Kit and Gear References

[Ringulf]

Pass it around indeed!

[Mirimaran]

And with that, Ken unknowingly gave everyone permission to carry a flask of whiskey.

Oh, like your good folks needed an excuse ROFL!

Glad to be of service!

Ken

[Greg]

During my last read through FOTR, I used my cheap, beater copy and I started dog-earing pages at all references to Rangers specifically, including habits and other such items to help flesh out a Rangers motivations and such. However, Ken's thread popped additional motivation into my reading, and I started doing the same for other kit references that might be helpful.

Hence:

At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbot-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of subtle leather that fitted him well, but had seen miuch wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

Classic, of course.

ll Ferny's price was twelve silver pennies..."

I'm in the market for 900-1200 replica silver coinage to carry...can't stiff your bartender, now.


The Council of Elrond

"He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now as laid upon his knees."

More to come...

[Mirimaran]

Good job, Greg!

Ken

[Mirimaran]

ll Ferny's price was twelve silver pennies..."

I'm in the market for 900-1200 replica silver coinage to carry...can't stiff your bartender, now.

http://www.bytheswordinc.com/c-21-coins.aspx

Some good stuff here, we do have a Shire penny around here somewhere.

Ken

[Elemmakil]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but here's a useful description of the Helm of Hador.

Here is the Helm’s description from "Narn i Chîn Húrin" found in the Unfinished Tales:
"That helm was made of grey steel adorned with gold, and on it were graven runes of victory. A power was in it that guarded any who wore it from wound or death, for the sword that hewed it was broken, and the dart that smote it sprang aside. It had a visor (after the manner of those that the Dwarves used in their forges for the shielding of their eyes), and the face of one that wore it struck fear into the hearts of all beholders, but was itself guarded from dart and fire. Upon its crest was set in defiance a gilded image of the head of Glaurung the dragon; for it had been made soon after he first issued from the gates of Morgoth."

Granted that this probably belongs under the "Weapons and Armor" subforum than hard kit, it is a great description that Tolkien provided.

I have a theory that this description was inspired by the (then) recent discovery and reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helm, which features a face plate (not technically a visor, but close enough) and has a dragon or serpent crest. Maryon published the first attempt at a reconstruction in 1946, so it is very likely that Tolkien saw it around that time.

[Elemmakil]

ll Ferny's price was twelve silver pennies..."

I'm in the market for 900-1200 replica silver coinage to carry...can't stiff your bartender, now.

http://www.bytheswordinc.com/c-21-coins.aspx

Some good stuff here, we do have a Shire penny around here somewhere.

Ken

Don't forget the old Shire Post coins by Tom Maringer, which were directly inspired by Tolkien's works, and include Tengwar inscriptions, etc. Very sad that Tolkien Enterprises were such orcs about the whole thing, and production has ceased, but they do turn up on eBay.

[Morielda]

Greetings!

I was perusing ye olde eBay and found a little treat that I thought some of you might be interested in... copper Shire pennies

Here is the link. I hope it works!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120933387659?ss ... 1497.l2649

Huzzah!

Mary Ann
a.k.a. Morielda

[Morielda]

Hmmm... well, it lists it as sold. However! To get your Shire coin fix just type SHIRE POST into the eBay search and a whole bunch of ME coins will pop up! Ours is on the way

Mary Ann

[Ernildir]

I was rereading the Hobbit this past weekend, and was surprised to find references to matches! In Riddles in the Dark, Bilbo decided to have a little smoke after he awoke all alone in the Dark, but was disappointed to discover that his matches were missing. Later, at the end of Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire (or was it the beginning of Queer Lodgings?) it was mentioned that Dwarves had never yet taken up matches, and suggested that they prefer tinder-boxes.

[Mirimaran]

Back to discussing coinage, here is a couple of pics of the Shire penny we recently acquired:





It would be fun to have a half dozen or so in a pouch. I do need some silver ones as well!

Ken

[Greg]

I was rereading the Hobbit this past weekend, and was surprised to find references to matches! In Riddles in the Dark, Bilbo decided to have a little smoke after he awoke all alone in the Dark, but was disappointed to discover that his matches were missing. Later, at the end of Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire (or was it the beginning of Queer Lodgings?) it was mentioned that Dwarves had never yet taken up matches, and suggested that they prefer tinder-boxes.

It is there, I recall. The reason I've stuck by most people's tendency to still use flint and steel for a Ranger's persona is that it is much easier to run out of matches when trekking in the wilds for unplanned amounts of time than it is to run out of steel, so to speak. A match or two would be an expensive luxury that I don't think a Ranger would take advantage of, though perhaps one or two would be carried for use in the winter, or at great need...say, if a Ranger desperately needed to light a torch to fend off approaching Nazgul and didn't have the time to fuss with flint and steel.

[Udwin]

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs:
"When [Bombadil] came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments."

"...'Dressed up like this, sir?' said Sam. 'Where are my clothes?' He flung his circlet, belt, and rings on the grass, and looked round helplessly, as if he expected to find his cloak, jacket, and breeches, and other hobbit-garments lying somewhere to hand."

"Merry, Sam, and Pippin now clothed themselves in spare garments from their packs; and they soon felt too hot, for they were obliged to put on some of the thicker and warmer things that they had brought against the oncoming of winter."

"For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvelous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold. They gleamed as he drew them from their black sheaths, wrought of some strange metal, light and strong, and set with many fiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun."

"...They made ready, packing their bags and lading their ponies. Their new weapons they hung on their leather belts under their jackets, feeling them very awkward, and wondering if they would be of any use."

[Udwin]

The Lord of the Rings, Book II The Ring Goes South, Chapter 3 The Ring Goes South:
“'Very well, I will take it,' said Frodo. Bilbo put it on him, and fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his old weather-stained breeches, tunic, and jacket. 'Just a plain hobbit you look,' said Bilbo.”

“The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle. Aragorn had Andúril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown as a Ranger of the wilderness. Boromir had a long sword, in fashion like Andúril but of less lineage and he bore also a shield and his war-horn.
... Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe. Legolas had a bow and a quiver, and at his belt a long white knife. The younger hobbits wore the swords that they had taken from the barrow; but Frodo took only Sting; and his mail-coat, as Bilbo wished, remained hidden. Gandalf bore his staff, but girt at his side was the elven-sword Glamdring, the mate of Orcrist that lay now upon the breast of Thorin under the Lonely Mountain. All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had jackets and cloaks lined with fur. Spare food and clothes and blankets and other needs were laden on a pony, none other than the poor beast that they had brought from Bree.”

“...all the things that [Sam] had stowed...: his chief treasure, his cooking gear*; and the little box of salt that he always carried and refilled when he could; a good supply of pipe-weed (but not near enough, I'll warrant); flint and tinder; woolen hose; linen; various small belongings of his master's that Frodo had forgotten and Sam had stowed to bring them out in triumph when they were called for....'No rope!'”

[Udwin]

The Lord of the Rings, Book IV The Ring Goes East, Chapter 4: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit:
“...Sam was a good cook, even by Hobbit reckoning, and he had done a good deal of the camp-cooking on their travels, when there was a chance. He still hopefully carried some of his gear* in his pack: a small tinder box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the larger; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork, and some skewers were stowed; and hidden at the bottom of the pack in a flat wooden box a dwindling treasure, some salt."

Dunedain Rangers of Ithilien:
"...four tall Men stood there. Two had spears in their hands with broad bright heads. Two had great bows, almost of their own height, and great quivers of long green-feathered arrows. All had swords at their sides, and were clad in green and brown of varied hues, as if the better to walk unseen in the glades of Ithilien. Green gauntlets covered their hands, and their faces were hooded and masked with green, except for their eyes, which were very keen and bright."

Southron/Haradrim:
"He came to rest in the fern a few feet away, face downward, green arrow-feathers sticking from his neck below a golden collar. His scarlet robes were tattered, his corslet of overlapping brazen plates was rent and hewn, his black plaits of hair braided with gold were drenched with blood. His brown hand still clutched the hilt of a broken sword."