The Age of the Ring (Lord of the Rings) Forum
Tolkien only Section => The languages, weapons, jewellery, & clothing of Middle-Earth => Topic started by: Hyllyn on November 28, 2005, 04:46:06 AM
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As requested by E.G and with authorization of E.G :)
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Eldayn Craftworks (http://www.eldayn.com) (Clickable link)
I will skip all the introduction and so on and will stick with just going over the crafts and interests we cover. However I would like to add that there will be photos featured in this thread which don’t belong to my work portfolio and I intend to use them only to illustrate, all property rights remain with their owners and creators who will be listed at the end or where it is appropiate.
It’s also intended to keep this thread as a sort of blog kind of thread in which to talk of the process of making some of these items and what is in schedule and I’m sure some of you will find it entertaining and at the same time it will give you a chance to give some flibble whether you are interested in the crafts themselves or in acquiring stuff we make.
Obviously the experiment might help me with choosing some future projects and to see the reaction.
For now let’s hmm list the crafts and see how we progress, but if it's too heavy at times please just bear in mind it's there for reference, so that if something needs explaining I can point you back to these sections.
The intention is to have fun anyway :) (I promise I will post some silly photos if you all be good) :D
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Bladesmithing
The art of crafting weaponry is one of the oldest. Since the very beginning we have been on this planet we have needed tools axes, spears, swords, metal implements etc. Funnily enough art circles still don’t acknowledge this art as such and a group of dedicated individuals are making the efforts to organize exhibitions for hand made custom blades as well as biennale in which to give exposure to this particular discipline, such as the one organized by my friend Antonio Ce Junior (you can access the site’s exhibition here http://www.arscives.com/mastersofire/Default.htm )
Trying to make a chronology of an ancient art brief is somewhat difficult however I will try and separate its history in its major stages; Bronze Age, Iron Age to Dark Ages, Medieval Age, Renaissance and modern times.
The Bronze Age saw for the first time the use of copper smelted and alloyed into a more usable metal that we happen to know as Bronze. Bronze weapons of the time were considerably heavier than what came next but they had considerable higher edge retention as well as some particular geometry designs suited to its use. From this time we get the leaf blade weapons such as the ones that inspired the version of Sting in the LOTR trilogy as well as the Kopis, the Falcata, and early predecessors of the Spata
I will use a blade made by Don Fogg to illustrate this style.
Leaf Blade (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./Celtic2.jpg) .This sample albeit made in mono steel and having hybrid features to it such as the differential tempering which can be identified as the wavy pattern on the surface of the steel, still remains true to what would have been common throughout Indo-European cultures and favoured by Greeks and other Mediterranean cultures but also seen in Thracian, and pre Slavonic cultures always cast in bronze, never forged although their edges were. Axes, spears, daggers and other weapons were also made in this way.
Kopis (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./180px-Kopis.png)
Bronze Age Swords (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./Bronze_Age_swords.jpg)
Obviously patterns of blades were different all over the world as they will always be. Edged weapons evolve according to the fighting style that it is used with and the actual use within an army.
To illustrate some different weapons you can check some examples of Egyptian, Chinese and Indian weapons of the time as well
Chinese Halberd (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./dxbq2.jpg)
This is a Chinese Bronze Age Halberd
Goujian (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./goujian.jpg)
Warring States Sword (Jian) (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./WarringStatesSword.jpg)
And these are two straight Chinese Bronze Age swords (Jian)
Amazingly enough the Muslims living in what is nowadays Turkey were highly influenced by both Chinese trade and the Macedonian conquest and from those times we have the Yataghan (this sample is a more evolved version but it still sports the lines of both the Kopis and that was the Dao in China) Yataghan (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./greek%20yataghan-kopis.jpg)
The Kopis itself is somewhat evolved from the Egyptian Kopesh (in the photo still a bronze version from Pre Ptolemaic Dynasties)
Kopesh (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./kopesh-kopis-kora.jpg)
The reason for elaborating a bit on the bronze age is that it’s our main source of geometries what established themselves and influenced the ones that existed at later stages even if in a more evolved form or suited to the needs of those times.
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Iron Age
This age saw the first successful smelting of iron rich stone and ore into metal. My pattern-welding instructor Mark Constable argues that given the nature of iron this age really saw the appearance of Steel first and of Iron later. The reason for this, he states is that steel is what you get when you try to smelt iron and you screw up. Iron requires a much more controlled process of smelting in which carbon content is minimal, as soon as carbon appears in the equation you get steel, even if you weren’t looking for it.
It all leads me to believe that it’s highly possible that as a consequence people of the time came across the technique of pattern welding. To try and explain it short and sweet, imagine you have pieces of these smelting runs and they have varied contents of carbon in it, the higher the carbon the tougher and harder the steel and also its edge retention capabilities are improved. As it was difficult to have a controlled production of steel of a particular carbon content they would then create composites or sandwiches of steels of different carbon contents saving the better steel for the edges and leaving the steel or iron of less quality between the edges. They would have then heated up the sandwich and poured limestone or other fluxing compounds to help a fusion bond, and whilst hammering it then it would become a solid billet which was later worked into swords or other edged implements.
This technique gave the advantage in my opinion to cultures who mastered it as it made a much more reliable weapon when faced with lower quality iron swords which would have crumbled or shattered more easily.
The technique saw several stages of evolution; the Chinese and Korean evolved in a different way and then the Japanese took it a step further. The Arabic peoples also managed to evolve into their own and nowadays the technique is commonly named after the city of Damascus. The Scandinavians and Germanic peoples also had their own progress with it and in my opinion the Visigoths would have sported these weapons when fighting Rome and certainly it would have made a difference.
To illustrate the process please look at the pictorial my friend Jesus Hernandez has put up
Pattern Welding (http://home.comcast.net/~jeshern/welding.htm)
The results after achieving a good weld can be very varied and depend on the manipulation given to the billet (hence the word pattern welding) and also several billets of different patterns can be welded to give different effects.
One example of a straight forward pattern is this one made by my friend Jake Powning (who also excels at carving, which is also the understatement of the year)
Spirit Horse straight pattern (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./1spirithorse1.jpg)
Then there’s random manipulation of the pattern (the next three samples are made by me)
http://www.eldayn.com/images/Kenkwaiken/index.html
http://www.eldayn.com/images/SankakuKenKwaiken/index.html
http://www.eldayn.com/images/PatternWeldedYari/index.html
And one of my favourites, the starburst pattern (this sample made by J.A Loose)
Starburst pattern (http://www.jloose.com/siteimages/golddamring.jpg)
Then there are the composites of which there’s plenty of historical evidence
Scandinavian find from Jutland (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./gladpattern%20(Jutland%20C2-3rd%20CE).jpg)
And a modern representation by Marcus Balbach
Pattern Welded Torsion Pattern Germanic Sword (warning big photo) (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./MB.bmp)
In the case of the Japanese as there was more folding of the layers these were much more fine and harder to see, however the pattern was still there as you can see in this Japanese Arrow head (Yanone)
Watakusi Yanone (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./watakusi-2.jpg)
And then it can be seen in the Chinese style as in this Chinese Spear from Huano Swords
Chinese Spear (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./200592914039.jpg)
The Iron age saw a development in weapons that was even more diverse to the Bronze Age as for the first time we have major scale conquests from what came to be known as the Classical Civilizations and this also influenced how iron and steel were produced, as larger armies needed more weapons and armour, and more quantity always (without exception) means less quality. Eventually carburisation was developed to such an extent that pattern welded fell in disuse as it was much more time consuming and didn’t fulfil the quotas expected for the army, and that trend stayed with us right through medieval times and until our day when metallurgy was developed enough to produce Steels that on their own can achieve the qualities expected from pattern welded steel, also methods of heat treating came into play from much more rudimentary methods from previous times, however industrialisation has prevented in my opinion to keep standards high as it’s always more quantity as opposed to more quality. So as a consequence if you are interested in History from this point on I can give you a link and you can read about it.
http://damascus.free.fr/f_damas/hist.htm
For more information on Damascus and pattern welding process as written in the 18th century
http://damascus.free.fr/f_damas/f_hist/perret.htm
And a brief description of the Japanese method
Nihonto making (shingane and kawagane) (http://www.eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./kawagane.jpg)
At a later stage we can come back to this if you want explanation on say the different geometries, materials, Japanese method of forging, Chinese method of forging, Norse methods of forging, what would have been the most likely uses and application of particular weapons and their evolution and well basically anything to do with swords and drooling over them (not literally as they would rust).
In the mean time if you are interested in typical geometries check this site
http://www.myarmoury.com/compare.html
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Jewellery and metal work
I was trained in the classical style of jewellery making although I was also soon “corrupted” by more organic styles through exposition to exhibitions I they say.
As a consequence I am not going to talk about the history of classical Jewellery or its uses and meaning as they are different depending on the culture, however we can talk methods and applications.
I’m particularly inclined to volumetric styles, which is what made me evolve into my own style of “woven” designing and execution. I was never satisfied with engraving/etching as it shows no volume on the weave, not was I satisfied by overlapping elements and cutting them and then welding them in sections that were later flattened, and even less I liked casting them as I don’t particularly like the repetition factor of it.
Constantly I have been trying to evolve into my own style as first I just started with solid strands and then wove them, as I wanted to without interruption, to me the principle of Celtic knot work of no interruption in the strand has been very important as it represents a continuity in the flow of what is intended, and although it’s more difficult to achieve it has given me more technical satisfaction than if I had started to do what Jasmine Watson did with the Jewellery for the LOTR trilogy, which was either cast or cut and weld/braze and then flatten.
To me it does not represent the true nature of what she wanted to duplicate or should have attempted to emulate. Also a main mistake… forging elven rings actually does involve the act of pounding the metal into shape, not casting it from molten state into cuttle fish bone as they showed in the films… forging does change the molecular structure of metal, it actually modifies it and transforms it as casting cannot do. That is another reason why I departed from more modern styles of crafting jewellery as in my opinion is has no essence and it’s empty of all meaning and spirit.
I like to get the metal and pound it into shape, then work it slowly into what it should be “willing” it to become that, playing music as I work helps me think that it is becoming so and if we apply the axiom that all is made of vibrations then when I’m pounding this metal on the anvil I like to think I’m imprinting the vibrations given by the music I play when I work (usually Loreena McKennitt, Lisa Gerrard, Celtic Music in general or parts of the LOTR soundtracks)
It seems odd but going back to the roots is not often the desired thing by makers or business that are only interested in making more quantity than quality. Possibly because it was quite the opposite before, this has led me to start experimenting in the field of Japanese metal work and of Repousse and Chasing as well as Mokume Gane. as both keep their initial methods pretty much as it was done from the very beginning.
I have actually accessed Ford Hallam's goodwill and now I have become his student in the Way of the Japanese Chisel, so there's a lot of stuff I will be learning with him which you can check in the following link.
Ford Hallam's work (http://www.eldayn.com/Ford/Album/index.html)
Here’s two of my favourite examples of Tsubas (Sword guards) one of which I’m in process of reproducing, as I believe it suits my already existing style of jewellery as you will be able to see in the sample (notice the weaving of the leaves of the plant creating the motif and try to imagine the same weaving with fire patterns and the like and then you will see what I mean).
Shibuichi Asai Tsuba (http://eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./asai.jpg)
As you can see the almost water colour illusion of this piece is gained through careful patination of metals of different composition and the polish is done usually with charcoal powder of fine grits brushed upon it with a horse hair brush as opposed to our more modern and harmful (to the craftsman especially) polishing compounds that give the “mirror finish” that causes the craftsman silicosis if he isn’t careful.
And lastly a sample of mokume gane (wood grained metal), which is basically non-ferrous metals (copper, silver, gold, platinum, nickel, etc), welded and manipulated in the same way pattern-welded and Damascus steel is.
This one is a fuchi and kashira set (collar and butt cap in a Japanese sword) in nickel silver and copper made by Patrick Hastings
Fuchi and Kashira (http://eldayn.com/picture_library/Designrequestsandmisc./cnickelmfks.jpg)
And a more in-depth explanation and samples of the process
What is Mokume (http://www.mokume-gane.com/Pages/What_is_Mokume.html)
If you wish to see some of the jewellery I have made up to this date you can obviously check on my site http://www.eldayn.com (http://www.eldayn.com)
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Complementary Arts
These are what I call complementary to me, not as a technical term but what they mean to my own work.
Woodwork (carving and turning)
Glass
Leatherwork
Armouring
Bronze casting
And other crafts which I also wish to pursue:
Bookbinding
Calligraphy (Ancient, Chinese and Japanese)
Fletcher and Bowyer trades
Stone Carving and Sculpting
And the list could continue for long
Also Beleriel who takes part with the Eldayn Craftworks Enterprise will be able to give us some insight in the art of Raku Pottery and Costume designing.
Please bear with me whilst I elaborate on this section and put up samples. :)
Hope you have enjoyed so far.
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Post reserved for Pottery and Costumes
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Post reserved for Archive of photos
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If you are interested, you can check some stuff that is near completion
through ---> http://hyllyn.deviantart.com/scraps/
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very nice! interesting gem! not seen rubilite before!
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Thankies :)
The name I used was the one we give them on the other side of the pond, it's technically a Pink Tourmaline and also known as Rubellite
http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/rubellite_tourmaline.html
I normally don't like the colour but this stone as it says shine the same under any light conditions, so I doubt a magpie would have problems finding it in the dark. :D
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the epitome of seduction
:D
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Haha, well I wasn't actually after seduction but now that I think of it, it suits the pendant :D
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and the pendant is callled...........
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How about you suggest a name for it? :P
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Arthur? :P *cough* sorry. :[
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you know this Arthur ? he seductive then ???
How about.... "The Joy of Life"
" Wave of Harmony"
"Mia Amore"
" Sweet Seduction" !!!! :D
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Obviously would be better to translate them to quenya ;) Certainly along the lines of seductive curl sounds good. :)
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Obviously :D I bow to your greater knowledge there :D
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my vote goes for arthur still :P
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oh well that means I will have to call it Arthur, won't I? :laugh:
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well, yes, for there is no gainsaying my will ;)
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well one could always compromise and call it.....
seductive Arthur! :P :laugh:
or even
seductive curly Arthur! ;) :laugh:
If you translate it into queny no one will ever know! :P (except for Quenya speakers.... of course).
Ha.... sorry Nil, I think your jewellery is lovely. Just having a joke there. ;)
(Although the name seductive curly Arthur is growing on me every minute! :o) :laugh:
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Hey Nil, i looooove you work :da:
I so wish i could have something from you
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And so do I :da: lol :laugh:
I still mean to make that design you sent me once, as soon as time allows. :)
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Still Arthur or seductive arthur has no proper name :( :laugh:
However I have updated a post back on the first page to show the work of my new tutor in Japanese metal work.
here it goes anyway, hope you enjoy
Ford Hallam's work (http://www.eldayn.com/Ford/Album/index.html)
If you want to know, it's all custom alloys with patination, and all work is in average 2 to 4 inches in size hand carved with small hammers, chisels and punches, no power tools whatsoever just as it would have been done 300-400 years ago and more.
Enjoy (it's an order dammit) :D
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I didn't need an order to enjoy those pieces Nil :D The are truly exquisite!!
Lessa
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:D Excellent.
Obviously the aesthetics of the japanese are fairly different to those in the west due to the philosophical differences, however in this Photo (http://eldayn.com/Ford/Images/Zoomorphic.jpg) You can see that the techniques can be succesfully applied to different kind of aesthetics such as the celtic styles (not my cup of tea but it can be done)
If you wish to get an insight into it here's a good site explaining what is involved in Japanese Metal working
http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/TEBIKI-E/4.html (http://www.nihon-kogeikai.com/TEBIKI-E/4.html)
Zogan and Chokin are what I'm studying for the time being, eventually will follow casting and chasing as well but that applies mostly to vessels, vases and big objects, Zogan and Chokin are more the side of embelishment of these items.
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totally stunning work!
Youre lucky to be learning that art Nil!
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Yeah really fortunate is the case.
However we still need a name for seductive curly arthur, I don't think it's going to attract serious customers :laugh: (no offence Sam) ;)