Gems on Swords

[Greg]

I've never really liked 'bling' on blades, but Tolkien writes that Glamdring was jeweled, and in Lorien Aragorn was given a Jeweled scabbard for Anduril, so, like it or not, it's there.

Thoughts on this? How would you see it being done? I'm pretty sure Brendan at Fableblades has done a few jeweled pieces for this purpose that were fairly modest.

Reason it came to mind, quite simply, is that I came across this, on Yeshua's Sword, today:

http://yeshuas-sword.com/littlestars_falchion.html

Specifically stated as intending to be from middle-earth, and the engraving and jewel shows, though I can't peg in my own mind a named blade it is supposed to represent (which is fine).

[Kortoso]

It's a beauty.

Are you asking whether jeweled swords are historically authentic? Boy, I got some jpegs for you.

http://www.templ.net/pics-weapons/115-s ... /a15cv.jpg

If it's obviously "glued on" then it ain't right. But there are definitely ways to do it right.

[Greg]

Honestly, I can't find a jewel on there...but I may be blind.

No, it wasn't a historical question...just a "how would middle-earth do it?" Discussion.

[Peter Remling]

Pretty much the same way we'd do them today. On a slab handle, each side would be hollowed out to just under the diameter of your stone. insert and then join the two sides to the tang and pin. On a full tang tang countersink and use a durable glue/epoxy.

For a pommel it would be actually easier and more durable to do it pommel like a Viking pommel, multiple pieces stacked with the outer most section hollowed out for the stone.

[Straelbora]

Honestly, I can't find a jewel on there...but I may be blind.

No, it wasn't a historical question...just a "how would middle-earth do it?" Discussion.

Just make sure you pronounce it 'jew-el' and not 'jool,' or the spirit of Professor Tolkien will haunt you.

[Udwin]

Just make sure you pronounce it 'jew-el' and not 'jool,' or the spirit of Professor Tolkien will haunt you.

Ah-ha, but the Professor (or one of his rusticated characters, at least) did say jool!:

"'There's a tidy bit of money tucked away up there, I hear tell,' said a stranger, a visitor on business from Michel Delving in the Westfarthing. 'All the top of your hill is full of tunnels packed with chests of gold and silver, and jools, by what I've heard. '
'Then you've heard more than I can speak to,' answered the Gaffer. I know nothing about jools. Mr. Bilbo is free with his money, and there seems no lack of it; but I know of no tunnel-making. I saw Mr. Bilbo when he came back, a matter of sixty years ago, when I was a lad." (LR Bk1 Ch1)

[Greg]

Tells you how trustworthy travelers from the west farthing are...pesky Michel-Delvingers...

[deadextra]

All of the red portions on the pommel in the picture linked by Kortoso are garnets. This is the method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloisonn%C3%A9 Jewels on scabbards are placed in the metal fittings.

[Greg]

Ahhh, I see it now. That's a cool technique.

Nice to see you pop in again, by the way.

[Mirimaran]

Since that was an example of Anglo-Saxon weaponry, I now try to image the swords in LOTR more along those lines.

Ken

[Rifter]

I can't say I'm a fan of it either. It seems to in my thought process take away from the beauty of the weapon already being made out of the earth elements and shouldn't need a bling item on it

[Straelbora]

Just make sure you pronounce it 'jew-el' and not 'jool,' or the spirit of Professor Tolkien will haunt you.

Ah-ha, but the Professor (or one of his rusticated characters, at least) did say jool!:

"'There's a tidy bit of money tucked away up there, I hear tell,' said a stranger, a visitor on business from Michel Delving in the Westfarthing. 'All the top of your hill is full of tunnels packed with chests of gold and silver, and jools, by what I've heard. '

That's why I wrote that- it was one of his many digs at the 'hoi polloi.'

[Kortoso]

I wonder, if you wanted to choose a gemstone with particular "qualities", to enhance a weapon's power. Which gemstone would you use? Dirks often have cairngorms on the pommel.

[Peter Remling]

There are many properties both healing and magical attributed to gems, stones and crystals. Just do a search for magical properties of gemstones. You will get some contradictory information and maybe one of the other members can chime in with answers to specific questions.

I have no specific knowledge myself.