Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Hello! I'm new here. Do let me know if this is a stupid question, but if I were to put my own spin in the idea of the many-rayed star brooch, would that be sacrilege? I would only be adding a bit more color to it, using a technique similar to a cloisonné. A simple white star on a blue background, with a simple rosette in wire inlay.

Do let me know if this is super out-of-line; I want to be my own character, but I would more like to be authentic.

At this point I think we have, collectively, imagined so many different versions of the Star of the Dúnedain that there really doesn’t seem to be anything like one single “right” way to do it. In the book it’s described as a rayed star made of silver, but that’s pretty much all the description it gets, and anything beyond that it entirely up to the reader’s interpretation.
I own an absolutely beautiful sterling silver Rangers star that I got from Eofor, which has a cabochon of amber set into the center. This was certainly never mentioned in the text, but it seems totally in keeping with the spirit of the description to me. Other members here also own star brooches they received from Eofor, which are identical to mine but with different gemstones. Some other folks have opted to use bronze instead of silver. Some folks have interpreted the brooch as more of a solid oval or circle shape with the star merely engraved or embossed upon it, while others have opted for the whole brooch to be shaped like a star, and yet others have encircled that star with an outer ring as you have done in your drawing above.

So in the end, what I’m getting at is that there are many different ways the Star of the Dunedain could be rendered, and I think if your idea is to incorporate a little extra detail and color, you should go right ahead! I’m very curious to see the final result!

Manveruon wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:14 pm So in the end, what I’m getting at is that there are many different ways the Star of the Dunedain could be rendered, and I think if your idea is to incorporate a little extra detail and color, you should go right ahead! I’m very curious to see the final result!

Thanks! I'll post the final result on this thread once I've finished it.

LOTR is a written work after all, so there is no "wrong" way to imagine how something you read a description of should look, a lot of what we do here is creating our own vision/interpretation of things, and like Manveruon says there are already lots of unique interpretations of the "ranger star" so feel free to create your own

Oh yes, we (and others) have tried all kinds of interpretations - another would be wonderful!

Cloisonne certainly seems to fit the Anglo-Saxon (or perhaps rather Carolingian?) aesthetic, so I can certainly see the connection - especially perhaps for a (much) older piece. Good luck!

edit - if you do go down the cloisonne route, it would be interesting to see some of the spirit of the Professor's motifs brought in. I don't know if you've seen this, but -



Our Caedmon also did a spectacular star loosely based on Anglo-Saxon work which is worth looking at if you haven't seen it.

In metal -


and antler -



for what it's worth, my mental image is somewhere in the Urthgard/Eofor space:




... though I rather suspect from his book cover drawings, that the Professor himself envisioned something closer to a 1950's western sheriff star: I still like Eofor's (most mythic) and Caedmon's (fantastic artistry) the best.

I have also made these ones based on the forum masthead (and with 3D design work from Elleth).

Alas I have not figured out a good peri-oid pin back for any of my star brooches. The pewter they are made with is seriously resistant to solder.

caedmon wrote: ↑Wed Sep 07, 2022 2:59 am I have also made these ones based on the forum masthead (and with 3D design work from Elleth).

Alas I have not figured out a good peri-oid pin back for any of my star brooches. The pewter they are made with is seriously resistant to solder.

19A6FBA1-98A6-4FDB-8314-6832D6878770.jpeg

Oh I just adore these so so much! Someday I would absolutely love to add one to my collection!

Likewise, they are absolutely gorgeous.

Actually this reminds me of something - apologies for the mini-thread-hijack - but has anyone ever tried designing a penannular or or annular brooch where the whole thing is shaped like a star? Like, it’s a ring, with a pin, but it has star points around the edge, and maybe the pin itself forms one of them, if that makes any sense. I keep thinking how cool a design like that would be, but I’ve never seen anything like it.


EDIT: Well holy cow, look what I just found with a quick Google search!

Manveruon wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 11:34 pm EDIT: Well holy cow, look what I just found with a quick Google search!

Those are seriously cool looking, I had never thought of doing a penannular star broach but now I see it it does make a lot of sense

Iodo wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 4:59 pm

Manveruon wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 11:34 pm EDIT: Well holy cow, look what I just found with a quick Google search!

Those are seriously cool looking, I had never thought of doing a penannular star broach but now I see it it does make a lot of sense

Silly point of order. Those are annular brooches. Penannular have an opening. (there is also a class of pseudo-penannular brooch that have no hole, but are made to look like they do)