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Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 1:47 pm
by Elendur Amloth
My business is document props - it's what I do for a living. I've been playing around with the idea of a Ranger commission that could be issued from Faramir or King Elessar. Some of this idea has come from gamers and LARPers who wanted such a document for a character but I thought I could offer it to some of you who might have a more "military" Ranger bent. Of course, these are designed for anyone portraying a Ranger of the Fourth Age.

In giving such a commission thought, I strayed away from a wholly "officer commission" as we have in modern times. The wording is similar but if such a document were issued, I believe it would have been issued to all of the Rangers and would just mention any rank that might be given. For that I referenced this line from the books,

'Rangers of Ithilien... were descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun. From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers....'

The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 4, Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

These are soldiers who are being chosen by the Steward himself so I don't think Faramir would have done away with that tradition and it's very likely that Aragorn would have continued to approve any Rangers chosen from the North.

My seal maker is in Switzerland. I do the graphic arts for him and he makes my seals. He lives in a small sparsely populated Swiss Alps village and must check his internet at the local Mayor's office once per week. I had him carve me two seals - one in 50mm and double-sided for King Elessar Telcontar. I used some of Tolkien's images of Aragorn's crown for the mounted figure and my own rendition of the Argonath for the reverse. Faramir's seal as Prince of Ithilien is smaller than Aragorn's at 30mm and is one sided.

I thought I would add a folded parchment piece to the bottom and affix Faramir's seal to the parchment itself while King Elessar's would hang, similar to the way medieval seals hung from cord. Of course Faramir's would have both seals while King Elessar's would have only his.

If any on the forum are interested in these, I will be glad to supply one to you for just the cost of shipping which will be around $8.00 domestic and $16.00 internationally. Because it takes a lot of wax to make these seals, I'm giving a time limit until Sept. 8, 2018 to let me know if you would like one and your pertinent information.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 5:46 pm
by Taylor Steiner
Wow that's cool. Good idea!

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:43 pm
by Elendur Amloth
Just got the seals in and I have to make a correction - the Faramir one is 50mm and one-sided, so both are 50mm in size. Oh, and size of document is 11" x 17" parchment.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:55 pm
by Elendur Amloth
Okay, changed a few things up from the above but I think they came out okay. I probably won't list these as an item in my shops but simply keep them in my archives in case someone comes looking for such in the future. Not sure how many on here do 4th Age besides myself but if this might apply, no charge except shipping.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 10:49 pm
by Iodo
Nice work, those look amazing

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 11:08 pm
by Elleth
Oh that is lovely work!
I quite like your rendition of the Argonath! :)

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 11:20 pm
by Elendur Amloth
Thanks guys. I changed the crown up and made it silver instead of gold. For the Argonath, my idea of having them turned was to give a more "approachable" feel for 4th Age Gondor. The Anduin running from the Tree kinda echos the Tree of Life symbolism and the river that runs from it in biblical lore.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:04 pm
by Ruinar Hrafnakveðja
Hail Elendur!

If you ever think of anything like this you could do for Mirkwood I would love to see it! It seems that material evidence of this kind from Mirkwood or the Woodland Realm falls utterly short :P

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 6:02 am
by Elendur Amloth
Hail to you Ruinar! Thanks. This was more or less a curiosity of mine to see how it would look. Many of my gaming and LARPing customers had requested such a thing. However I may be the only one that does Fourth Age here. Such an item probably belongs more to derived fantasy as the Reunited Kingdom might not actually issue parchment commissions to their soldiers and to my knowledge Tolkien doesn't mention any such thing - but only to say that Denethor "chose" his forayers. We could assume this was done by word of mouth or by letter with perhaps and official seal so that it was verified. We do have historical reference with the use of royal charters issued before Henry VIII of England and Letters Patent during his reign and after. There are also the Patent Rolls from 1201 onwards. Usually at least two copies of these charters or letters were made - one to be recorded and sewn into a continuous roll for storage and one issued to the individual or organization in question.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:21 pm
by Elleth
Hunh...

You know, Fourth Age or Third - even in a poor economy, even if the commissioning itself was done by mouth rather than written word, I could easily imagine either a roster scroll or book into which each man wrote his name (or made his mark). In fact I'd be surprised if both the Dunedain of the Angle and the archives of Minas Tirith *didn't* have service rolls of this sort. One doesn't send one's best men into danger without marks of honor.

As a historical example, check this out (relevant part at 16m 50s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ERDYjsHBg

that would make quite the piece for a group I think. :)

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:24 pm
by Elendur Amloth
Great information there Elleth. Great video series! Yes, I agree - the notion of a roll or log does sound more like what they may have had.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:24 pm
by Eledhwen
Very fine work. Compliments and commendations. :)

Eledhwen

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:38 pm
by Onllwyn
Elendur,

I'm new to the forums, but absolutely love this. I know that you had a cut-off date, but I'm wondering if I might still be able to get one of these. They are stunning.

O.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:17 am
by Odigan
Lovely items and fine work. Nice to see the thought put into these.

Re: Ranger Commission Document

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:16 pm
by Elendur Amloth
Onllwyn wrote:Elendur,

I'm new to the forums, but absolutely love this. I know that you had a cut-off date, but I'm wondering if I might still be able to get one of these. They are stunning.

O.
Sorry I saw this late - the holiday season had us a bit mental. Just PM me with your details and address and I'll try to get back with you in a timely fashion.