twins too) also carried bows, which would be part of the reason why they didn't carry shields.
The swords are all drawn roughly to scale, so their sizes are comparable with each other. Fingon's sword is the only true two-hander; it's basically an early Medieval English type "short" two-handed sword, about 4½ feet long. The swords of Fingolfin, Finrod, Aegnor, Celegorm and Caranthir are hand-and-a-half swords, or bastard swords, used with one or (mainly) both hands (though Fingolfin, being the strongest, often wielded Ringil one-handed and carried a shield). Maglor's sword is basically a cavalry sabre with some katana flavour, Curufin's is a scimitar and the swords of Turgon, Orodreth and the twins fall in the wide category of (antique style) broadswords. All these are often used with a shield. The swords of Fëanor, Maedhros and Angrod are "knight's swords" ie. long, straight-bladed broadswords used together with a shield and wielded in one hand.
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Comments: 139
Aankai-Rain [2008-02-01 19:00:08 +0000 UTC]
I shll be back to claim this scetch as my fevourite
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
loganmc3 [2007-12-11 02:13:40 +0000 UTC]
sweet i wish i could do that but my sword always come out uneven
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KyrieofAccender [2007-11-23 02:51:09 +0000 UTC]
Wow... the detail is fantastic. They're really all beautiful.... (I want one. lol)
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iluvobiwan91 [2007-10-24 01:42:28 +0000 UTC]
I stink at swords and these are so incredibly beautiful! I really can't pick one I don't like! ^_^
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SpiffNifty [2007-10-09 02:13:38 +0000 UTC]
I really like the fact that you included the sheath's as well. Most people forget about them. Kudo's
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Loveable-Retard [2007-09-21 06:54:08 +0000 UTC]
these are such cool swords all of them, orcs beware lol. i really want malgor and maedhros, the awesome lol
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dragon-master0201 [2007-08-29 19:02:42 +0000 UTC]
I really like feanor and caranthir, theyre awesome!
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
KateKaz [2007-08-08 00:05:39 +0000 UTC]
I think Tolkien would appreciate your keen eye for detail and your dedication to his myth. These swords, although characters in and of themselves, fit the characters of their masters well. I'm also glad to see that you're putting so much thought into the designs of these swords that might not be shown as well and clearly in your later drawing as they are here. You've got a real talent for being thorough
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aautio In reply to KateKaz [2007-08-20 18:23:24 +0000 UTC]
Thank you very much! Yes... I'm often quite obsessed with details. Nice to hear it's appreciated.
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Revix In reply to ??? [2007-05-07 14:33:07 +0000 UTC]
Super Colection of sords A have 2 get 1 2 in Archlord ^^
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Zegovia In reply to ??? [2007-02-17 22:34:19 +0000 UTC]
Wow... this is really impressive... *fave*
Nice names for the swords also, do they mean anything special or did you just made em up..
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aautio In reply to Zegovia [2007-03-04 12:29:22 +0000 UTC]
Thank you!
The names are not actually for the swords, they're the ones of their owners. And I didn't make them up; they're characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's mythology.
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Zegovia In reply to aautio [2007-03-07 12:10:17 +0000 UTC]
Ah i see...... when i think of it that way, i just about only recognise the name "Fingolfin"....
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dane900 [2007-01-29 12:18:10 +0000 UTC]
Love the leaf-shape on Turgon's sword, ties it neatly in with the movies, since Turgon's sword is Glamdring and will one day be worn by Gandalf no less...
I have a Ted Nasmith-illustrated edition of the Silmarillion and I've sometimes given thought to how the straight, medieval-styled swords he drew were evolved into the elegantly curved scimitars used by the Elves of the 2nd Age as shown in the movie's prologue. I guess that during the 500-odd years of fighting Morgoth they perfected their style of combat and so perfected the weapons that go with it.
This is a great piece of work. No pressure to finish, but I am really hoping to see it one day. A powerful moment from the mythology and having seen this I'm confident about it being in your hands. Good luck!
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aautio In reply to dane900 [2007-02-15 19:49:36 +0000 UTC]
Thanks a lot for your kind words! I wasn't really thinking of the movies when I drew this, though.. I'm personally not so keen on the way the elves and their weaponry were depicted in the movies. In fact I'm more inclined to believe they went downhill in many ways rather than evolved in the later ages.. and I don't really like curved swords either. This sketch is actually not a WIP piece in itself, but rather a rough concept off of which the sword designs in my other illustrations are based. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you like it!
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dane900 In reply to aautio [2007-02-16 00:00:34 +0000 UTC]
You didn't like the Elvish stuff in the movies? Hmm, takes all sorts I suppose. Personally I thought those curved blades looked so much more elegant, so much more Elvish than the stodgy unimaginative medieval stuff so many artists have drawn. In fact, of all the Elves in the movies, the depiction of Elrond was the only one I disagreed with personally (Jackson made him way too testy IMHO), and I think casting Cate Blanchett as Galadriel was a master stroke.
As for sword development... I find it hard to believe that five-hundred years plus of bitter warfare would make any people less effective as warriors, no matter where they emigrated from. But I can agree with you as far as seeing the need for swords itself as a backwards step. The War of the Jewels really was the beginning of the end for the Eldar.
No matter. Enjoy your art, dude. I'll look forward to any future posts of yours.
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aautio In reply to dane900 [2007-03-04 13:37:43 +0000 UTC]
Ok, well.. I guess I put it the wrong way.. I do find the movie visuals beautiful, but I disagree with them somewhat in their context - that is to say, I don't find curved swords and blond-haired elves very "Tolkienian", since they contradict his texts. But on the whole the movies are visually stunning and I do like some things about the elves.. like the mystical feel of their dwellings, their clothing and decorational motifs.. and Galadriel, whom you mentioned.
The main reason why I don't buy the development theory is the fact that 99 % of the Exiles died in the war against Morgoth and the few remaining descendants who stayed in Middle-earth could hardly rival the skill of the former masters. (Also, my interpretation is that the power of Elven items, like weapons, lies more in their maker than their actual functional design.. but that's debatable, and an another matter altogether.)
Anyway, it's all a matter of opinion.. but discussing Tolkien is always interesting.
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PinkPanthress In reply to ??? [2007-01-03 21:03:13 +0000 UTC]
They are all beautiful! But my favourites out of them are those of Maglor and Curufin... they have this slight turkish and asian feeling that looks so gorgeous to me!!!
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aautio In reply to PinkPanthress [2007-01-18 23:51:12 +0000 UTC]
Thank you! I wanted these sketches of their weaponry to reflect the styles and personalities of these characters.. those two are perhaps the most expressive examples and seemed to fit those two. On the whole I imagine curved blades to have been quite rare among the Eldar.
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PinkPanthress In reply to aautio [2007-01-22 10:20:46 +0000 UTC]
You're welcome.
Yes, you really got that with the personality into the Swords, at least it seems to me like that.
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AltarielofLothlorien In reply to ??? [2006-10-12 03:22:36 +0000 UTC]
I want them all! I love the way you draw swords so much! If they make a moive of the Silmarillion you have GOT to be a weapons and armour designer! I really like how you made them all look unique and your reasoning behind them makes total sense. If you ever get someone to make one of these tell me, I will so buy it!
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strangelatiasgirl In reply to AltarielofLothlorien [2009-11-05 23:51:15 +0000 UTC]
_/---\_
(^)_^)
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SirithrosLirenel In reply to ??? [2006-09-07 11:29:29 +0000 UTC]
Wow - you really thought through everything, didn't you? Best of all, it all makes sense and they all look beautiful yet deadly. Literally works of art, lol. ^^
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