# Barrow swords and etc....



## Celebthôl (Jun 18, 2003)

(not sure if this is the place)

Heres the thing:

The Men of Westernesse (sp), build/forged the barrow knifes, but in the film and im pretty sure the book (i dont remember), they were called swords, but why would tall men like that create swords of that size? They certainly wouldnt wield a blad that short against any foe...
They werent created for Hobbits use for obvious reasons, so why are they in the form of swords and not knifes? (this also includes Sting though it has a different history)...


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## Lantarion (Jun 18, 2003)

Well in the film the swords were not taken from the Barrow-downs, so it doesn't really matter. 
But in the LotR it is said that they were as long knives, but served as swords for the Halflings. An actual sword would be for them a humongous halberd-type thing. 
Anyway, Tolkien only calls them knives for want of a better term. He calls them mostly "short blades" or "Barrow-knives".


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## Celebthôl (Jun 18, 2003)

ahhh  okie dokie, i think it was the film that threw it out of context as Stings and the other swords look like a normal swords and not big knifes...thanx


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## BlackCaptain (Jun 18, 2003)

What he said...  . They were reffered to as swords just because the Hobbits were using them. If our main characters were Men, they'd be reffered to as Daggars/Knives


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## Captain (Jun 28, 2003)

(shakes head). The movie can be too influential.


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## YayGollum (Jun 28, 2003)

Do the bookses even toss any measurements at us? I don't remember. If those things were normal sized swords for nasssty hobbitses, couldn't they just be short swords for humans? They sound a little too big to be called daggers or knives. *hides*


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## BlackCaptain (Jun 28, 2003)

No measurements... I just think Tolkien was trying to get across that they were Long enough to be swords for Hobbits, and short enough to be Daggar type things for the men of Arnor


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## YayGollum (Jun 28, 2003)

Well, those short sword things would be about the size of a normal sword for nasssty hobbitses. Since the bookses say how tall they are. oh well. Maybe they could just be really long knives for humans? I have no idea. I'm wondering if they looked more like a long knife or a short sword. There would be a difference. Doobedoobedoo...oh well. I like good descriptions. just wondering. *hangs head in shame*


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## BlackCaptain (Jun 28, 2003)

Well there are such things as Shortswords... Longer than daggars... One handed long-swords that have been shortened some.


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## YayGollum (Jun 28, 2003)

Sure. That's what I was writing about. Am I an evil person for not turning the two words into one?  Anyways, that makes all kinds of sense to me. I doubt that a normal dagger sized thing would be as long as a normal sword to a nasssty hobbit.


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## Ingolmin (Jan 5, 2017)

You should ask yourself for what daggers are used and you will get the answer. We are men and we share the qualities of the Edain, dear Celbthol.


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## Andy* (Aug 27, 2017)

Older thread... But I've always envisioned the "Barrow blades" as some sort of Angl0-Saxon / Viking type Seax type weapon.
These can range from "belt knife" to sword length in size... Just a wild guess here.
Then again what do I know?... I wasn't invited to be part of the Fellowship....


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## EcthelionL (Aug 28, 2017)

Celebthôl said:


> ahhh  okie dokie, i think it was the film that threw it out of context as Stings and the other swords look like a normal swords and not big knifes...thanx


That's just one of the countless reasons that the films sully Tolkien's carefully created world. My advice - forget the films.


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## Andy* (Sep 17, 2017)

I am re-reading The Lord of the Rings .... Right now the Fellowship is at Bree , enjoying dinner...
That said , the Barrow Wights and Blades are fresh in my mind and I need to revise my earlier statements about blades and such.
Tolkien describes the blades as "Leaf Shaped" and uses the words dagger and knife.
To quote Tom Bombadil:
_"Old knives are long enough as swords for hobbit- people"._
It sounds to me like a long knife , dagger was found , but using a Hobbit for scale , the barrow blades can serve as a sword.

A smaller weapon like a long knife , or dagger can be used for great effect in close quarter combat:
Over or under a shield while in a "shield wall", when a sword might be too long.
In a crowded area , where you don't want to harm a fellow solider , or have enough room to cut and thrust with a sword.
Sometimes combat comes at "Bad Breath" distance.
Or as a back up weapon...
All come to mind as to the "Why" in the question of Why make or use a blade of that size.

I know my knife that I carried in all my combat deployments was a great comfort to me and it was on the "smaller" scale when many folks think of a "combat" knife ( it has a 5 1/2 inch blade )

So I still like my idea of a Seax type weapon somewhere in the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings ... Just not here for the Fellowship.
Andy


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## Azrubêl (Sep 20, 2017)

Andy* said:


> I am re-reading The Lord of the Rings .... Right now the Fellowship is at Bree , enjoying dinner...
> That said , the Barrow Wights and Blades are fresh in my mind and I need to revise my earlier statements about blades and such.
> Tolkien describes the blades as "Leaf Shaped" and uses the words dagger and knife.
> To quote Tom Bombadil:
> ...



Interesting post about blade length. My impression was that the Barrow Blades were ceremonial, that they were grotesque, ancient ornate blades, used for the evil practices of the Wights. I think the book at least explicitly describes how these are large knives, basically used for execution.


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## Starbrow (Sep 21, 2017)

The blades were not evil. They were forged by the men of the North Kingdom for battle against the evil King of Angmar (one of the Nazgul).


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## Azrubêl (Sep 22, 2017)

Starbrow said:


> The blades were not evil. They were forged by the men of the North Kingdom for battle against the evil King of Angmar (one of the Nazgul).



Really? I thought the knives were part of the Wight's ritual that they start to do. And that they were evil blades.


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## EcthelionL (Sep 22, 2017)

Azrubêl said:


> Really? I thought the knives were part of the Wight's ritual that they start to do. And that they were evil blades.


They were fine blades, taken by the Wights when they took possession of the barrows where ancient kings and nobles were buried.


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## Elthir (Sep 22, 2017)

Yep, the b-blades were made by the good guys.

The maker of Merry's blade would have been happy to know its fate -- helping to burn the Nazgul Lord's toast!

So to speak


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## Andy* (Sep 22, 2017)

_"Then he told them that these blades were forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord..."_

The above quote is from the Book when , Tom Bombadil is presenting / describing the Barrow Blades to the Hobbits.
Andy


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## Azrubêl (Sep 25, 2017)

Nice catch, gang


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