Color variations in "uniform" clothing

[Stormraven]

One interesting thing that I've gleaned from my research and the many blogs I've read is despite the Rangers of Ithilien's military association, they were not particularly "uniform". Yes, we see in the movie where the White Tree symbol is used, earlier artwork by the Hildebrandts doesn't show it. Camoflage was undoubtedly very important to the Rangers and care had to be taken for what stood out. It could have been that such a symbol could have been worn but "toned down" - allowed to get dirty or made from a different color. The only thing that is mentioned of their clothing in the canon is that they wore brown and green camoflage uniforms with green gloves and masks. They carried spears or great bows as well as swords. It is very possible that their equipment could have initially made in the cities but it would have been repaired or adapted in the field. While they probably were capable of doing it, they probably weren't tanning the leather for their use. Such an item could have been acquired as part of regular supply but they may have had certain Rangers, say at Henneth Annun, that performed such skills for the main body, making packs, pouches, quivers and such. One thing they may have been mindful of was color. It is helpful to have variations of greens and browns as too much of one color can show up as a movement through forest. Tolkien, at least to my knowledge doesn't mention armor for the Rangers specifically but it is possible that they wore pieced leather armor. A lightweight leather breastplate, perhaps pauldrons and vambraces could have been worn and this could have covered any livery that might be on an undertunic. One thing I've found is that upholstery leather often has mild variations of color, even when acquired from the same vendor and it is usually a good weight for tunics.

[Tomcat1066]

I'm not sure how much "uniform" you would actually see. It's been ages since I read the trilogy, so I'm not too sure about Faramir's bunch either way. However, as we've been proceeding under the assumption that all Rangers are of noble birth, it wouldn't be particularly unusual to expect noble to pay to equip themselves, often with very vague descriptions of what to equip themselves with. Something like "A cloak of good wool, dark in tone so as to blend into the forest, bow of skill manufacture and dozen arrows tipped with steel heads in a quiver made of dark leather, a sword, and a hunting knife." Stuff like that. There's a LOT of leeway in there.

Of course, I'll also admit that Tolkien didn't describe our medieval world, but a hybrid of our world during the medieval period and our world since that time.

[Stormraven]

True Tom. Your comment made me go back and research further. The Complete Guide to Middle Earth mentions a "uniform" for the Rangers of Ithilien but in The Two Towers, it actually says they were "clad in green and brown of varied hues, as if the better to walk unseen in the glades of Ithilien." It was said that in the Third Age, that the Steward himself chose the Rangers from among the nobility. They are said to have worn green gauntlets also. Gauntlets in our medieval times were expensive - glover was a skilled craft after all and green-dyed leather would have also been rare among common folk. I think it may be striking a balance between what was readily supplied or mandated, acquired out of pocket, what was adapted in the field and personal choice. We all know that soldiers throughout history have customized their uniforms, armor or equipment when they could get away with it. It may have depended on how strict their commander was about such things - do I want my troops fairly "uniform" in appearance or do I allow deviation and if so, how much?

[RikJohnson]

Absolute uniformity in uniforms is a modern idea.
If we look at the 'ranger-like people in the early west (canada, Kentucky, daniel boone sort) we see that they all wore buckskins but none were identical.
Also dye lots, even today, rarely match. My daughter is a knitter and when she has a project, she will buy 'lincoln green wool yarn' but spend a great deal of time seperating the dye-lots into piles to ensure that the project is the same 'lincoln green' so if this is true in modern times, I suspect that you would be lucky to get two shirts dyed the same color form the sane vat in pre-modern days.

So yes, the leeway would be there, but the basic idea would be "don;t stand out in the woods!"

Of course, different woods would require a differnt pattern. Look at al lthe camo-choices we have depending on the forest and grass. Arizona has a doazen colors of green on cactus alone, more than that in the vegetation so woodland green stands out here like bright red would.

[Taurinor]

I agree with Rik - any uniformity in premodern woodsmen would probably be due to function rather than design.

If you're interested in doing some sort of uniform, though, I would suggest considering the livery issued to the archers of Flintshire and Cheshire by the Black Prince in 1346 and 1359. It consisted of a cote and hood that was green on one side and white on the other. I don't think there are any period illustrations, but here is a modern artist's interpretation:


As you can see, there is an issued garment, but the rest of the clothing would have been provided by the archer. This would have resulted in a blend of uniformity and individuality, especially when you consider the point about different dye batches.

I bring this up because you could do something similar, with a "uniform" garment such a jerkin or surcote, then let the individuals fill in the rest, keeping in mind the idea of moving through the woods, of course.

[Manveruon]

I agree with what has been said above about uniform. Livery has definitely been a thing throughout history, but the idea of a true "uniform" as we know it today is a distinctly modern one, really only dating back to around the end of the 18th century in some cases, and even later than that in many others. Similar to what TomCat said, the Royal Navy for many years required sailors to wear blue coats, but they didn't give much further specification. Occasionally there were naval-issued "slops," but these were hardly uniform themselves, despite being officially issued garments.

I would think this would be even more true for a group of people who were constantly ranging far from home with few waystations or other places to repair, recoup, and resupply. Like Taurinor was saying, it seems likely that the rangers of Gondor may have had at least one officially issued garment - like a surcoat or gambeson - with the white tree on it, or some other type of heraldry/livery, thereby signifying each of them as a member of that order/corps/what-have-you, but otherwise would have outfitted themselves in whatever way was most practical and affordable.

However, it seems to me that the Dunedain Rangers of the North, on the other hand, would likely not have born any uniform heraldry or livery whatsoever, except insofar as their own personal badges or devices, and of course traditional emblems such as the seemingly ubiquitous star symbol.

This is all serving to suddenly make me really interested in Tolkien-related heraldry, actually...

[Rifter]

Hmm

Because most rangers dress for area and needed supplies there would have to be a lot of individuality there but at the same time a way to know an ally. I'd like to hope there would be some way to know a ranger from another shire. A lot of us dress like simple archers with more kit, others wear more LOTR inspired attire. Having a silver star on cloaks or gauntlets or what not would be something simple to give the notice to another of your kind.

[Stormraven]

I think within Tolkien's world, the Rangers of the North were identified mainly by (1) the color of their garments (rusty browns and greens), (2) the weapons they carried (3) an emblem such as the Star brooch (4) the type of clothing they wore ( woodland-colored cloaks , with hood pulled up (see Strider's description in Fellowship, despite the heat), boots, perhaps leggings of some sort and (5) the fact that they wandered about. It must be remembered that in actual historical medieval times that most people rarely traveled more than a few miles from their home or village. It is even said by the Hobbits that they rarely traveled and traveling was sort of an oddity for most folk. Even in medieval times when you had pilgrims traveling to holy sites, they were even seen as somewhat odd. Barliman Butterbur highlights that Strider is one of the "wandering folk".

With Rangers of Ithilien, they may have actually worn a somewhat subdued symbol of the White Tree or they might have been identified simply by where they were and by secret call signs, etc. There's no doubt that their clothing hues were varied and as one post mentioned before, it's sometimes difficult to get dyes to come out the same hue anyways. It's possible that in the Fourth Age, King Elessar decentralized the supply system to allow new settlements to prosper. If the Rangers could have purchased supplies from the new settlements in Ithilien versus contractual suppliers in Minas Tirith, then these struggling settlements would have a better chance of succeeding but it would give some variety to the equipment, not only in color but in size and style. It may have been that the only thing the Rangers of Ithilien had in common was their beloved Tree.