[Dain]

I don't think it would have been mithril--maybe it had some other sort of magic that made it appear just in time to be put in his funeral boat... [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I like to picture him with a round shield, like the one he had in the film. It was the most common shape in the dark/early-middle ages. The pointed shields came for cavalry purposes, since they covered down the leg. The Sutton-Hoo shield is round, and that's the basic look I think middle earth matches--except for the Hobbits and their waistcoats! It's a bit of a conundrum...

Yes, with american public schools, you probably don't have any idea what Sutton Hoo is. Use the internet (but carefully), and your local libraries to compensate. It sure helped me...