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 Post subject: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 9:22 pm 
Kinsman
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Hi everybody.

I'm working upon a Silmarillion expansion for WotR ("War of the Silmarils" - topics in the War of the Ring section) and I'm planning to prepare a new update containing all indications that are necessary for modelers to build-up their armies.
A consistent part of this work I'm currently developing, is upon army insigna and upon the main colors suggested for painting Silmarillion figurines.

It's well known that upon the argument there is only scarce original material, if not nothing at all: Tolkien left a very interesting heraldry, but only partial, and very few hints on banner and army colors.

Thus, in first place, whenever possible I follow his indications.
Secondarily, I believe it's fair to pay tribute to those who worked before me and have already pointed out on the subject. Thus I make a deep research work, selecting the best heraldry and the colors that are most popular in the imaginary, or that were chosen by the better artists.
In the last, I use my creativity to cover the inevitable gaps that remain.

I publish here the results, counting on your critical sense for the best final result.
By far, I accomplished the Noldor and the Teleri:

:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/zgrmgggc0 ... lags_a.pdf :rofl:
:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ao21rh8g5 ... lags_b.pdf :rofl:
:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/32k90st9p ... lags_a.pdf :rofl:
:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ttcgoi61s ... lags_b.pdf :rofl:

Following shortly, the armies of Men.

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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 3:05 pm 
Wayfarer
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These are looking good. Some care will be needed to fold these accurately, but I'm being tempted to try a conversion or two here. 8)
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:26 am 
Kinsman
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There are two solutions for this:
- to paint the backside edges of the flag before folding it;
- or, to fold the flag and then to strengthen its edges with paint.

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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:00 pm 
Kinsman
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Here is the Edain series.
The banners have different shapes, but have in common a three-pointed pattern, that refers to the three Edian houses.

For the central crests I hused the original Tolkien's heraldry. Those of Bëor and Hador, furthermore, add a reference to the Nodor whom they were the vassals (Aegnor, Angrod and Fingolfin).

For the shields of all three the armies I conceived a second symbol (solar, as a distinctiom from the sidereal theme of the Elves), less elaborate than the ones from Tolkien, so more easy and fast to be reproduced.
The remaining emblems are most often suggestions for alternative flags, rather than intended to be really reproduced upon the shields. Most of these are my creations, starting from single originals from Tolkien. Those belonging to the chiefs of Bëor 's house and to Barahir, in particular, are elaborations "backwards" of Beorn's armorial (not enclosed in the table).
The remainder are just chromatic varations.
The armorials with the dragon-helm (House of Hador) are drawn from a drawing of Alan Lee.

Here below the link to the table:

:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/lzu0fcmfs ... -Model.pdf :rofl:

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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 6:26 pm 
Kinsman
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Easterlings and Dwarves insigna.

The Easterling ones are basically a my interpretation of the only two works I found upon the theme, those of Earl of Memory and Bercor. Overall, I changed their animal symbols.
I'm still uncertain upon the result, may be I'll try to improve them soon or later.

:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/8bazav977 ... -Model.pdf :rofl:

For the Dwarves, I started from the nice Tolkien's Door of Moria. That symbol can be recognized to be the Longbeards emblem (seven stars as the Seven Fathers, but the lager one suggests the symbol is for one only of them, Durin). Thus I started from this and, inspired from other artiststs, I created three more. Note that, in WOTS, Petty Dwarves ('Methiriad State Cities') are supposed to be from a single dwarven house, rather than being exiles ferom various houses... got smaller (as it was curiously asserted by Mim)!
Another source of some importance is the game "First Age - Total War, with Aru's insigna for Nogrod and Belegost.
A very peculiar armorial is that of Khazad-dum -a my original one of many years ago. Here the crown of the Lord of Moria represents the mountain, overflown by the King of the Eagles; there are also recognizable Dwarven tunnels, hidden treasures and the flames that burn in the bowels. Below the crown, the excavation and extraction tools and a "nugget" of mithril.

:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/4jw555hgv ... -Model.pdf :rofl:

But now it comes the turn of Angband, and here it is somehow as to deal with a desert ...
Does anyone have any tips? Otherwise, almost all 'Made in Hurin_it", I'm afraid!

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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 12:37 am 
Elven Warrior
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Your work is great. Can't stand to see those banners on model or even better on armies!

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Conversation/Ideas over painting etc, can check here:
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=29455
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:22 pm 
Kinsman
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Well, I made a little 'research and something around there is, after all.

Let's start from the crest of Morgoth.
I found a beautiful cover of a CD of the Emyn Muil (an hard-metal group), with his crown as an emblem. Unfortunately I couldn't find illustrator's name.
I like the crown, although it lacks the Silmarils. Never mind, I'll deal with this later, when it comes to Angband.

For the standard of Utumno, I was inspired by "Morgoth's Ring" as it was explained by Tolkien. In this sense, the circle represents Arda, drab and dark. Morgoth's crown in the middle, white as the Northern Frost, symbolizes not only his dominion over it, but as it is itself to confer might to him, so representing someway his own "ring of power", much stronger than the future simulacrum to be built by Sauron.

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Last edited by Hurin_it on Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 9:35 pm 
Kinsman
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And now something more challenging: the coat of arms of Angband.
I state that my idea is a real ... philological forcing. But sustainable.

I'll start from how do relate from each other Morgoth and Sauron.

Morgoth is a Vala. As the only one of his lineage to rebel, he takes charge of a group of Maia. Intimately he aspires to become somehow a Creator himself, so he is a creative: he invents ice and snow, lifts-up mountains, and creates a host of new breeds to populate his world.
What's his number? Three: three as the peaks of Thangorodrim, three as Silmaril. Three as the Divine.

Conversely Sauron is but a Maia. Perhaps the first among the followers of Morgoth, but still a servant, one step below him both hierarchically and racially. When his boss is rid of, he grabs the opportunity to take his place. A little 'desire for greatness, a bit' probably for lack of imagination, he begins to imitate him (N.B., this also also according to Jackson: have you noticed how much Sauron against Isildur recalls Morgoth against Fingolfin?). Does he take with him other remaining Maias? No way: just like Morgoth before him, he places himself at the top, surrounded only by inferior servants. Moreover, he too encloses his realm among mountains, erects his emblematic tower, tries to bribe elves and men, and so on.
An already seen film script, with one big difference: Sauron is totally lacking in inventiveness. No new races, no territorial upheavals, no new strategies (his strategic mediocrity is indeed his weakest point).
And his only great invention, then, the Ring - is it really his? Or is it perhaps unfortunate an idea of the Elves, of which he, in his boundless malice (a great talent of him, this must be acknowledged), has simply taken advantage?
And what's the number of Sauron? Easy: one. One like the tower of Barad-dûr, one as the One Ring. But also, one as the Dark Lord, the one who claims the legacy of Morgoth's scepter.

Then, the solution to the problem arises: the coat of arms that Sauron chooses for himself cannot - because both of his lack of creativity and of his pride of showing himself as the sole successor to the greatest of the Vala and now his equal - be something new. On the contrary, it must tie to Morgoth.

So the emblem of Sauron must come directly from something very similar that existed before.

If so, what could represent the original coat of arms?
We've not much to work upon: the ring figure, three silmarils, an eye, an inscription in the Black Language or in Melkorin which virtually represents a unique testimony of its kind, the numbers three and one, and the name Melkor.

Extrapolating backwards, the base had to be Utumno' armorial (which we have already seen in the post above), obviously with the addition of the three silmarils - that meanwhile had become war booty and pride of Morgoth.
With Sauron, later, the Eye will take the place of the crown, the One Ring that of Arda, and one of the Rings of Power that of the three silmarils.

Now for the well-written note "ash nazgh durbatulûk...".

Just in the last years of Utumno, it occurred an event that was harmless in appearance, yet which also upset Morgoth to the point of dragging him twice to ruin: the awakening of the Elves.
From that point on, his every thought was intended to overrule and wipe them out.

Instead one age later, at the time of Sauron, the Elves will be reduced to little thing. He therefore would have had no reason to use the Elven scripts to set the tone: if he whished to write an original motto in Black Speech, he could easier and better use the appropriate characters. But, as the motto already existed, for the reasons given above it was necessary to him to change it as little as possible.
So, here is how I reconstruct was the original one, with the name of Melkor repeated three times as it is due:

Melkor durbatulûk, Melkor gimbatul, Melkor thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

That is, wanting to give a meaning slightly larger to the verbal form:
Melkor shall dominate them all ( "to rule them all"), Melkor shall seek out them ( "to find them"), Melkor'll take them one by one ( "to bring them all"), and will chain them in the dark ( "in the darkness bind them ").
The message seems to allude to the Silmarils, represented right up there (something of which will take advantage Sauron, when drawing up his version). However, the use of the Elven characters reveals who the threat is instead addressed to: the Elves. Morgoth shall prevail on them, on their creations and their cities. He will seek out and take them one by one, storming their hidden realms, spreading among them the seed of fratricide; and everyone of them will either become a thrall in the dark mines of Angband, or be condemned to the endless shadow of Mandos Halls.

In this way, the inscription in Elvish characters revolving around the gray twilight of an Arda now dominated by Morgoth's crown, seems almost to represent the futile attempt of the Elves to escape.
The red colour, of course, points out that the threat is lethal and without appeal.

Well, here below is the emblem ... and may Tolkien forgive me!

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Last edited by Hurin_it on Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2017 8:05 pm 
Kinsman
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A small Teleri update: I forgot the swan, that Tolkien tells us was the Falas emblem. I was afraid for losing dolphins, so I made a new use for them for more properly sea banners.

The link stays the same, but I anyway post it again here below:

:rofl: http://www.mediafire.com/file/32k90st9p ... lags_a.pdf :rofl:

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Last edited by Hurin_it on Tue May 09, 2017 7:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 4:09 pm 
Elven Warrior
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Great banners! I might steal a few of the ideas for my elven banner carriers.
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 7:47 pm 
Kinsman
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Thank you Feanorthenoldor. I'm looking forward to seeing them!


Now, to resume the argument left a few months ago, here's the first file on Morgoth's insignia.

1. Utumno
I have already illustrated a few posts ago the main coat of arms.
It 's to be clarified that Utumno in WotS is not exactly that of the Silmarillion, because for gameplay needings it extends to two more concepts: it represents a not yet fully developed Angband (the one of Losgar landing and of the siege, I mean), and includes some entities later abandoned by Tolkien, like Tevildo with his demonic cats.
About the latter, the name for their formations, "the Evil Dude Cat Hosts", I adopted it after ... Christopher Tolkien personally explained to me (in dream!) to be that the very origin of the name given by his father to the main cat of Morgoth - Tevildo The Cat (-> Theevildu de Cat).
Sic.
The shape of the banners I got from the beautiful drawing of Tom Loback, "Nirnaeth Arnoediad".

2. Angband
I have already illustrated above the main coat of arms of this one too. Given its weight, however, I used it only for the army banner.
The insigna for the infantry banner (and silimilarily, for the cavalry), the skull with writings above and below, are drawn from my old drawings upon the Silmarillion. The same skull I often used on shields in my drawings as the orcish emblem of Angband; in addition, even in the Silmarillion mod developed by the Aru team for the Rome-Total War game, Angband has a skull symbol. Thus I suggested here the skull among the emblems to be massively represented on the shields.
The shape of the banners also comes from my designs, with slight revision: now their tips, being read as a negative, recall the three peaks of Thangorodrim.

3. Thangorodrim.
Here, a part for the Heralds (it's a must they use Morgoth's main coat of arms!), it is almost all new.
The black sun however comes from my drawings and represents the sun obscured by the Thangorodrim clouds, while the skull is that of those Aru mentioned before - compared to my one it is slightly more "technical" and therefore, in my opinion, more suitable for Morgoth's foremost fortress.
The symbol of Thangorodrim added on the banners is a my idea; it's red for obvious reasons.
To be noted the insigna I devised specially for the guards, which in the game are pikemen: the Gate of Angband is represented by three (three is Morgoth's number) pikes and three stopping bars, protecting the three silmarils (i.e., Morgoth); the skull is the emblem of the troops.

:rofl: erased :rofl:

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Last edited by Hurin_it on Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Banners and colours for the armies of Silmarillion
PostPosted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 1:39 pm 
Kinsman
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We are approaching the end.

Sauron and the Balrog.
On these there is really little around, so I put here a lot of my own, but also a lot of ad hoc editing from not-directly related graphics.


Sauron in the game controls three Realms.

1) Tol in Gaurhoth. The main coat of arms, a bit banal, but somewhat expressive, is the head of a werewolf, obviously along with the emblems of Morgoth and Sauron. Here I failed to reuse the standard crown (the one from Emyn Muil), so I re-used a less beautiful one, but that fits with the curvature of the Eye.
Little to say on the other emblems, except that the black sun and the cobra with the skull come from my old drawings; that of the Tower does not convince me so much, but someone has worked upon it, so I decide to use it anyway.

2) The Beleriand affair. Terror, espionage and betrayal are the weapons Sauron tries with to bribe Beleriand to his lord from inside. The Darkened Sun (from my drawings) and the Eye are its emblems.
Corrupt or deceived Dwarves and Elves have their own insignia reused here with the necessary tweaks.

3) The Swarthy Men. These traitor Men are not anywhere said to be controlled by Sauron, but this seemed to me natural and implicit. With the occasion I revisited their insignia here, which before left me somewhat dissatisfied.


The Balrog Hosts.
These realms have only the Army Banner, for their orcs use the normal Angband banners. And since they are fast (in WotS this is interpreted as flying monsters), it is just a large cavalry guidon, as already well-grasped by Tom Loback in his quoted drawing "Nirnaeth Arnoediad". The inside emblem is a fitting between Angband's Aru coat-of-arms and Emy Muil's Morgoth's crown.
For individual balrogs, basically I have chosen the flame: it was a recurring "logo" in my drawings, which with satisfaction I found almost identical in a Gothmog's one, again from Tom Lobach.
For their specific coats of arms, to differentiate them, somehow I invented them, somehow I got them by fishing from others.
Notice the emblem of the Flame of Udûn, which represents himself!


Here they are:



:rofl: erased :rofl:
:rofl: erased :rofl:

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