Wow, thank you to everyone for the discussion and response to the spear. I'll admit, the brain-worm has finished implanting and now I'm constantly thinking about the issue of Third Age Arnorian art and motifs haha.
To start -
caedmon wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:06 pm
Cimrandir wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:43 pm
My thought was to get away from the standard Tree (too Gondorian) and Star (already well represented).
Amen. Another thing to remember is that the White Tree was reserved for the tower guard, it wasn't everywhere. And the Dunedain star? We don't know what it represented. But it's entirely likely it was only for the Rangers, or even only for the grey company. It's kinda like seeing a single picture of a group of Texas Rangers, and assuming that every person west of St. Louis between 1867 and 1905 work a tin star to proclaim their "Old Westness".
Hmm, I think we actually do have a decent idea of what the Star represented. Considering the influence of Elendil on the Northern Kingdom and the passage in "Fog on the Barrow-downs" -
The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one with a star on his brow.
Letter 211 -
I think the crown of Gondor (the S. Kingdom) was very tall, like that of Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but at an angle….The N. Kingdom had only a diadem. Cf. the difference between the N. and S. kingdoms of Egypt.
With the tentative identification of the individual in the barrow with the last prince of Cardolan, I think it's well within the limits of probability that the star on the brow is referring to the diadem of the North Kingdom, making the Star a sigil of the Royal House of the Northern Kingdom. This is further re-enforced by the great standard Arwen made for Aragorn and the Grey Company.
There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor, but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for year beyond count.
So to my mind, this says that the Star is not so much an Arnorian/North Kingdom motif but one specifically signifying the Royal House. When the Grey Company rode openly with the Star upon their breast, they were proclaiming their allegiance to Aragorn and the royal line. Given that assumption (and assumption it is), I think it's highly unlikely that an average late Third Age Dúnedain would openly wear a Star motif in their daily life, much less a Ranger wandering in secrecy in Eriador.
So that brings me to the problem of what
would a Ranger decorate his kit with? I agree with Greg when he says that intricacy rings false for Rangers given the nature of their work. I'm not so sure about northern Dúnedain as a whole though. I suspect that they might have been far less "wandering" than we've assumed in the past. The Nature of Middle-earth does give us a rather concrete location of Dúnedain settlements. What this means for cultural development, I haven't the foggiest.
I also agree that it's fallacy to project Númenórean design elements onto Third Age Northern Kingdom remnants. With the frankly massive gulf of time between the two cultures and the numerous upheavals, wars, mingling with other societies, and other bits of change, I think that it's impossible to say what would be right for a Ranger.
Regarding the idea of the northern Dúnedain maintaining a more conservative style as an attempt to hold on to their Númenórean heritage as their bloodlines dwindled and inter-mingled with others, I've got some thoughts on that. Far be it from me to inject modern social beliefs into a medieval fantasy book written in the 1950s but I'll admit I don't know if I'm comfortable with that concept. I won't get too much further into it lest we stray from the topic but I think I prefer the idea that the focus on Númenórean bloodlines is really only to strengthen Aragorn's claim to the throne and that for the average northern Ranger, it wasn't as big of a deal. Entirely my own belief of course but I just think there is some unpleasant undertones if we focus on the "purity" of Númenórean heritage. Not that I'm saying anyone here is doing that. Tolkien was a gifted writer and clearly able to write viewpoints other than his own so I’m sure he didn’t necessarily subscribe to that sentiment personally anyway.
Which leads me to the idea of perhaps there was quite a bit of cultural transmission between the Dúnedain and the so-called "Middle Men." There's some evidence that this is the case with the adaptation of using the barrows to inter their dead as with the last Prince of Cardolan. (As an aside I wish the Professor had elaborated more on the blue-jeweled brooch Tom took for Goldberry as I believe this is the only actual Arnorian art mentioned in the story.) This is not to say that there is or should be a "Celtic" vibe to the Ranger. I think one should definitely stay away from knotwork or interlace as a primary Dúnedain "mode." I hate to harp on again about actual history yet again especially because it's, y'know, fantasy but I definitely see some parallels to Romano-British art. For example,
this ornament from this British Museum is rather evocative of some of the swirls and arcs of Númenor. Entirely my impression of course.
- roman statue.jpg (44.17 KiB) Viewed 44693 times
Perhaps we could look to a knotwork-less version of Insular art as a model of cultural fusion between the Dúnedain and other peoples of Eriador? Or maybe Merovingian like this chalice from
the Treasure of Gourdon?
- 800px-Trésor_de_Gourdon_04.JPG (169.59 KiB) Viewed 44693 times
Hmm maybe though we should advance the clock a hair and look at
Carolingian or
Ottonian art styles? They are mentioned as a sort of "throw-back" to Roman art which might be like a "throw-back" to Númenórean art? Or I guess one could just look at the explicitly
Romanesque art style.
- DrogoSacramentaryFol71vAscension.jpg (60.75 KiB) Viewed 44693 times
- 450px-Nürnberg_—_GNM_2013-09-07_Mattes_(101).JPG (96.65 KiB) Viewed 44693 times
- 431px-Albanipsalter_DreiKoenige.jpg (101.37 KiB) Viewed 44692 times
I hesitate to go any further forward in time lest we get too complex for the Third Age. I think keeping it Continental in influence and staying away from British art after about 7th century or so despite the Professor's love of Britain works better for Dúnedain. It still works as a post-Roman/Númenor aesthetic and the Anglo-Saxon style is explicitly Rohirric in nature which would be hard to adapt as a Dúnedain. Although I would be interested in seeing examples of the folkart you mention here, caedmon. I don't know much about anything post-12th century haha.
caedmon wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:06 pm
Elleth wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:53 am
Then maybe even use the early American experience as a model for degrading / simplifying patterns in a rustic environment to evolve a pretty book-accurate Third Age Dunedain aesthetic.
It's not even an early American trend. It's really a 16th-19th c folkart trend. You see the same at least in Scandinavia, Germany & Russia.
So this has been rather stream of consciousness and "thinking out-loud online" so I think I'll stop the word-vomit here before I further embarrass myself but as general thoughts on Third Age decorations, I wish we had more to go on.