Elves and spears

[Corvo]

If memory serve me well, Gil-Galad used a spear while fighting against the hordes of Mordor during the War of the Last Alliance.

His sword was long, his lance was keen

I wonder if any of you historians can chime in on the historical uses of spears in the Dark/Middle Ages? If memory serves it seems like spears were preferred until [very] close combat was engaged.

Middle Ages is a lot of time and different cultures
We can say that spears were extremely common weapons for war and hunting.
I would dare say "the most common", but I don't want to get mired in discussion about terms...

[Glorelendil]

History aside, if I were imagining/describing a marching army the spear points on their tall shafts are going to be more visually prominent than scabbarded swords. So even if the soldiers were all carrying both weapons (I don't think of Tolkien's elves as being constrained by the price tag of swords, as medieval warriors might have been) the spears are still more likely to appear in a prose description.

[Murcushio]

Ahem.

Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting.

The Noldor made them some fine swords and it is weird they're not statted as starting weapons.

Hell, not just those. The Noldor re-forge Narsil for Aragorn, that's another one. The two most famous Sindarin weapons from the Silmarillion are probably Anglachel and Anguirel, both swords.

Elves like them some swords.

[fast.git]

Ahem.

Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting.

The Noldor made them some fine swords and it is weird they're not statted as starting weapons.

That they did.

This being the case, it's no surprise that the High Elves of Rivendell have Long Sword as a favored weapon skill.

The Elves of Mirkwood (those described in the quotes pulled from The Hobbit) are Silvan (and I think some Sindar) Elves... not that this precludes them from using swords, but the spear is an effective, inexpensive weapon.

[Murcushio]

Ahem.

Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting.

The Noldor made them some fine swords and it is weird they're not statted as starting weapons.

That they did.

This being the case, it's no surprise that the High Elves of Rivendell have Long Sword as a favored weapon skill.

Ah.

I don't yet have Rivendell, and the original poster was specifically complaining about High Elves not having Swords as a thing. So I sort of assumed that, in fact, they did not.

That'll learn me to trust people.

[zedturtle]

Ahem.

Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting.

The Noldor made them some fine swords and it is weird they're not statted as starting weapons.

That they did.

This being the case, it's no surprise that the High Elves of Rivendell have Long Sword as a favored weapon skill.

The Elves of Mirkwood (those described in the quotes pulled from The Hobbit) are Silvan (and I think some Sindar) Elves... not that this precludes them from using swords, but the spear is an effective, inexpensive weapon.

I think, more than cost (which amortized over a couple thousand of years is really minimal), is that spears are better weapons than swords for fighting in a forest. A longer range than a stabbing short sword, less likely to get caught on something like a slashing sword or long sword.

[Faire]

Lot of swords (maybe even most) were used primarily for thrusting - generally speaking it is the fastest and usually most dangerous move. In CQB it is THE way to go with a sword - and using a sword in that manner will be quite effective even in a forest. I have heard multiple times (and have little doubts about that) that thrusting is very efficient even with blunt weapons like baseball bats (among other reasons because it is difficult to return back to guard after unsuccessful power-slash.

Let's also not forget that that really big swords (aka "two-handed swords") are quite modern weapons (16th century +) and have been in combat use for a relatively short time. When Tolkien wrote about greatswords he meant what modern day fantasy writer would describe to be a bastard sword (they have been around since 12th century I think). These swords are still quite usable in the forest.

Now long spears (2m +) are au contraire quite cumbersome - it is quite difficult to move them around the trees (and other obstacles) - the trunks are in the way and when you try to raise it you hit the branches... They would be very useful in a long corridor (unless the opponent grabs them - but that is always the risk) but in forest it's quite easy to use a tree trunk as a cover and strike from the blind-side (we have done a lot of LARP spear vs sword fights in the woods). The spear shines in a formation but is quite vulnerable on its own (that's why corridors are effective place to deploy it - you have your flanks covered and the opponent has nowhere to hide).

[Otaku-sempai]

Spears and short swords were the basic melee weapons of the common foot-soldier (substitute long knives for short swords for some of the more barbaric cultures). Longer and/or heavier blades were the province of knights, officers and the aristocracy.

[poosticks7]

Mirkwood Elves can't be bothered with mining - so they don't have much iron to use. So they rely mainly on arrows and spears to their killing.

[Glorelendil]

I'm going to stick with spears for wood-elves for three reasons:
1) There's a nice distribution of weapons among the various cultures, which is what Francesco intended.
2) It's how the source texts describe elves, which is what the Good Professor intended
3) Mirkwood Elves can start with 1 in swords; if they really want to be sword elves than can easily start with swords:2, or even swords:3 if they're willing to spend all their background xp on it.