Ivory in Gondolin - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Alfirin · 03-06-2011, 08:24 PM

I'm not sure if this can really be aswered by here is my question

In a footnote to the UT version of "Tuor and his coming to Gondolin" The sword of Gondolins king (this is presumaby Glamdring) has a sheath of "ruel bone" which is translated as "ivory". Here is my question, what sources of Ivory would Gondolin have? Thinking it over I have come up with three possibilites

1. Elephant or rather, Mumakul, ivory. This would presumably assume some sort of trade between Gondolin (or wherever the sheath was made) and the South (unless Mumakul are actually part of Gondolinian fauna in the First age)

2. Narwhal ivory. This would also invove some degree of trade, this time with the Lossoth/Snowmen of Forochel which is suppose is not impossible (Cirdan was able to send a ship to the area to pick up Barahir a few millenia later, so some elves presumbaly did know their way around the area. I actually like this option best as it seems the most logical if the sheath is one piece of ivory; if one assumes Glamdrig is a straight sword i'm not sure that you could make a one peice sheath out of an elephan tusk (though I would imagine a Mumakul tusk is far more massive than that of any current elephant and there are ways I understand to change the shape of ivory by boiling it in vinegar (the did it, as I recall to make the skin on the Statue of Zeus at Olympia) This ,ight be considered wasteful in our world (where a narwhal tsuks was valued as being the horn of a unicorn) but since it is not clear that unicorns are known in middle earth, narwhal tusk may not inspire the same reverance in ME

3. Boar ivory. This really wouldn't work for a one piece sheath, as few boars have tusks large enough to make such a straight scabbard (short of the Boar of Everholt maybe) but if the scabbard is made of many pieces (it is said to have gold on it, but wether this gold is ornamental or actual ligatures is not clear) boar could be an option.

your opinion?

03-06-2011, 08:24 PM	#1
Alfirin Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 435	Ivory in Gondolin I'm not sure if this can really be aswered by here is my question In a footnote to the UT version of "Tuor and his coming to Gondolin" The sword of Gondolins king (this is presumaby Glamdring) has a sheath of "ruel bone" which is translated as "ivory". Here is my question, what sources of Ivory would Gondolin have? Thinking it over I have come up with three possibilites 1. Elephant or rather, Mumakul, ivory. This would presumably assume some sort of trade between Gondolin (or wherever the sheath was made) and the South (unless Mumakul are actually part of Gondolinian fauna in the First age) 2. Narwhal ivory. This would also invove some degree of trade, this time with the Lossoth/Snowmen of Forochel which is suppose is not impossible (Cirdan was able to send a ship to the area to pick up Barahir a few millenia later, so some elves presumbaly did know their way around the area. I actually like this option best as it seems the most logical if the sheath is one piece of ivory; if one assumes Glamdrig is a straight sword i'm not sure that you could make a one peice sheath out of an elephan tusk (though I would imagine a Mumakul tusk is far more massive than that of any current elephant and there are ways I understand to change the shape of ivory by boiling it in vinegar (the did it, as I recall to make the skin on the Statue of Zeus at Olympia) This ,ight be considered wasteful in our world (where a narwhal tsuks was valued as being the horn of a unicorn) but since it is not clear that unicorns are known in middle earth, narwhal tusk may not inspire the same reverance in ME 3. Boar ivory. This really wouldn't work for a one piece sheath, as few boars have tusks large enough to make such a straight scabbard (short of the Boar of Everholt maybe) but if the scabbard is made of many pieces (it is said to have gold on it, but wether this gold is ornamental or actual ligatures is not clear) boar could be an option. your opinion?