Few works are loved as Lord of the Rings. This is also due to the films that have presented the fantasy world inevitably and lively. The heroes’ battles against evil have a big focus. But how realistic are the weapons and armor of various figures?
Who evaluates realism? The YouTube channel Insider regularly publishes videos in which experts from different subject areas evaluate films based on realism. Among them was the action series for John Wick, for example.
In a new video, several experts on the Middle Ages evaluate the films to Lord of the Rings. There is a special focus on the weapons and armor.
Image rights from the films to Lord of the Rings are at Warner Bros.
German trailer to the Lord of the Rings: The two towers
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Sauron is highly praised
What does the expert say about the weapons in the Lord of the Rings? In the video, Toby Capwell analyzes the weapons in Lord of the Rings. He is a curator for weapons and armor for the Wallace Collection Art Museum in London.
First he evaluates the first sequence from the films in which you can see the battle against Sauron. He rates the armor from Sauron well because it looks like real metal. So he also talks about the decorations that should be purely etched with acid. Capwell says that it is difficult to show metal armor in the film with other fabrics because metal behaves differently.
With the armor of the elves you would see that they are not completely made of metal.
He explains that the makers of the films at Sauron were most inspired by the 15th century styles. Sauron’s matters are also a modified variant of a real weapon. However, his weapon is greater compared to its size than it happened in history. Real mittens from the 15th century are significantly smaller.
However, he explains that the representation in the film fits character and emphasizes its threat. He gives the armor and gun from Sauron a 10 out of 10.
The context is important for the evaluation
Next, Capwell looks at Angmar’s witch king, who fights with a large flail. He likes the aesthetics of the witch king. He explains that the flail was originally a tool for farmers to thrash wheat. It is a weapon that was used by farmers and soldiers of a low rank. They wouldn’t have used knights.
According to Capwell, this weapon is often used in works about the Middle Ages because they are somehow scary and have an inherent mechanical fascination.
The flail from the witch king is larger and the chain would ever have been longer than it would have ever been in the Middle Ages, but for him the representation works in the context of the film. He thinks there is no better weapon that would have the visual and story-technical influence like this flail. He awards another 10 of 10.
The helmets of the good are not completely convincing
In the course of the video, he also analyzes the armor of other factions. On the one hand, he looks at the Rohirirrim helmet from Rohan. According to him, the rawirrim are based on Angel Saxony. In history, however, they probably never fought on the horses, as the Rohirirrim in the films do.
The helmet of Éomer, played by Karl Urban, is too high on his head, according to the expert. The upper edge should be directly on the eyebrows to protect the front of the skull.
Regarding the decorations at the helmet of Gimli, he basically says that armor was also torn in real history than you think. The dwarf helmets are said to have an architectural look of his guess that highlights their calling as a smithy.
However, he thinks that Gimlis Helm looks too much like polyurethanes (plastics or synthetic resins). He lacks strength and weight that metal armor has. Despite the criticism, he still gives both armor an 8 out of 10.
In the further course of the video, experts on war tactics and forging techniques are shown. This probably represents quite well how much attention to detail and how many ideas are in Lord of the rings. Other fantasy works have already been analyzed by experts: Expert for sword fighting explains how well Henry Cavill actually fights as a witcher