Deviation Actions
Description
This is Turin by the time he spent at Amon Rûdh, leading the bandits.
It was inspired by the great work of my friend Turner Mohan, check it out, it is amazing: turnermohan.deviantart.com/jou…
I consider him the best Tolkien Artist of the new generation, his ability with the concepts itself is really impressive.
We had many backs and forths about Tolkien related concept art, and this really fed up my imagination. I just cannot help but try and explore the idea myself.
For this design I had some points in mind:
Turin is depicted as a really tall and strong man, even as the strongest, and his battle prowess is almost unequalled. So for me he is like the Middle Earth Conan. I made him tall and broad shouldered, with big and powerful hands, and a ready and menacing resting pose. Just like a Tiger, even when resting you can feel the power and aggression potential of the creature. I tried to convey that with his pose here.
Also, I think of the first men as “refined barbarians” at least in appearance. This is why I chose the Anglo-Saxon style as my basis for developing his gear. Northern and powerful warriors just like the Edain from house of Hador.
The blue dragon tattoos in his arms, albeit never mentioned in the books, are something that I see as totally possible, a testament to his battle deeds and Edain heritage, both things this proud individual was never shy to flaunt. I imagine him living among the elves holding his head high, sporting a beard and his tattoos as warlike sign of pride. I see him just like that, a trouble waiting to happen.
His gear is as famous as the owner, and I expanded it a little bit.
You can see the Dragon Helm, the infamous sword Gurthang, an Elven maille hauberk, a shield and also a brass decorated Dwarven Seax (you can’t get any better weapon for close combat than that dwarven blade). He wear an elven cloak and a wolf pelt over it ( a barbaric and surely human sign of battle prowess) and also some human jewels like a Tork from Haleth's House (in his arm) and a ring and cape pin. His clothes too are of human origin.
For the Helmet I had in mind the key aspects that we have from the books: Grey steel etched in gold, a hideous mask to look upon, a visor to protect the eyes from flames, a dragon shaped crest in mockery of Glaurung and an exceptionally heavy weight (even for a dwarven piece).
I also added the crown because this helmet once belonged to no one else than Azaghâl, the great dwarven king. It was given as a token of gratitude in the field, so I see it as an actual battle piece, not a ceremonial one. Thus the helmet is well adorned but not excessively, and is sturdy and functional.
By using scales, spikes and sharp angles I intended to bring up the dragon aspect to the design.
The mask is shaped as a bearded face and the mustache, mouth and braided beard plates all together form a Bevor. There is an under Coif made of scales that is shaped in the likeness of a beard.
The design was much inspired by Turner’s latest dwarven designs, but also from my old concepts of various dwarven helmets that you can find in my gallery.
For the sword, Gurthang, which was forged of metheoric iron, I imagine a simple and straight sword, with some hints of floral design and an overall viking sword style. Tolkien gives us a very strong Norse Myth vibe on his works, so you can bet he imagined his swords as one handed Viking swords, but I simply cannot help but imagine elven swords jus as Glamdring from the movies: straight slender and pointy elegant bastard swords. This is a late medieval design (the longsword) but it is just a perfect match for the versatile and agile elven fighting style. A sharp but lightweight blade that can be used with one or two hands, to stab or cut, is just the perfect thing for the tall and fast elves.
In my design it is a very pointy almost spike like sword, to evoke the destiny of the blade: to stab Glaurung to death and later its own master, Turin.
In my mind, the blade is somewhat simple in design, as I perceive its creator, Eöl, as a very straight forward individual with nihilistic inclinations so a dark deadly and simple blade suits him very well.
Eöl was one of the greatest Arda smiths of all the times, and I wanted to show that in another way than simply a fancy blade design and abundance of decorations. I imagine that a masterful balanced blade, made of a rare and difficult to work metal, using advanced technologies like Wootz steel (pattern folded, a technology in which Vikings excel) and also masterfully heat treated, would do the trick. In my mind the different metals in the wootz actually show a recognizable image in the pattern like vines, something that just a master like Eöl would be able to accomplish. It is subtle too, just like the Hamon the bade shows, from the heat treatment.
This one is a visual hint to the almost impossible sharpness most people attribute to Japanese blades, and is exactly the kind of exotic and minimalistic visual trait you will find in that sword.
Unfortunately I was not able to show those minute details in this piece, because of the size and media. Maybe in the future, Angalchel/Gurthang will have its own drawing.
The shape of the pommel is heavily reminiscent of those of Viking swords. I did this inpired in a concept that was introduced by Turner Mohan: In this awesome piece here: turnermohan.deviantart.com/art…
he talk about the elven pointed shoes being a fashion that survived the ages in both medieval times and later in fairy tales. I like this idea, that the elves influenced most of the human culture that was modified and adapted over the centuries until the original idea was forgotten.
For my sword, I imagine Eöl having this trademark of inserting floral designs in his weapons (being a forest dweller) and famous as he were this rapidly turned into a kind o fashion among weapon smiths. Later the less skilled human tried to replicate the flower-button pommel and ended up with something far simpler. Even later this design evolved on itself, the original elven style completely forgotten, ending up with our well known Viking styled sword pommel.
The elven maille he probably got from Thingol’s armory. He chooses a black steel maille, because he is a man of a sinister mood and it just fits him well. The cut of the Hauberk is exotic and not very well suited for horse riding, and is made of very tiny rings, an elven specialty. Such a hauberk can be rolled into a ball not much larger than a man´s fist.
The hauberk is also decorated with silver stars, a subject of reverence to the Eldars of the old.
My equipment of choice for this one was:
-Sakura Koi Watercolours
-Noodler’s Ahab Pen and Ink
-And a crappy piece of paper that ruined most of the painting.
-Of course, some Photoshop retouches.
For the next ones, I intend to have my take on Glaurung, Azaghãl, the dragon helm in detail, some more dwarven designs and a helmetless Turin. I also plan to do the scene in which Azaghal wounds Glaurung with a knife. I have a plausible explanation on how it could have be done.
