Weapon and Arms of choice in Middle-earth

[CirdanLinweilin]

What would be your weapon of choice in Middle-earth?

Me, I'd be at home with a good bow and a quiver full of arrows. Sure, I'm no Legolas, but there's just something about nailing an orc from who-knows-how-many-yards-away.

What say ye? Magic? Axe? Sword? Bow and arrows?

I'm curious to know.

Also, what armor would you wear? I'd love to wear some Ranger clothes.

CL

 

[Ingolmin]

Well, I have no choice dear Cirdan. Since I am a descendant of Elrond Halfelven, I have my heirlooms, Hadhafang, a fine longbow and many other swords. Since I am also an heir of Earendil and due to the diminishing of the Dunedain in the Fifth and Sixth Ages, I now hold the heirlooms of my cousins also (Anduril).
Naturally, I wear Ranger clothes only.

 

[Sir Gawain d'Orchany]

I'd probably be something like Elrond. A capable fighter with sword/bow as well as magic

 

[Halasían]

My RP Ranger characters Halasian, Hanasian, and Durian would have high blades of Westernesse, both swords and knives, and have some skill with a bow. My Dunlanding character Wolguv has an axe and knives he is fond of. My Easterling character Khule has an axe and a sword. My Haradian character Mulgov has a scimitar, a spear, and a couple of knives.

 

[del-Kinofnerdanel]

My voice as an elf that song-battle evoking Edda between Finrod and Melkor was ace!

Besides that, as a human I'd go for a spear, because if you ever tried to pull off a sword against a spear you know it is far from a piece of cake. A spear and a great warhorse of the Rohirrim providing me with the benefits of highground... I would be one hell of an enemy!

 

[Elthir]

Satire!

 

[Ithilethiel]

My cunning...but if that fails my quiver of arrows and my longbow.

 

[MidnightStorm]

Since I can miss a bus a metre away with my terrible archery skills, I’d have to settle for two daggers and... magic? The ring? The silmarills?
Y’know, I’d actually rather not fight at all unless I have magic on par with Melian the Maia.

 

[Vardarianna]

... high blades of Westernesse,

Blades of Westernesse... the small blade Merry had that wounded the Witch King seemed powerful.

So passed the sword of the Barrow Downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the udead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.​

-The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields
Book V - The Return Of The King

I wouldn't mind having a blade of Westernesse!

 

[Deimos]

Blades of Westernesse... the small blade Merry had that wounded the Witch King seemed powerful.

So passed the sword of the Barrow Downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the udead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.​

I wouldn't mind having a blade of Westernesse!

Nor I...But with its scabbard... don't forget the scabbard.

They gleamed as [Tom] drew them from their black sheaths, wrought of some strange metal, light and strong, and set with many fiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun.

 

[Idril Celebrindal]

Lobelia's umbrella seems like a good option. I'd probably stick with that, since my aim is horrible, and I'm not strong enough to use a sword properly. Especially if you attach a spear/arrow tip to the end of the umbrella, I think it would work quite well as a melee weapon, since nobody will expect it. And as a bonus you get to stay dry if it rains.

I do like using the Mace in Minecraft, but there's no way I'm lifting one of those in real life.

 

[Vardarianna]

Nor I...But with its scabbard... don't forget the scabbard.

They gleamed as [Tom] drew them from their black sheaths, wrought of some strange metal, light and strong, and set with many fiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun.

Oh most definitely! This got me thinking as I write my fanfic. Where would the major blacksmithing forges be in old Arnor? I'm guessing Annuminas and Fornost Erain.

Sorry, I'm getting off the topic of this thread.

 

[Aldarion]

Personally, I'd go for a spear, with a sword + shield as a backup option. Maybe I'd learn a bow as well.

 

[Deimos]

Gatling gun ... definitely a Gatling gun.
Ooops, sorry 🫢 ... wrong forum**, like, totally. 😬

**I thought I was on my Steampunk Forum 🙄

 

[Vorondil]

I'm not strong enough to use a sword properly.

One-handed swords only weighed around 1kg (2.2), and quite a few weighed even less. Even longswords only weighed about 1.1-1.5kg (2.4-3.3lbs). The idea that swords are heavy, unwieldy lumps of metal is a fiction of idiot film-directors' imaginations.

So you could easily train to use a sword.

 

[Deimos]

One-handed swords only weighed around 1kg (2.2), and quite a few weighed even less. Even longswords only weighed about 1.1-1.5kg (2.4-3.3lbs). The idea that swords are heavy, unwieldy lumps of metal is a fiction of idiot film-directors' imaginations.

So you could easily train to use a sword.

Also... almost all the replica swords, like the ones made by UnitedCutlery and sold by retailers like BudK (which comprise 99% of the [PJ] LOTR/Hobbit swords) are made of stainless steel and are grossly unbalanced. Anduril I believe weighs in at 10+ Lbs with almost all the weight forward of the hilts.
Such replicas are "wall-hangers", or as sword collectors of genuine (possibly historic) carbon steel, carefully balanced swords call those replicas: "Sword-like objects".

They are decorations. That's it. They look pretty.
I have 12 (?) of those LOTR "sword-like object wall hangers" all made by United Cutlery.
Windlass makes not a few replicas from carbon steel but they are still grossly unbalanced.

By way of comparison, The Atlantean Sword of Conan:
First one: A wall hanger sold by Museum Replicas (probably made by Windlass)
The second one is made by Albion, a company makes true historically accurate (or fantasy accurate😄) replica swords that can actually be used in combat; that is, they are real swords.

Note the spec CoG of the Albion replica. CoG stands for Center of Gravity. It is the spec that tells you how balanced the sword is.
Note that the M-R sword has no CoG spec, because it's not balanced.

Prices tell the story.
And now we return to our regularly scheduled programming. 🙂

 

[Ricardo]

I would do a Morgoth and send others to fight for me.

 

[Halasían]

Blades of Westernesse... the small blade Merry had that wounded the Witch King seemed powerful.

So passed the sword of the Barrow Downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the udead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.​

-The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields
Book V - The Return Of The King

I wouldn't mind having a blade of Westernesse!

I wrote something similar about that passage about ten years ago on Council of Elrond. It is one of my favourite book passages!

I would like to mention a very underrated weapon... The sword of Westernesse that Merry carried after their adventure in the Barrow Downs.

"So passed the sword of the Barrow Downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.​

-The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields
Book V - The Return Of The King


This passage is so powerful. The sword that undid the Witch King! The Dunedain, with their Numenorean skill, made some great weaponry. No, it wasn't elven-wrought, but the First Age knowledge of the Eldar was learned by the three houses of Edain, and Numenor was a mighty Kingdom, and this carried over to the Numenorean realms in exile. This nameless sword gets little mention. And I wonder what he who wrought it had named it. I love the lore!​

​

This reminds me ... I saved a roleplay from the '00s where there was the making of Arnorian weapons ... ah, it was actually a part of the epic 'Shadows Over Arnor RP that got started on TORc, and was continued in fragments on a couple other sites.


As for my Middle-earth arms of choice, A good one-handed sword and a few different knives I would carry. Would have a bow and a quiver oif arrows as well, and a spear when mounted.