Weapons in Vallinor?

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I'm hardly an expert, but I don't think commoners were often armed in medieval times. Swords were pretty much the mark of a knight or mercenary.

Yes that was what I was trying to hint at, that there is a difference between the "stereotypical" representation and how things actually were back then...

My area of history is mostly Early Modern, so I am not clear on all the finer details in medieval times either. However I am fairly certain that it was at this time it became an exclusive privilege for the nobility (In Denmark) to bear arms openly... it was a symbol of status. Also in Danish society it was the whole justification for the privileges of the nobility was that they were also the armed forces, the defenders of the realm... so there was a whole lot of symbolism mixed in as well.

It might have been allowed for common folk to have swords in the early medieval period, but I doubt it would have been a general tendency, as swords cost silly money... A regular person probably wouldn't have been able to afford more than an axe.

Anyways...

Originally Posted by Inziladun

There was no war in Valinor though, and no obvious enemy from which Fëanor should have felt the need to arm himself against. The lies of Melkor induced Fëanor to see enemies even when they weren't there.

Maybe not, but the point is still valid. Since before the first age, elves were fighting a bitter war, A war that even had a spin-off, with Sauron cast as the main villain. Granted sometimes there was peace, or at least not open conflict, but it still lasted thousands of years. So yeah, in a world that doesn't seem to have an exclusive warrior class, that would probably result in armed people being a relatively common sight.

[jallanite]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

Maybe not, but the point is still valid. Since before the first age, elves were fighting a bitter war, A war that even had a spin-off, with Sauron cast as the main villain. Granted sometimes there was peace, or at least not open conflict, but it still lasted thousands of years. So yeah, in a world that doesn't seem to have an exclusive warrior class, that would probably result in armed people being a relatively common sight.

What war were the Elves fighting? The war against Morgoth was fought by the Valar and Maiar, not the Elves. And the main villain was Morgoth, not Sauron. And unless you count the war between Morgoth and the Valar as beginning with the destuction of the two lamps, I am unaware of any source that says the war between Morgoth and the Valar lasted “thousands of years”.

According to “The Annals of Aman” in Morgoth’s Ring the final war between Morgoth and the Valar began in the year 1090 and ended with Morgoth’s imprisonment in the year 1100. Thus according to this account the war lasted only ten Valian years, about a hundred years of the Sun, not even close to one thousand years.

Or are you thinking of the later war which the Noldor and Sindar fought against Morgoth? That war was fought after the period that this thread is discussing.

I don’t see that your point is valid.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by jallanite

What war were the Elves fighting? The war against Morgoth was fought by the Valar and Maiar, not the Elves. And the main villain was Morgoth, not Sauron. And unless you count the war between Morgoth and the Valar as beginning with the destuction of the two lamps, I am unaware of any source that says the war between Morgoth and the Valar lasted “thousands of years”.

According to “The Annals of Aman” in Morgoth’s Ring the final war between Morgoth and the Valar began in the year 1090 and ended with Morgoth’s imprisonment in the year 1100. Thus according to this account the war lasted only ten Valian years, about a hundred years of the Sun, not even close to one thousand years.

Or are you thinking of the later war which the Noldor and Sindar fought against Morgoth? That war was fought after the period that this thread is discussing.

I don’t see that your point is valid.

Yes, yes, you are right of course.

Sorry, I lost focus there. I could have sworn that Rhod talked about attitudes to weapon in M-E in general. Expanding the discussion from just Valinor to a more overarching level. . . but going back I can see that this was not the case.

This happens to me every now and then: Though normally I don't misunderstand/misread the posts, rather I tend too misremember what people have said, and then go slightly off-topic.

My apologies.