Arms and Armor in the Lord of the Rings

Byko, Maureen. “Fabricating the weapons and armor of The Lord of the Rings.” JOM; the journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 54 (2002): 20–23.

This is an interview of sorts with the on-set Swordsmith Peter Lyon about the making of the weapons and armor of the Lord of the Rings. VERY interesting stuff, and I expect it to compliment the movie documentaries nicely.

Continelli, Louise. “Tolkien fan finds friends, fun in combat inspired by novels: Sunday Profile / Nick Diagostino.” Buffalo News, The (NY) (12 Aug. 2007). Newspaper Source. EBSCO. E.H. Butler Library, Buffalo, NY. 9 Oct. 2008 <http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62W6863207999&site=ehost-live>.

This is a newspaper article (more importantly, a BUFFALO newspaper article) highlighting a college student who took part in a Tolkien-inspired battle-imitation group called Dagorhir. If only for its uniqueness, I want to mention it in my paper…they came up with rules and everything!

DeVries, Kelly, and Robert D. Smith. Medieval Weapons : An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Danbury: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated, 2007.

This is a guide to medival weaponry and the impact it made on the world. It probably never mentions the Lord of the Rings specifically, but I know I’ll be able to draw a lot out of this book for the paper. (FYI: ordered on Illiad - waiting for it to come in)

Joaquin. “Medieval Weapons.” Medieval Information; Everything about the Dark Ages. 26 Apr. 2005. 15 Oct. 2008 <http://www.medieval-castles.org/index.php/medieval_weapons>.

This is a medieval site intended for educational use, put together by a private party. I found a really good page outlining the common medieval weaponry and their various uses. As I read through, images from the movies found their way into my head; this site is a must-have for my paper.

Richey, Sean, comp. “Running a Dagorhir Battle.” Dagorhir Battle Games. 21 Dec. 2004. 9 Oct. 2008 <http://www.dagorhir.com/howto/dagorhirbattles.htm>.

This is the Dagorhir site. The news artcile does not go into ANY detail about what they do, so I looked up their site for reference in my paper.

Smith, Chris, Richard Taylor, and Christopher Lee. The Lord of the Rings : Weapons and Warfare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Trade & Reference Division, 2003.

This is a detailed guide to all things as they relate to war or weapons in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It contains pictures which I hope to utilize in any descriptions I give throughout my paper. I imagine this may be one of my primary sources after the movie documentaries themselves. (FYI, I ordered this via Illiad, and am waiting for it to come in.)

Whetter, K. S., and R. Andrew McDonald.. “‘In the Hilt Is Fame’: Resonances of Medieval Swords and Sword-Lore in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.” Mythlore: A Journal of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature 25.1–2 [95–96] (2006 Fall-Winter 2006): 5–28. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 9 Oct. 2008 <http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2006300225&site=ehost-live>.

This is an online document that goes into discussion about how a weapon (a sword specifically) relates to heroism, and connects to myth. The Lord of the Rings is all about myth, so as my paper progresses I want to draw upon this article to mention how the notion of the sword fits into the storyline.

8. 9. 10.

These 3 sources are reserved for the weaponry and armor documentaries in the films. I expect to draw VERY heavily off of these for my paper. All of the weapons and armor was made On-site specifically for this movie. It must have been a tremendous undertaking. However, I do not own the extended editions…so as I aquire them, these spots have no choice but to remain blank.

Joseph Bella ? October 15, 2008, at 09:00 PM

Page last modified on October 29, 2008, at 12:02 AM