Posted: February 08, 2000 at 12:56:06: by Forkbeard
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: In Tolkien's works the good guys' (except Egalmoth's) swords are always straight and double-edged, whereas their enemies wield scimitars / other curved blades. Part of this is the emotive power for a European reader of enemies with curved swords coming from the East. It evokes not only Arabs, but those particular Arabs who were such a threat to Christendom in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Again I'm not saying that these soldiers are supposed to be Turks and Arabs, I'm saying that Tolkien's description would cause a certain reaction in a European reader, particularly one born before WWII.
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