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Published: 2005-11-25 00:51:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 80186; 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
mindofka In reply to ??? [2005-12-15 18:52:41 +0000 UTC]
Wow! Great work, that's so difficult to figure when you think abaout it, details and such. Brilliant work, i waited some time to take a look at your works.
very detailed, precise
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aautio In reply to mindofka [2005-12-16 17:28:42 +0000 UTC]
Thank you, my friend! I always appreciate your comments whenever you find time for it! Historical weaponry has always been a fascination of mine, and i think weapon design is an important part of illustrating characters.. I've got my head filled with certain historical designs that i find aesthetically pleasing (usually the simplest and least decorated ones.. the minimalist that i am
) and i keep using parts of those.. so this was a relatively quick thing to do, i just picked suitable designs from my "mental armoury" in my head and added adequate decoration for each.
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mindofka In reply to aautio [2005-12-23 15:19:45 +0000 UTC]
YOu did a great work, that's so difficult and takes a lot of time!
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lilie-morhiril [2005-11-30 01:43:10 +0000 UTC]
WONDERFULL**
I love very much sword as weapon**....and you made a great work with the swords of Noldor! You put very very immagination!^^ great!
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aautio In reply to lilie-morhiril [2005-11-30 14:44:57 +0000 UTC]
Thanks a lot. i've always liked to draw weapons for some reason..
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lilie-morhiril In reply to aautio [2005-12-01 12:49:55 +0000 UTC]
eheheh I see....unluckly I don't have so much fantasy to invent beautifull weapons, but it's really great drawing them^^
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vixentheangryfox In reply to ??? [2005-11-30 00:41:52 +0000 UTC]
ooo...lovely weaponry here^__^, I love that you drew the sheaths as well as the swords
I 'specially like Curufin's sword
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aautio In reply to vixentheangryfox [2005-11-30 14:39:56 +0000 UTC]
Thanks. Yeah, the scabbards are an essential part of sword design in my opinion! I'm not that sure a scimitar is a very "elven" weapon.. but then again all the inventions were pretty much made by the elves and Fëanor was certainly very experimental with his work so he probably made some scimitars too for his sons .. of whom Curufin was such a cunning crooked character that this kind of blade seems very fitting for him.
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Ahrihliir [2005-11-28 03:34:49 +0000 UTC]
O.O I want one.... These are so beautifully drawn. I can't wait to see the finished Oath of Feanor!
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aautio In reply to Ahrihliir [2005-11-28 19:17:54 +0000 UTC]
Now selling for shocking prices! -50 %! -75 % even! Only today from Fëanorean Forges Inc. ! Get your swords before they run out!
Sadly, it might take me a while until i really have time to finish that piece.. but i'll get there eventually.
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Verwildert In reply to ??? [2005-11-26 20:53:39 +0000 UTC]
This is like a dream come true... anything involving sharp weapons has my attention immediately. Like a moth to a flame..... >.>
Beautiful illustrations. I love how you can "see" the swords so clearly, and how you match them so well to the characters. Truly amazing. Once again, I love the aged paper effect.
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aautio In reply to Verwildert [2005-11-26 21:12:56 +0000 UTC]
Perhaps i should do a bit of battle-axe design just for you!
Thanks. One of my many obsessions is a sword obsession..
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Verwildert In reply to aautio [2005-11-26 21:20:52 +0000 UTC]
Battle axes... I dream of battle axes. :3
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strangelatiasgirl In reply to Verwildert [2009-11-06 12:44:54 +0000 UTC]
I will, I promice, I will not spam anymore, sorry.
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aautio In reply to Verwildert [2005-11-26 23:19:54 +0000 UTC]
Haha.. I knew it!
I'll see what i can do..
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Elenai In reply to ??? [2005-11-25 19:48:04 +0000 UTC]
Beautiful ^^ That's what I always wanted to do - learn how to draw weapon, especialy swords. It adds so much background to the picture when you're pictureing some bigger scenes... Fingon's sword is the biggest - always a warrior, indeed I would make Maedhros's sword a bit longer, becouse he was called "the tall", but it's just me, I don't know wether it matters in the fight
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aautio In reply to Elenai [2005-11-25 23:03:22 +0000 UTC]
Thanks! I've seen so many real swords in my life that i've sort of formed my ideas of designs that are aesthetically pleasing to me around those.. and they are usually the most basic and "realistic" ones.. No references used for this, but the types are similar to real ones.
Fingon's sword is the only 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 often used a shield). Maglor's sword is basically a cavalry sabre with some katana flavour, Curufin's is scimitar and the swords of Turgon, Orodreth and the twins fall in the wide category of (antique) 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 (a fact that Maedhros will appreciate somewhat later in his life.. ). And while Maedhros was indeed called "the Tall," Turgon was actually the tallest of all these people -- and i made his sword one of the shortest!
I picture Fëanor, Maedhros, Celegorm, Curufin, Fingolfin, and especially Fingon, Caranthir and Aegnor as aggressive offensive fighters and the others as more careful "defence first" types.. some relying on their shields and some on their swordsmanship.
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Elenai In reply to aautio [2005-11-25 23:37:35 +0000 UTC]
wow, you surely know a lot about this.. the two handed sword = now it's clear, i haven't thought about it before. It's cool that you have imagined such details, for me all those battles in Silmarillion were always rather blurry and I usually don't remember much of it. But I really like your vision and the theory behind it
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elegaer In reply to ??? [2005-11-25 18:06:43 +0000 UTC]
Those are wonderful I love Fëanor's in particular - and Turgon's. And Angrod's and Orodreth's scabbards are very very cool! Don't dump it - it may be rough, but its still so interesting - and as far as I know, no-one else has gone to the effort of designing all the different swords!
Oh, and did you see I put one of my Fëanor sword sketches in my scraps section: [link]
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aautio In reply to elegaer [2005-11-25 22:20:31 +0000 UTC]
Thank you! Yeah, i think i'll keep it.. i've started to relly like it after i put the brown paper effect in.. it looks much more finished.
Oh, not yet.. *goes to see it* Yes! looks great, i'll comment on it there.
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elegaer In reply to aautio [2005-12-12 22:41:27 +0000 UTC]
There's something about tolkien pics and brown paper effect / aged paper effects - they look soooo much better! As if they were really part of his mythology rather than new pics!
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aautio In reply to elegaer [2005-12-13 20:15:58 +0000 UTC]
Thanks! I like the brown paper technique.. and i've been using it ever since *mindofka shoved me how it was done.. It takes no more than 15 minutes to add to a scan and the result looks 10 times more finished somehow.. so it's worthwhile to do even to the sketches.
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JonEvangelist In reply to ??? [2005-11-25 03:52:42 +0000 UTC]
ive been searching for stuff like these.you really have good design skills!
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aautio In reply to JonEvangelist [2005-11-25 06:56:06 +0000 UTC]
Thank you! I'm glad if someone else than me finds these useful in some way! And thank you for the fave, too!
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Succubus1982 In reply to ??? [2005-11-25 03:00:21 +0000 UTC]
that was even.
And just so I'm not wasting this extra comment......
You forgot Finarfin's sword. If you're doing the first two generations of the 3 lines of finwe's sons then you forgot Finarfin. I presume you meant to include him as you included his sons (although incidentally not Galadriel? Wouldn't she have been armed too? Lady or nay)
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aautio In reply to Succubus1982 [2005-11-25 06:47:25 +0000 UTC]
Oh, thank you!
And i didn't really forget them, i chose to leave them out. The Noldor first forged their swords in secret and in defiance of the Valar, and since Finarfin was wise and a man of peace i figured he would be among those who chose not to have a sword made for themselves during those times. And since he never ended up leaving Aman i presume he never needed one.
As for the ladies.. the women of the Noldor did not fight wars and they certainly would not have been among those who made swords in Aman.. Aredhel was an avid hunter so she would definitely have had a bow and probably a knife too, but she would not be fighting with those. and Galadriel.. i just can't see her wielding a sword. A dagger perhaps.. but most likely not even that -- a blade just doesn't suit her style. She was very powerful, so most likely she would be resorting to other means than blades if she was forced to defend herself.
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Succubus1982 In reply to ??? [2005-11-25 02:57:28 +0000 UTC]
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FEANORIAN SWORDS! Awesome! :favlove:
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