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av_nefardec

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Posts posted by av_nefardec

    Middle-Earth Art Design

    in The Green Dragon

    Posted

    There's no doubt the sizes will be varied.

    But some of these orcs are just plain wrong based on Tolkien's descriptions:

    Presently two orcscame into view.  One was clad in ragged brown and was armed with a bow of horn; it was of a small breed, black skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind.  The other was a big fighting-orc, like those of Shagrat's company, bearing the token of the eye.  He also had a bow at his back and carried a short broad-headed spear.  As usual they were quarrelling, and being of different breeds they used the Common Speech after their fashion.

    Ok, now Alan Lee's is GREAT - except that for some reason he decided to make the big orc, who was probably an Uruk, green or greenish brown, even though the biggest orcs are usually described by Tolkien as the darkest. I also think the large orc by Lee is a bit too weak-looking for a bodyguard Uruk type of soldier.

    Beside them, running up and down the line, went two of the large fierce uruks, cracking lashes and shouting.

    This and the description that follows is excellently depicted by John Howe in his piece, "In Mordor". In my opinion, this among the most perfect depictions of the text when it comes to orcs and uruks.

    At once there was a great jostling and cursing as each troop tried to get first to the gate and the ending of their march.  Though the drivers yelled and plied their whips, scuffles broke out and some blades were drawn.  A troop of heavy armed uruks from Barad-dur charged into the Durthang line and threw them into confusion.

    So it is clear that the orcs of Barad-dur are the Uruks, the heavily armed corps dedicated to Sauron's own fortress. Other uruks are leaders of the lesser divisions, such as the Durthang line described here, and Gorbag's corps at Cirith Ungol.

    Some more descriptions:

    ...Shagrat, a large orc with long arms that, as he ran crouching, reached to the ground.  But one arm hung limp and seemed to be bleeding; the other hugged a large black bundle.  In the red glare Sam, cowering behind the stair-door, caught a glimpse of his evil face as it passed: it was scored as if by rending claws and smeared with blood; slaver dipped from its protruding fangs; the mouth snarled like an animal.

    As for equipment:

    Cirith Ungol = lesser orc outfit, those of Shagrat

    There were long hairy breeches of some unclean beast-fell, and a tunic of dirty leather...Over the tunic went a coat of stout ring-mail, short for a full-sized orc..about it he clasped a elt, at which there hung a short sheath holding a broad-bladed stabbing sword.  Sam had brought several orc helmets...a black cap with iron rim, and iron hoops covered with leather upon which the evil Eye was painted in red above the beaklike nose-gard...He put a large black cloak round Frodo's shoulders
    The Morgul-stuff, Gorbag's gear, was a better fit and better made

    All above quotes from RotK

    From FotR:

    There was a blow on the door that made it quiver; and then it began to grind slowly open, driving back the wedges.  A huge arm and shoulder with dark skin of greenish scales, was thrust through the widening gap.  Then a great, flat, toeless foot was forced hrough below.

    I'm pretty sure this is the cave troll though :/

    Yeah it was :) oh well.

    This quote is important to me:

    There are orcs, very may of them, he said.  And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor

    This proves my earlier hunch that the biggest orcs of Mordor were black and Alan Lee's big orc needs to be larger and blacker. The orc holding the whip in Howe's "In Mordor" is perfect.

    another quote-

    A huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black mail from head to foot, leaped into the doorway.  His broad flat face was swart, his eyes were like coals, and his tongue was red; he wielded a great spear.

    I'm sure there are many more descriptions in TTT, Silmarillion, and UT, but I have no time for those right now :P

    NewEth Review #3 - Master And Commander (7.1)

    in Arts and Entertainment

    Posted

    The ending is a hidden treasure!

    I loved this movie.

    I can see it might be a bit boring for some people, because there is a lot of downtime between action scenes, but it's based on a book, and probably a book that builds suspense for many pages between action, so for me it was completely natural.

    I really liked the movie, what can I say? Russell Crowe is a brilliant actor, and the ending was so much better than I thought it was going to be. Totally original. And what great characters! Bah I liked this movie and that's the bottom line :)

    This movie is definitely not one you could watch over and over again, it's kind of like the book you take out of the library because it sounds good, then makes you think a bit, intrigues you, you finish, and then you go back to your old books or a new one maybe.

    Now the matrix movies, on the other hand.. I could watch those all the time - so many hidden messages!

  24. How Many Of You...

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Just wondering...I myself do not, as far as I know.

    I'm just about 100% Sicilian, and I'm by no means an expert on history, but Sicily was settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Carthaginians, right? So I could very well have bloodlines from any of those civilizations, but I can never know. But if I am Carthaginian in descent does that make me an African American? :)

    So how many of you have royal/noble lineage? This kind of thing interests me a lot. Please share it with us, and don't make claims up :)

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