Creative Project

The Shield of Orome, the Hunter.

In Tolkien’s Legendarium, there are many Valar, but there are the eight that stand above the rest. While Orome may not be the leader of the Aratar, he is the Huntsman and Rider. This is a creation of his shield, one of the three weapons that are attributed to him in the Silmarillion (the only Valar to whom any weapons are described).

The shield is small, as Orome is a rider and hunter, favoring the bow and spear. His shield would not be a great targe or disc which would hinder his abilities on the ground or upon horse. He is skilled, and the only Valar to whom the Elves would see in war (Tolkien 50). He, similarly, awoke them from their slumber (Tolkien 46). Thus, the designs of the elves are evident in his shield. This was my choice, as I felt that as Orome awoke the Elves, he would have great influence on their designs and how they fought. The shield size also reflects this; only a skilled fighter could use such a small shield effectively.

It is constructed of wood that is lightweight and flexible, allowing it to serve as an actual battle-ready shield, but also reflects Tolkien’s love of nature (Drout 165), instead of being made of metal which would work as a better shield. It is wrapped in a green cloth, Orome is described as a hunter throughout the Silmarillion, and so I considered that his shield should be camouflaged. It is also wrapped in silver, and carries a golden ring in the center. These represent the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurellin (Tolkien 31). The gem in the center is an emulation of the Silima, the crystal that the Silmarillions are made out of, but not an actual Silmaril itself (Tolkien 441). I added this because the Silmarils are described as being wondrous, coveted by evil and adored by good (Tolkien 70). Even though it is not a Silmaril, I would assume that it would be one of the many attempts at recreating Silima done by the Valar, even though the true composition of such a material was only known by Feanor (Tolkien 69).

I desired to build a piece of Middle-earth’s history, to physically hold instead of imagine the weapons of the Valar. I had never crafted anything before, especially of this scale, and decided to do full justice by making it battle-ready, out of true materials instead of foam, plastic, or paper. It was remarkably a great deal of guess work, and I was unable to gain access to the proper tools that something like this required and was therefore forced to improvise solutions instead of backing away or moving to an easier medium.

This piece was made using a reciprocating saw, vise, multiple sanders, pipe wrenches (used as improvised vises) and a screwdriver. The materials are poplar wood, tanned leather, and a silver handle alongside seven screws, six nails, multiple staples, green fabrics, a six inch golden ring and over one hundred meters of silver wire.

The Crown of Earendil

Earendil the Mariner carried the Silmaril upon his brow until the end of days, where its light was so bright that it could be seen in the night skies as the evening star (Tolkien 300). This is an imagining of his crown, and the Silmaril that it carried would be held upon one’s forehead when wearing it. It is a golden crown wrapped in silver, a reference to the two trees of Valinor whose light still lingered in the Silmaril (Tolkien 69). Yet it is also wrapped in rings of diamonds and other gems, which were precious to the elves as described (Tolkien 441).

The design of the crown came from the idea that while the Silmaril was bound to Earendil, I decided that I did not like the idea that it bound to his flesh (Tolkien 300). I figured a small, light-weight crown would work best, that displayed the Silmaril (here envisioned as a white, diamond like gem as suggested by the Silmarillion) (Tolkien 69). Whether or not Earendil has a crown is never discussed in the Silmarillion itself, but Melkor had previously placed the Silmarils in a “crown of iron” that burned him as he wore it (Tolkien 87).

The crown itself reflects a more elven design, as Earendil was an elf, and therefore is lightweight but sturdy on the brow for whom it was created. I only had my own head as a model, and so for many others it may be worn as a necklace instead. This piece came about out of a desire to match the woodworking of the shield that I had made with jewelcrafting, another field that I had never studied or had any practice in. While the crown was easier to make, its overall effect I felt was lacking in comparison; as the tools needed to complete a task are prohibitively expensive-if this piece was made of true gold, silver, and diamonds its price would at minimum be over $1500.

This piece was made from an eight inch gold circlet, thirty feet of silver wire and multiple plastic faux diamond pieces.