art-of-swords:

The Making Of Orcrist

The most iconic prop in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is arguably Orcrist, “Biter”, “The Goblin Cleaver”. The sword found by Thorin Oakenshield in the hoard of the troll brothers William, Tom and Bert.

Orcrist was launched recently as the fifth sword in Weta’s Master Swordsmith’s Collection and is available to order.

The sword and some of its design history features in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Chronicles: Art and Design, but we wanted to delve deeper. We therefore looked up concept designer Paul Tobin and Master Swordsmith Peter Lyon for a chat about how the sword was designed and made.

A commonly asked question on Facebook and various forums has been if the sword has been inspired by any particular type of sword.

Paul Tobin explains: “In terms of a classification of weapon, it’s probably closest to a falchion. However, the main reason for the blade shape is the need for a strong visual weight as it needs to look impressive in the hands of a bulky and potentially scaled down dwarf.

“If you take a sword like Glamdring, which is quite a slender blade, and while it looks fantastic in the hands of the tall slender wizard Gandalf, when you place it in the hands of a dwarf, it’s begins to look a bit like a rapier or large letter opener.”

“Although some argue Orcrist is the brother of Glamdring, this doesn’t necessarily mean they have to look the same, only that they perhaps are made by the same smith. Tolkien never actually described any swords in any technical detail, so a lot of interpretation has to be done”, Peter Lyon adds.

“So we started looking at Sting”, Paul continues. “There you have a wider blade and for the second round of designs, I drew heavily on that blade shape.”

“We needed a heavy blade with a good on-screen presence and although Orcrist is a single-edged blade, there are lots of similarities, like the hand guard - very similar to Sting.”

“Something there’s much discussion about online is the dragon’s tooth handle”, Peter interjects. “People are saying that there is no record in Tolkien’s work of a dragon being slain in earlier ages and therefore no way anyone could have a dragon’s tooth for a handle. But I guess you don’t actually have to kill a dragon to get hold of a tooth. Perhaps it was knocked out in battle and made its way to a smithy in Gondolin.”

Read the rest of the article here

Source: Weta NZ

Give it to meeeee

thingsforteachers:

I haven’t posted in nearly 2 years. But after a few stressful weeks at work, I was inspired to write this when I got home today.

I read about teaching constantly in the news, and it doesn’t seem to reflect what I experience each day. It’s been increasingly frustrating to me. While it’s very difficult to express in words what a teacher’s day is like, I gave it an honest shot here (warning: there is a little bit of profanity). 

What it truly means to be a teacher

12:45pm. I am teaching a 7th period class; we are focusing on the costs and benefits of British rule in India. The students are working on a t-chart on their own, referencing a textbook.

A girl in the front looks upset. Her eyes are glassy. She is finished the assignment far before the others because her reading level is on grade level while many of the students in the same class are still struggling at grammar-school reading levels (I teach 10th grade). She is drawing circles on her paper.

I know she was supposed to audition for the X-Factor, a TV show, yesterday; she had been excited about it for months. I heard through the grapevine that her dad wouldn’t let her go. I kneeled down. “Are you okay?”

Another student shouts from a few rows over: “Ms. D, I need you to show me my grade.” (Yesterday, as I tried to get him to start his work, he told me to shut the fuck up.)

I ignored him for a moment to see if he would notice I am mid-conversation with another student. She nods and says, “I’m fine” unconvincingly.

Again- “My grade Ms. D, I need to see my grade.”

“I’ll show you your grade after class- I’m trying to talk to another student right now.”

“I need to see it though,” he insists. “Is this good? Am I done?” He holds up his t-chart. I’m still kneeling in front of X-Factor girl as she absentmindedly traces the already-drawn circles on her paper.

“Ms. D,” another student shouts from across the room. “Can I stay after class and see my grade too?”

It’s been 1 minute.

1:01pm. We have 4 minutes in between classes and the bell has just rung to mark the end of 7th period. My 8th period class is honors-level and they are preparing for a debate. I need to move the desks from their standard position in rows to 2 large groups before too many students file in. I start in the back and manage to get 2 desks flipped around.

A girl runs in who should have been in my 7th period class but wasn’t. “I came to say bye, Ms. D. I’m not gonna be here anymore.” She’s standing by my desk at the front of the room.

“What?” I ask, not fully processing what she’s said.

“I’m not coming back,” she repeats.

I walk up to my desk. My 8th period has started to file in. “Guys, if you could group the desks into your 2 teams, please,” flitting my hand at them since I’ve been pulled aside.

“My foster mom kicked me out and I’m going to a homeless shelter,” the student continues. “I can’t go to this school from there.”

A student I advise in NHS comes in. “Ms. D, I need to see the papers I gave you earlier today- I think I stapled something to them that I wasn’t supposed to.”

I reach for the file of papers that I had put hers in earlier that day. “You can’t come to CHS still while you’re at the homeless shelter?” I’m flipping through the pages.

“No,” the homeless student says. “Ms. M says I can’t until I’m placed, then maybe I can get transportation.”

I hand the papers to the NHS student that she’s requested. “I need you to sign these- they’re from the donation drive,” she says. I put them on my desk and sign quickly, looking over them to make sure they are what she says they are.

I turn to the homeless student again, not sure even what to say. “Do you have paper? Will you keep in touch? Call me if you need anything? Please?” I write down my phone number for her.

NHS girl waves a paper in front of my face. “Do you need this to verify my hours?” I shake my head.

“Ms. D, I have a question!” calls a student from across the room. I walk over.

The bell rings for 8th period to begin. I turn around and the homeless girl has disappeared; I didn’t even get to truly say goodbye.

It’s been 4 minutes.

 

1:20pm. My honors students are in their teams, preparing for their debate. There was tension in this class yesterday; the teammates weren’t getting along well. One of my students approached me in the morning saying she felt as if her team was not taking her comments seriously.

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One million reblogs please

Yes

This happened.

aniki-tony:

silencedrowns:

nigga-chan:

IM ABOUT TO CRY OMG THIS IS JUST TOO AMAZING OFMG 

I think this wins for possibly the most creative tattoo I’ve ever seen.

The sickest Tat!

Oh My God

Femshep Nouveau by ~Mwar on deviantART

art-of-swords:

Sword Cane

• Dated: 19th century
• Measurements: Blade ~ 30.5 inches

Being mounted with 17th century rapier blade, this piece is signed with the ”+ PEDRO + DEL + MONTE ++” name (a swordsmith) on one side and “XX EN X TOLEDO XX” on the other.

Source & Copyright: Historical Arms & Armor

Hey Bibliomancer7, this is for you.

This was one of the moments the Captain America movie got really right, before the second half went kaput.  Steve was an illustration student before the whole super solider serum mess, so even though it’s never mentioned beforehand or afterward, it was a nice nod to the fans who knew a bit of his history, as well as a nice little window into the character.

ed-pool:

Infographic of every weapon yielded in The Hobbit.

I need and Orcrist and a Glamdring in my life so bad.