Crossbows in Middle Earth

[Vorondil]

I think it makes sense that there would be crossbows in Middle Earth, seeing as elves can make swords that glow blue when orcs are near, and Saruman and Sauron both have some form of gunpowder.
It also makes sense seeing as loads of civilizations on Earth had some form of crossbow, even the Inuit and certain tribes in the Congo have primitive crossbows.

 

[HALETH✒🗡]

Didn't orcs have crossbows? They certainly had crossbows in the movies. I don't remember exactly as far as the books are concerned.

 

[Vorondil]

Didn't orcs have crossbows? They certainly had crossbows in the movies. I don't remember exactly as far as the books are concerned.

The Uruk-Hai had crossbows in the movies. There is no mention of them in The Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit, but there is an interesting bit of info in the Nature Of Middle Earth "The bowyers were a great craft. They made bows of many kinds: long bows, and smaller bows, especially those used for shooting from horse-back; and they also devised cross-bows, at first used mainly against predatory birds."
NoMe, section Three chapter XIII Of the land and beasts of Númenor.
Since this is written by Tolkien I think we can say that there where crossbows in Middle Earth.

 

[Aldarion]

What @Aethelwulf said, but they certainly seem to be oddity and not commonly used. That is literally the only mention of crossbows in Middle Earth I can recall. This goes into more detail, but basically, Tolkien does not mention crossbows:

Were There Crossbows in Middle-earth?

Q: Were There Crossbows in Middle-earth? ANSWER: From time to time people debate whether there were crossbows in Middle-earth. Disallowing application of the Uzi Rule (“assume that anything e…

middle-earth.xenite.org

I tend to believe that crossbows were not used widely. Perhaps Tolkien associated them too much with industrial warfare, as opposed to bows which are more "rustical". Certainly Peter Jackson seems to have gone that route, with only the Uruk-hai ever using crossbows in his movies.

 

[Vorondil]

I tend to believe that crossbows were not used widely. Perhaps Tolkien associated them too much with industrial warfare, as opposed to bows which are more "rustical". Certainly Peter Jackson seems to have gone that route, with only the Uruk-hai ever using crossbows in his movies.

That might be why, although they would have been perfect for the Gondorians to defend Osgiliath with.