From the Tagteamers:
Friday F3! In the Hobbit chain, Mrs. E.B. Darcy projects what our hero may do in TH: There and Back Again • Ana Cris discusses a Maori ceremony Mr. Armitage witnessed in New Zealand's mountains • In King Richard Armitage, fitzg guestposts at judiang's on non-Richard roles for Armitage in a Richard III project • In fanfic, Jas Rangoon continues her modern N&S fic • Maria Grazia presents an interview with Cat Winchester and giveaway of her book, Northern Light • In freeform, fedoralady asks about our dream Armitage-narrated audiobooks • John Thornton wonders if anyone else could play him • Agzy discusses Heinz Kruger's sartorial choices -- and what's underneath them!• In fandom, jazzbaby1 maps Armitage in the Tommyverse • Links to all FanstRA 3 posts appearhere at the end of each day.
DON'T FORGET TO VISIT THE CORE BLOGGERS: "RAFrenzy" continues her posts on her thoughts about the appeal of RA's acting in "Flying"; "me + richard armitage" Servitus features the site, RichardArmitageOnline; "Confessions of a Watcher" fitzg guestblogs about possible roles for Richard Armitage in an adaptation of RIII; "CDoart: Richard Armitage & History & Spooks"CDoart discusses Richard Armitage and historical hairstyles; "Richard Armitage Fan Blog" hosts an interview with Phoebe from C19; "The Squeee"Traxy reviews Between the Sheets; Richard Armitage Vids & Graphics Bccmee asks fans which character got them hooked on RA; DistRActed musings of one ReAlity Fanny has coffee with LadyBrandon23; Jonia's cut Jonia compiles songs and collages to match Richard Armitage's characters.
THORIN OAKENSHIELD: COSTUME; PROPS; STORY
Throughout this post, I will be acknowledging the incredible work of Weta Workshop directed by Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger. Their team engages with projects from the initial conceptual design. technical analysis through to manufacture of weapons, armour and chainmail, specialist props, vehicles, speciality costumes, models and miniatures, make up and prosthetics.
At the time of writing this post, Sir Richard Taylor was nominated as New Zealander of the Year. Following is a short Youtube video from APSATV about Weta Workshop. Those people contemplating a journey to the World Premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", might be interested in the red carpet scenes from "The Lord of the Rings" Premiere. CROWDS!
THORIN OAKENSHIELD - SON OF THRAIN, SON OF THROR, KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN.
"Heir without Hope"
BACKSTORY
For some background to the character Richard Armitage will be playing, please refer to a post I have written here. An angry, embittered but noble, warrior dwarf; fine and respected leader of his community, whose rightful inheritance had been stolen from him by the dragon, Smaug. (We all know how well Richard Armitage can play these characters). It goes without saying that I'm sure his pre-reading for the part will have been:
1. The book: "the Hobbit"
2. "Return of the King Appendix A: III: Durin's Folk"
3. "Unfinished Tales" by J.R.R Tolkien. Chapter on "The Quest of Erebor"
4. Other works on Middle Earth.
"Some people like working from a completely blank page so they can create something. That's exciting as well but I'm less confident with that than if I'm given a really good starting point. I love working on a character who comes from a novel because not only have you got what's in that text to work with but you can also look into the writer, and the more you find about that author the more you understand what it is you're working on." Richard Armitage. (Interview in Scotsman.com by Alice Wyllie. Scan available at RichardArmitageNet.com)
COSTUME
I have to admit that after almost three years, I got a little choked up and emotional when I saw Richard Armitage at last in costume for The Hobbit. This is a truly magnificent costume ... and as for Orcrist ... stunning, absolutely stunning.
To start we see Thorin wearing what appears to be a "scale armour" vest. (Small plates are sewn onto a backing of leather or cloth).Warrior Kings in Viking times were known to wear this as an outer protection along with reindeer fur which was considered a good omen.
Weta Workshop produces it's own armour and chainmaille as well as leather work. They are able to make an authentic looking armour lightweight for the actors.
In the picture above we see that not only does Thorin wear an armour jacket but he has metal arm braces and a decorative metal belt. Note the decorative pipe he is also smoking.
The next interesting item is Thorin's ring:
Here is Thorin's name in dwarf runes:
As you can see, he has the rune
denoting his first initial on the ring. I can't make out what the other symbols are however.
Finally, one of Thorin's most important possessions - his sword.
ORCRIST
Let's for a moment take a closer look at the detail on Orcrist, (Sindarin Elvish meaning "Goblin Cleaver"). It was also known as "Biter" by the goblins. It was forged by the High Elves of the West in Gondolin for the Goblin wars.
In Chapter 3 of 'The Hobbit', "A Short Rest", Elrond looks at the swords the company found in the trolls' hoard stating:
"These are not troll make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name, Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade." Elrond. ('The Hobbit'. J.R.R. Tolkien)
If you look closely, Orcrist in Angerthas Daeron runes can be seen:
J.R.R Tolkien used a number of alphabets and runes in his books based on Old English (Anglo-Saxon runes). Angerthas Daeron was developed towards the end of the First Age by Daeron, a minstrel and Loremaster to King Thingol of Doriath. Daeron organised "Cirth" used informally by Elvish craftsmen in Beierland during the First Age into Angerthas Daeron. It was originally used by Grey Elves (Sindar) and then the Deep Elves of Eregion adopted it. The runes were originally used for carving on stone and wood.
Dan Smith over at the Ring Lord site gives an example of ORCRIST in Angerthas Daeron runes as follows:
This looks pretty close to the inscription on the sword Thorin is holding above. The letters can be seen in table form here in the Sindarin textbook. Following is a short vidwo from Weta workshop on swordmaking.
Just one more comparison: Photo of Thorin for the movie and sketch by John Howe who is one of the Conceptual Designers working on the movies.