Posted by Martin Read on August 09, 1999 at 05:18:09
In Reply to: Re: Weapons and Armour in Middle-Earth posted by Neithan on August 09, 1999 at 04:50:56:
: : Greetings i have been loitering for the past couple of weeks but have now decided to make a post :-). For me the way the military will be armed is an important part. From how tolkien describes the armour and weapons in middle-earth id guess they would be very close to those of the 12th or 11nth century on earth :-). Now this is at the time of the war of the ring. According to Moriarty there may be battle scenes from the 1st and 2nd ages (middle earth time). Therefore i would suggest armour from the late roman period. I hope PJ doesnt decide to put the forces of evil in dark black armour with spikes coming out everywhere like in popular tv series Xena and Hercules. I also hope that we dont see warriors of rohan and gondor in full plate armour. Another matter id like to address are the ships of Umbar.What did they look like? Ive always imagined them to look like roman war galleys or viking ships not like the designs of the 15th century.
: As a Viking reenactment fighter (we fight with viking weapons and wearing viking clothes, armour, etc. as a martial art and then spend the summer showing off our skills at viking markets), : I HATE hercules and Xena, I have never seen worse and more unrealistic fighting. Further, I study history... that comment should be enough in itself (and I have discussed this with Michael but it has not made me hate the series less). : ;-) Neithan
I agree with you on the poor quality of fighting portrayed in the media in general. I particularly dislike the large amount of spinning round which takes place - never take your eyes off your enemy even for a split-second is a vital maxim. Also fights take far too long I imagine that most contests with edged weapons would have been over in a matter of seconds as one or other protagonist would have found an opening - real swords are not featherweight like foils, make a cut which fails and you would be very lucky to recover before your opponent got a cut in himself.
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