Dungeons Deep and Caverns Old

     A big update here to make up for the radio silence of the past months.  This is the entrance to the dwarf-mine my little company of dwarves is trying to reclaim.  I began planning this project probably four years ago but couldn't get myself to stick with it long enough to finish it - until recently, that is, when I decided to discipline myself and complete it.

     I had originally planned to make one 2x4ft. board, only to realize after I'd started that it was too big to fit through the doorways in my house.  I cut it in two, but the cut wasn't as clean as I would have liked, so there is a fairly large seam between the two halves that I'm trying to find a way to conceal.  The first board (the flat, easy one) I finished a while back, long enough ago in fact that it has rather a different feel and a slightly different color from the newer mountain-side (probably dust in the static grass).

Warg-riders chase after the company as it nears its destination (seam partially visible below).

A rear-guard is formed while the sages of the company try to open the gate.

The mesmerizing blue waters of the lake draw the attention of the company's pony.

The dwarves approach the gate, furtively observed by some goblins.

Up the causeway!

The "foyer" which will connect to the next board.

There are a number of additions and slight alterations still to be made: ripples onto the streams, a way to conceal the seam, extra rocks and hillocks, perhaps a dwarf monument.  Also I will need some suitable names for the terrain features.  There are imperfections, in particular regarding the match between old and new boards, but overall I'm quite pleased.  To be frank, I was rather disappointed with myself for not having had the gumption to see this project through, so it feels good to have finished it at long last.

Goblin Reinforcements

Assorted goblins, including a shaman standing in as the Goblin chieftain.

I tried to give the troll a greenish tint, like it has in the book (the book troll also has toeless feet, but I like the toes too much to get rid of them). Unfortunately, the photos are a bit blue in tone.

I attempted to show the stone floor buckling under the troll's footfall.  Not sure how well it came out.

A bat swarm from Reaper miniatures, flying through the rubble.

This more of less finishes my goblin force.  There may be a few additions in the future, but for now it's done.  Now, to build their stronghold...

The Greatest Traveller and Huntsman of this Age of the World

     I've had this model of Strider in a drawer for easily five years and never got around to painting him.  It's from the original Fellowship of the Ring set from way back in 2001 - in my opinion these are/were some of the best sculpts in the whole LotR/Hobbit range.

     There is a big controversy, as you may know, about whether Aragorn has a beard, and I decided to take the middle road and give him a heavy growth of stubble not unlike Viggo's in in Fellowship.

     My painting has gravitated towards sharper, bolder highlights in recent years, and so I tried to paint Aragorn in a more realistic and toned-down way, but as usual the overall effect is rather muted.  Still, I am very happy with the finished result.

     Federals on the way, I promise!

Into Mirkwood

     I've been working on a Mirkwood terrain board for a few months, on and off.  Frequently, artists depict Mirkwood as a tangled, overgrown forest full of gnarled trees and tangled roots.  Here's a still from The Desolation of Smaug.  To my eye, there's nothing interesting about this kind of forest - it's become the 'go-to' forest design for any fantasy setting (Snow White and the Huntsman, e.g.).

     Tolkien's own drawing of Mirkwood is quite different, however.  Endless rows of fairly uniform trees create a kind of eerie semi-monotony.  What is more, old-growth forests often have little in the way of undergrowth because the trees are tall and the canopy dense enough to block out most of the sunlight, and few branches survive on the lower portions of the trunk. So this is a more life-like representation of an old forest.

     Here is Siegfried in a forest in Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen.

     And here's a still from Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, when Falstaff and his pals waylay some travelers and are in turn set upon by Harry and Poins.

     I find these images much more interesting and affecting.  

     Here's what I've got so far.  The trees are just dowels of different diameters, wrapped in toilet paper soaked in watered-down glue, with roots made of twisted floral wire bound in masking tape.  By varying the colors, textures (from sawdust), and the direction of the TP wrapping, one can create a number of different tree types.  The leaf litter is from JTT, and the mushrooms are from a Polish company called Ristul (I think?).  I intend to make enough to cover the whole table, but these were the trial run.

     Not the best pictures, and the effect is ruined by the bright sunlight in the background, but that's the idea.  Will try to prepare a more scenic backdrop next time.

Over the Merlock Mountains...

     So begins "The Mewlips," a curious and tantalizing poem from the oft-ignored Adventures of Tom Bombadil.  The poem describes a set of horrific, flesh-eating creatures that drag their victims into gloomy "cellars" and devour them.  There are many references to geography that, though apparently fictional, could correspond with the regions near the Long Lake. 

     I had two plaguebearer bodies left over from an aborted earlier project, and for a long time I didn't quite know what to do with them.  Something about their awkward limbs and ghastly, bloated bellies stuck in my mind, however, and eventually, it occurred to me that they would serve well as mewlips. 

     The prevailing supposition is that a mewlip is in fact an orc, or rather an orc as it might exist in a nonsensical hobbit poem: a vague, atavistic memory of the orcs that might have preyed on hobbits before they crossed the Misty Mountains, transformed over centuries of story-telling into something like a bogeyman. This is a likely-enough theory.  As I started to fiddle with the plaguebearers, however, I came to think of mewlips rather differently.  One of the bodies had a pair of what might pass for breasts, so I began to think of it as the female.  From there, it was an easy step to see the mewlips as a kind of sub-created version of something from one of Tolkien's dearest real-world stories, Beowulf.  

     There's not much to go on in the poem, but it seems that the mewlips live in caves or grottoes situated in a dreadful swamp or marsh.  These caves contain treasure, presumably filched from the bodies of victims.  The mewlips emerge to seize their victims; they feed; and they keep the victims' bones in a sack. We cannot tell how many mewlips there are - whether they are a proper species or just a small group of monsters, nor do we have much in the way of a physical description.

     The mention of the sack caught my attention.  It seemed like an odd detail, and I couldn't help but think of a line from Beowulf which mentions Grendel carrying a bag or pouch made of dragon-hide into which he stuffs the corpses of men he has killed.  Then there is the swamp itself, a bleak, festering marsh situated far away from the abode of civilized men.  The poem mentions gorcrows roosting in the willows and "gargoyles" staring down at any trespassers.  Whether these gargoyles are actual gargoyles, the mewlips themselves, or perhaps other hideous beasts is unclear.  Here again I was reminded of Beowulf: the otherworldy swamp, overhung with trees and filled with writhing water-monsters.  Below, in the lair of the merewif, Beowulf finds a treasure-hoard.  And there is, of course, the obvious similarity between the mewlips and the monsters themselves.

     Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I should make clear that I am not saying Tolkien intended mewlips to be Grendels.  Rather, there are certain similarities - allusions, even - to Grendel and his mother that, to my mind, are unlikely to have been entirely accidental.  In the same sense, I did not set out to make my own version of Grendel and his mother but rather to allow my fondness for Beowulf to inform my understanding of a what a mewlip is like.

     These figures saw a number of firsts: the first time I've resculpted faces, the first time I've tried to mimic figures standing in water, and the first time I've sculpted genitalia.  It took me a while to decide whether the last part was necessary, but I didn't care for the sexless, empty-crotched look of the plaguebearers.  In addition, the text of Beowulf establishes Grendel and his mother as descendants of Cain, a kind of twisted off-shoot of humanity.  There's also an academic theory that considers the merewif a vestige of the fertility deities that preceded Germanic polytheism.  So there is some scholarly justification for what was primarily an aesthetic decision.

     And the finished products...

     The swamp bases aren't quite what I'd hoped.  Oh well.

Knight of Evendim

     Another semi-LotRO-inspired project here.

     Every once in a while I like to wander around the shores of Lake Evendim, which is, I think, one of the most beautiful and peaceful regions in the entire game.  For those of you who don't play, there are a number of old Arnorian ruins there, reverently watched over by some Rangers.  I'd been toying with the idea of recreating them in miniature for some years but couldn't quite get myself to start on the project until recently.

     The image on the shield is meant to resemble the view westward across Lake Evendim after the sun has set, with the spire of Tinnudir visible on the right.  Looking at it I am reminded of the shield of King Arthur in Culhwlch and Olwen, which is called Wynebgurthucher, or "Face of Evening."

     The miniature is one of the old Rangers of the North that came out in one of the early SBG supplements.  Very handsome figures, to my mind.  This wound up being perhaps the most complicated conversion I've ever done; I had to cut out and reposition the left forearm, grind off the quiver, and then re-sculpt the cloak.

     There might be a few more of these in the pipeline. We'll see.

Orcses!

     Here are some photos of the various orcs I've painted over the last few years.  Many of them I've had for 10 or 15 years, from the very first releases of GW's Lord of the Rings miniatures.   The old ones have been repainted.

Some warg riders, including my favorite (second from left), whom I call Magua.

Mirkwood orcs.  I'm very pleased with the color scheme: pallid flesh set against black armor, with a lot of unhealthy purple/grey colors on the cloth.  I hoped to give them a vaguely ghostly look as befits the soldiery of Dol Guldur.  Bases are unfinished (the leaf litter needs work).  And it goes without saying that the old metal orc sculpts are just fantastic - far better than the plastic ones.  A few personal notes: the face on the banner is one of my first attempts at free-hand (done 13 years ago) and survived the repaint, while the rather greenish orc on the right was for many years my favorite GW model and one of the first I ever painted, so I redid him in the same colors I used back in 2002.

Hobbit goblins.  I wasn't crazy about the idea of mutant goblins when I saw An Unexpected Journey, but the sculpts are so wonderful that I couldn't help getting a few.  I think of them as devolved or diseased orcs (like the Globsnaga in LotRO), repulsive even by orcish standards and condemned to the lowest and most squalid tunnels. They remind me of Morlocks, so perhaps I should call them Morlorcs?  The blind one in the second photo is a sort of shaman, and he has a little midget goblin to help guide him along the tunnels.

Now that I look at them, the black-lining seems a bit heavy, and the one with the whip might have to be altered considerably.

When the Fellowship travel down the Anduin and pass the Brown Lands, they come under fire from orc archers stationed on the East Bank of the river. There are also allusions in the books and appendices to occasional orc raids across the River into Rohan.  I thought it would be fun to build a small Brown Lands orc patrol, of which the above is the start.  Predictably, they're mainly brown.

And my favorites, the goblins.  I think the Moria goblins are the closest PJ came to Tolkien's orcs in terms of stature and appearance.  They're just so neat-looking.  I never get tired of converting and painting them.

Santa's Workshop

    With Christmas near enough, I can put up some photos of the miniatures I've painted as Christmas gifts.  The ACW stuff is for a 7-year-old relative who got his first toy soldiers this year, and Elrond is for a friend.

Tiger Rifles (9th Louisiana)

Garrard's Tigers (146th New York)

Elrond.  (It's actually the Lindir model with some alterations.)  My first time working with GW Finecast, and it wasn't as unpleasant as I'd expected.

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

                                                     

I've been working for several years on a project that's very special to me, namely the creation of my own (dare I say subcreated) version of Thorin and Co.  To do so I have drawn on a variety of my interests, not the least certain Icelandic sagas.  The idea behind this project is that in the unquiet time between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, a group of dwarves has set off to the East on a quest of their own.  There will be thirteen in all (the "unlucky thirteen" that gave Thorin pause), but so far I have only finished nine.

(L-R) Andwari, Grettir, Ormfrothi, and Kweldulf

In The Hobbit, certain of Gandalf's comments indicate that there are a number of dwarves who must make their living by what they surely consider menial labor, like coal-mining.  I've always wondered about these dwarves and have included one of them in the company, namely Andwari, a sort of tinker or pedlar. He's got a bunch of bits and bobs (and a clarinet which you can't see) but not much in the way of weapons (other than his staff and his knives).  Andvari is the name of a dwarf in the Saga of the Volsungs who can take the form of a pike and possesses a ring of some importance, to put it mildly.  Hence the fishing rod (copied from Lotro's Lebethron rod) and the pikes embroidered on his gloves.

Grettir is of course none other than Grettir the Strong.  He's young, has a broad face and red hair, and is a kind of ghost- or monster-killer, like his namesake.  His sword he found in a barrow (like Jokul's Gift, Grettir's sword), and I hope in time to tie this in with some sort of ghostly nemesis.  The image on his shield is a reference to his name, which means "face-puller," "snake."

His brother (note the red serpent-shields and green hoods) is Ormfrothi, "Wise as a Serpent."  Minstrel-players on Lotro may recognize his weapon, Minstrel's Gift (a reward for a level 15 minstrel quest).  On his back is his precious theorbo.  

For comparison, here's Ormfrothi "in the flesh."

I'm not really all that fond of Kweldulf ("Evening Wolf").  He's supposed to be the wild one of the company, like his namesake Kveldulfr, berserker, shapeshifter, and grandfather of the famous poet Egill Skallagrimsson.  But the model came out rather bland and uninteresting, and I will probably redo him later on.  The weapon is supposed to evoke the atgeir, a sort of halberd used in Iceland.

(L-R) Bothwar, Steinmal, Gangleri, and Nial

Bothwar ("Warlike") is modeled off an old Guardian on Lotro I never did much with.  He's more heavily armored and carries a heavy shield (the free-hand is a bit crude and will likely be updated).  You may see on his shoulders the fur of a black bear, which refers to his namesake, Böðvar Bjarki, whose spirit took the form of a bear while he slept.

Bothwar's primary task is to protect the eldery and austere Steinmal.  I've never been happy with that name, although its meaning, "stone-speech," is fitting because Steinmal is a rune-smith.  He is much too important to carry his own gear but keeps his hammer on his person.

Gangleri the Wanderer is my favorite of the group, since he has for a long time been my alter ego.  Like his name suggests, he is a wanderer, always traveling and turning up unexpectedly.  Lotro players might notice the "dwarf-make prospector's pack" he wears.

Here is Gangleri.

Nial the Deep-minded is the company's counselor and is meant to represent the famous Njall of Njalssaga.  Just as Njall has no beard, Nial has no mustache (the closest I could get to a beardless dwarf).  The key and the snail (on the base) allude to the secret door into Erebor.

Finally, we have the company's long-suffering pack-horse and Ondott.  Ǫndóttr means "horrible," "frightful," words which certainly apply to someone with that axe and those mustaches.  He's a miner, hence his lantern and his equipment.  Perhaps he's another of those less-fortunate dwarves who labor for men.

That's all for now.  I would like tohave another dwarf done soon, but with the Christmas rush who can tell how long it will take.