Few works are as loved as The Lord of the Rings. This is also due to the movies, which have presented the fantasy world immersively and vividly. A major focus is on the heroes’ battles against evil. But how realistic are the weapons and armor of various characters?
Who evaluates realism? The YouTube channel Insider regularly publishes videos in which experts from various fields evaluate movies based on realism. Among them is, for example, the action series for John Wick.
In a new video, several experts on the topic of the Middle Ages evaluate the films of The Lord of the Rings. There is a special focus on the weapons and armor.
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 The Lord of the Rings. He is a curator for weapons and armor at the Wallace Collection
art museum in London.
First, he evaluates the opening sequence from the films, in which we see the battle against Sauron. He rates Sauron’s armor highly because it looks like real metal. He also talks about the decorations, which must have been etched with acid. Capwell mentions that it is difficult to represent a metal armor in film with other materials, because metal behaves differently.
In the case of the Elves’ armors, one would see that they are not entirely made of metal.
He explains that the filmmakers took the most inspiration for Sauron from the style of German armors from the 15th century. Sauron’s mace is also a modified version of a real weapon. However, his weapon is larger compared to his size than it would have been in history. Real maces from the 15th century would be significantly smaller.
However, he explains that the representation in the film fits the character and highlights his threat. He gives Sauron’s armor and weapon a 10 out of 10.
Context is important for evaluation
Next, Capwell looks at the Witch King of Angmar, who fights with a large flail. He likes the aesthetic of the Witch King. He explains that the flail was originally a tool for farmers to thresh wheat. It is a weapon that was more commonly used by farmers and low-ranking soldiers. Knights typically wouldn’t have used it.
According to Capwell, this weapon is quite popular in works about the Middle Ages, because they are somehow creepy and have an inherent mechanical fascination
.
The flail of the Witch King is larger and the chain longer than it would ever have been in the Middle Ages, but for him, the representation works in the context of the film. He believes there is no better weapon that could have the visual and story impact as this flail. He again gives a 10 out of 10.
The helmets of the Good are not entirely convincing
Throughout the video, he also analyzes the armors of other factions. For one, he looks at the helmet of the Rohirrim from Rohan. According to him, the Rohirrim are inspired by the Anglo-Saxons. However, they probably never fought on horseback in history as the Rohirrim do in the films.
Éomer’s helmet, played by Karl Urban, is according to the expert too high on his head. The upper edge should be directly above the eyebrows to protect the front of the skull.
Regarding the decorations on Gimli’s helmet, he generally states that armors were more embellished in real history than one might think. The dwarf helmets are supposed to have an architectural look that highlights their profession as blacksmiths.
However, he believes that Gimli’s helmet looks too much like polyurethanes (plastics or resins). It lacks the sturdiness and weight that metal armors have. Despite the criticism, he still gives both armors an 8 out of 10.
In the further course of the video, experts on war tactics and smithing techniques are also presented. This likely represents well how much attention to detail and how many ideas are invested in The Lord of the Rings. Other fantasy works have also been analyzed by experts: An expert on sword fighting explains how well Henry Cavill fights as the Witcher
