forums.cubicle7.co.uk
archive

The thread on re-forging the Wolfbiter axe got me wondering about reforging the great weapons of Middle Earth.

Not just the Wolfbiter, but also Narsil/Anduril. Do we know anyhing of how the qualities of that sword changed in the reforging?

And might other legendary weapons of past ages still lie undiscoverd waiting to be reforged?

I doubt there would be many legendary weapons that needed to be reforged. A weapon is usually reforged only when necessary- because it is broken or has some sort of flaw that cannot be fixed by some other means. Reforging a weapon is tricky process, since overworking metal, especially steal can make a weapon soft as the carbon gets removed during the process, leaving you with a lower grade steel. And a weapon that used folded steel (layers of metal and carbon) would probably have to be melted down completely and refolded. Rejoining a broken weapon, like Narsil, is very hard to do without weakening the blade at where it joins.

Basically, it easier to just make another weapon of great quality from scratch than it is to reforge one.

So to be a candidate for reforging a weapon would probably have to be broken somehow, yet all the pieces would have to be available. Seems unlikely to occur except under rare circumstances.

I always wondered about the reforging of Narsil from the shards for just the reasons you state. It seems most likely from a practical standpoint that the shards were worked down into a new billet, possibly even melted down and recast, then worked into a sword from that, rather than welding the pieces together.

But maybe the elves know something we don't...

DavetheLost wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:28 pm

But maybe the elves know something we don't...

That's pretty much the key. Narsil was forged by Telchar, the greatest dwarf-smith. Anduril was reforged by elves of Rivendell. Given the way craft and skill in Middle-earth is ever in decline, it is no wonder they can do things with smith-craft we can't even imagine.

”Thus it was that Fëanor, mightiest of the Noldor and wise in the ways of smithcraft, did teach other High Elves the arts of laser sintering...

Edit: O, Autocorrect how I hate thee!

Look at it from their point of view...

Discussion about playing Lord of the Network:
Hobbit (plays a 4th level Chief Information Officer): "Why would he leave his Dell Inspiron on all night? It would waste oil, and risk burning the house down."
Dwarf (plays an 3rd level Russian Hacker): "It would be made of cast iron; the fire would be inside where it would be safe." (Goes off on long explanation about sand-casting and the lost wax process.)
Man from Laketown (5th level Clueless Consumer): "Still, you'd think it might burn the string that connects it to the network."
Dwarf: "Those are iron, too. Probably chains so they are more flexible." (Another long explanation, this time about the intricacies of forging chains.)

...

It's possible that Elves and Dwarves and Numenoreans use...Art...to make swords in ways we don't understand.

Elves and dwarves, and Numenoreans in the distant past using magical forging techniques I have no problem with. Tolkien as good as tells us they did. Certainly they produced weapons with magical qualities. (Yes, I know, Galadriel would say it's not really magic.)

I'm mostly interested in what changed between the original and the redux.

DavetheLost wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:50 pm

Elves and dwarves, and Numenoreans in the distant past using magical forging techniques I have no problem with. Tolkien as good as tells us they did. Certainly they produced weapons with magical qualities. (Yes, I know, Galadriel would say it's not really magic.)

I'm mostly interested in what changed between the original and the redux.

Do you mean in game terms? What it’s powers were as Narsil, and what they became as Anduril?

Or in non-game terms. I don't remember much specifically about the properties of either sword, beyond being really good swords, and Anduril possibly flaming/glowing although this could be metaphorical.

Stirring up conversation and speculation.

Neither sword is given any explicit virtues in the texts. Its fame and importance are mostly symbolic, though I have no doubt they ARE special in some way. Giving think some game-mechanical boons would not be inappropriate, though they should be subtle.