Fast index:

1- The Great Journey
2- The Good old Beleriand:
a- Sindar in Doriath
b- Sindar in noldorin Realms
c- Nandor
3- Beyond the First Age:
a- Mirkwood and Lorien
b- Falathrim
4- Credits

1- The Great Journey

“The greatest host came last, and they are named the Teleri, for they tarried on the road, and were not wholly of a mind to pass from the dusk to the light of Valinor. 2

`The Great Journey, during which befell the first sundering of the Elven kindreds, was one of the defining moments in Elven history. It lasted 56 Years of the Trees years3 (a one year of the Trees being 9.582 years of the Sun). During such a long journey, weapons would be quite useful. Did the Elves have them? Tolkien has debated on it. In Morgoth’s Ring we get to see probably the last stage of the debate in the note written by Christopher Tolkien:
“Against the words ‘Melkor spoke to the Eldar concerning weapons, which they had not before possessed or known’ my father wrote on the typescript: ‘No! They must have had weapons on the Great Journey.’ Cf. the passage in QS on the subject (footnote to S 49): ‘The Elves had before possessed only the weapons of chase, spears and bows and arrows.’ 4

This must indeed be Tolkien’s final view on the subject - otherwise there would be no way to explain the Teleri of Alqualonde having slender bows, which they used against the kin slayers 5 since Melkor paid no attention to them 6 and they did not receive his teachings. They must have indeed been retained them from the Great Journey, and that, spears, bows and arrows, would also be the original weapons of the Teleri of Middle Earth, before they began to smithy weapons of metal.

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2- The Good Old Beleriand:

a- Doriath and the Grey-elves

“A king there was in days of old:
ere Men yet walked upon the mould
his power was reared in cavern's shade,
his hand was over glen and glade.
His shields were shining as the moon,
his lances keen of steel were hewn,
of silver grey his crown was wrought,
the starlight in his banners caught;
and silver thrilled his trumpets long
beneath the stars in challenge strong;
enchantment did his realm enfold,
where night and glory, wealth untold,
he wielded from his ivory throne
in many-pillared halls of stone.” 7

Sindar, the Grey Elves of Beleriand, were the fairest, wisest and most skillful of all Elves of Middle Earth 8. Having the teachings of Melian and the rule of Thingol, they have far surpassed the rest of Moriquendi. Nevertheless, the smithcraft of weapons of metal they first learned from the Dwarves, when Thingol took thought of weapons, during the third age of captivity of Melkor. As a result, the Sindar of Doriath were very well armed, both with the weapons made by the Dwarves, those of their own making, and those that were given to King Thingol as a gift from Valinor. These are a few quotes that describe the variance of weapons that they possessed:
“At this time the Sindar were well-armed, and they drove off all creatures of evil, and had peace again; but Thingol’s armouries were stored with axes and with spears and swords, and tall helms, and long coats of bright mail; for the hauberks of the Dwarves were so fashioned that they rusted not but shone ever as if they were new-furnished.”9

“Now Thingol had in Menegroth deep armouries filled with great wealth of weapons: metal wrought like fishes’ mail and shining like water in the moon; swords and axes, shields and helms, wrought by Telchar himself or by his master Gamil Zirak the old, or by elven-wrights more skillful still. For some things he had received in gift that came out of Valinor and were wrought by Feanor in his mastery, than whom no craftsman was greater in all the days of the world.”10

Despite the abundance of metal weapons, the archery traditions were still quite common. In the Unfinished Tales, a bow is named as the weapon of the Grey Elves (from whom Tuor learned to use it along with using an axe)11. Probably the most famous of Sindarin archers is Beleg Cuthalion, whose name means Strongbow. His bow Belthronding was made off black yew-wood12, and was buried with his master after what probably was a great shooting career, of which we unfortunately know only one episode - the shooting wolf sentinels that guarded Turin.

Another useful item that the Sindar of Doriath were likely to have in their possession is the Elven cloaks, which are mostly known to us as the cloaks of Lorien, which proved so useful to the Fellowship. In The Book of Lost Tales 2 certain magic cloaks are attributed to be made by Melian in this quote: “This do we ask. For our labours during seven moons each seven jewels of Valinor, and seven robes of magic that only Gwendelin [an early name of Melian] can weave, and each a sack of gold;”13 While the precise nature of these cloaks is not explained, there are only so many things that a cloak can do to be considered magical. In the Unfinished Tales, it is possible to ascribe some stealth of the Grey Elves to these cloaks based upon these quotes, which describe the actions of the escort that Thingol gave to Morwen: “Tall Elves of Doriath they were, grey-clad, and cloaked over their mail.”14

“Then Mablung took the other score of his company, and they crept down from the hill; and then passing into the fields westwards, where trees were few, they scattered and made each his way, daring but stealthy, to the banks of Narog…But Glaurung lay there, just within the shadow of the great passage that led inward from the ruined Doors, and he had long been aware of the spies, though few other eyes in Middle Earth would have discerned them.”15

The environment that Mablung and his companions were in was not very convenient for moving unnoticed - it was not a forest (where Green Elves could move unnoticed without any extra-ordinary accessories), while the Sindar were not Hobbits, being tall, and yet they were very hard to spot even in that terrain. While it is possible to credit it to the skill of Sindar themselves, it is much more likely that the cloaks had a hand in it. It is indeed much more likely that Melian, a Maia of Lorien, who is the master of visions and dreams, was the inventor of such cloaks (and that she had skills in weaving is shown in the woven hangings that she adorned Menegroth with16) rather than Galadriel, who was a pupil of Melian and learned “great lore and wisdom concerning Middle Earth” from her17.

It is interesting to mention that while Thingol had horses in his possession, he used them for hunt (such as the hunt on Carcharoth18) and gathering news (as in the case when he sent a company of horsemen to gather tidings of Nargothrond19) only. He is never mentioned to have used horses for warfare or have a cavalry (probably because it was not needed on the marches of Doriath, which his warriors mostly defended).

Axe vs. Sword
It is a fairly common misconception that Elves did not use axes as their weapons. That is not the case with Sindar(nor with Noldor, but that is beyond the scope of this essay), among whom an axe was very common. Yet what was more common - an axe or a sword? There is very strong evidence for an axe being their primary weapon. In The War of the Jewels, Tolkien explicitly names an axe to be the chief weapon of the Sindar20. In the published Silmarillion, Beleg Cuthalion leads a great host of Sindar armed with axes into Brethil, where together with the Haladin they destroyed an Orc-legion21. The above-mentioned quote (11) from the Unfinished Tales, also names an axe to be the weapon of Grey Elves, from whom Tuor learned to use it. These quotes seem to be convincing enough to believe that an axe was the only short-range metal weapon commonly used by the Sindar, yet it is not that simple.

There are a few cases where Sindar are mentioned to use swords. King Thingol himself had a sword, Aranruth(which means “King’s Ire’), which was later wielded by the kings of Numenor 22 , and so did Beleg Cuthalion, who is said to love the handling of swords the most23. Another piece of evidence comes also from the Unfinished Tales - when Thingol accepts Turin as one of his march-wardens, he says: “I will appoint you a place among my knights of the sword; for the sword will ever be your weapon.”

24 This quote can mean two things - one is that Thingol used the sword as a symbol of his knights, which means a sword was common enough for that. Another is that there was a division among Thingol’s marchwardens and he offered Turin to join the unit of ‘knights of the sword’ (as opposed to knights of the axe). Either way, a sword was a common enough weapon not to be neglected, though the axe was likelier to be more common.

It is interesting that in the Third Age, long after Doriath has fallen, it was equally likely for Orcs to see an Elf wielding a sword or an axe. This is how the Orcs of Mordor described the suspect that has slipped by them(who in the end turned out to be Sam): “By all the signs, Captain Shagrat, I’d say there’s a large warrior loose, Elf most likely, with an elf-sword anyway, and an axe as well may be;” 25 Though the ‘large warrior” turned out to be no more than a Hobbit, it seems that the memory of the Elves wielding axes and swords endured in Orc minds for ages to come.

A Few Honorable Mentions
Among the many weapons wielded by Sindar, a few deserve a special mention:

- Aranruth - the sword of Elu Thingol, which as said above was inherited by the Kings of Numenor.

Surprisingly, we know quite little about the sword itself. The only description of the sword of Thingol(not yet known as Aranruth) comes from The Book of Lost Tales 2: “and a sword of dwarven steel brought from afar was hilted with bright gold and damascened in gold and silver with strange figurings wherein was pictured clear the wolf-hunt of Karkaras Knife-fang, father of wolves.” 26 This description cannot entirely stand. Aranruth was in existence at least at the time of Beleg’s second departure from Menegroth to Turin when Thingol reserved this sword for himself while giving Beleg the freedom to choose all others. Chances are however that it was made much earlier (though likely by the Dwarves as well), at the time that the Dwarves made the weapons for all Sindar, before the beginning of the First Age, and before the first Battle of Beleriand at least, since Thingol would have needed a worthy weapon in it. This also means that it could not have originally have a picture of wolf-hunt upon, though it certainly could have been engraved later to commemorate the event.

- Eol the Dark Elf, a kin of Thingol himself, is probably the most famous (and the most talented!) of Sindarin smiths. Among his inventions is the metal called Galvorn, which is “as hard as the steel of Dwarves, but so malleable that he could make it thin and supple; and yet it was resistant to all blades and darts.” 27 He is most known, however, for the creation of two swords -Anglachel and Anguirel, which were made off meteoritic iron. Anguirel was stolen by Maeglin, but Anglachel was given by him to Thingol, as the fee for dwelling in Nan Emloth. Anglachel had quite an interesting fate - being wielded by Beleg(and slaying Beleg by Turin’s hand),being renamed as Gurthang, being wielded by Turin in Nargothrond and among the Haladin, slaying Glaurung and in the end slaying Turin himself. After that the sword broke29, yet surprisingly that was not the end of its career. According to The Shaping of Middle Earth(where the final version of the story is contained), Turin will use the sword during Dagor Dagorath, the Last Battle, when Morgoth will come back from the void and fight the forces of Valar(Earendil in the sky, Tulkas, Fionwe(Eonwe) and Turin on the ground). In that battle the world will be destroyed, but Morgoth will also meet his end. The final blow to Morgoth will be dealt by Turin’s black sword, the same sword that Eol the Dark Elf made30. Talk about Sindarin craftsmanship going cosmic!

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b- Sindar in Noldorin Realms

“At the coming of Noldor many Grey-elves lived in Nevrast near to the coasts, and especially about Mount Taras in the south-west;…All that people took Turgon for their lord, and the mingling of the Noldor and the Sindar came to pass the soonest there;” 31

Indeed a lot of Sindar outside Doriath took Noldorin princes as their lords and Turgon was not an exception. In the case of Turgon, however, there were more Sindar in Gondolin than there were of Noldor! 32 The only full account of the fall of Gondolin, which is contained in The Book of Lost Tales 2 ,includes an excellent description of the arms of different houses of Gondolindrim, yet unfortunately at the time of writing of he work, the population of Gondolin consisted entirely of Noldor. We can of course speculate on the subject of which Elves named there would make a transition from being Noldorin to Sindarin, yet this would remain only speculations. Nevertheless, we can make out quite a lot about the arms of the Elves of Gondolin, Sindar included.
In the description of the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, it says that Turgon came with “an army of ten thousand strong, with bright mail and long swords and spears like a forest.” 33
In the description of Gondolin at Tuor’s coming in the Unfinished Tales, we see Gondolindrim inside of their city: “Again silently they passed the gate, and saw in the court beyond a yet greater company of guards in mail that glowed like dull fire; and the blades of their axes were red. Of the kindred of the Sindar of Nevrast for the most part were those that held this gate.” 34
“And beyond the gate stood archers in silver mail and white-crested helms, a hundred upon either hand.” 35 ”In the court beyond were arrayed three hundred archers with long bows, and their mail was gilded, and tall golden plumes rose from their helmets; and their great round shields were red as flame.” 36

Here we see Sindar retaining their traditional weapon - the axe. They have an armor that glows like dull fire, and unless Turgon decided to cut the spending on them, they would also have helms (the design may vary), though it is unlikely that they would have shields while wielding their axes - it is after all a two-handed weapon. Yet if they used other weapons, such as spears (and chances are they would at certain situations - a spear after all was one of the original Elven weapons used for hunt) or bows, then they would have round shields, like the rest of Gondolindrim.

Another Noldorin realm that had a lot of Sindar was Nargothrond. Finrod was the overlord “of all the Elves of Beleriand between Sirion and the sea, save only in the Falas” 37 and certainly many among them would be Sindar. Unfortunately we know quite little of the arms of the Elves of Nargothrond. We know that they had many archers that guarded Talath Dirnen38, and thus the Sindarin art of archery would be preserved there. We also know that the armories of Nargothrond were built in the fashion of Menegroth and probably filled with the same kind of arms - this is especially likely since Felagund had the help of Dwarves in this labor. Indeed we know that they had dwarf-mails in their possession, one of which they gave to Turin. 40 Thus it is likely that Sindar wielded the same arms as they did before the coming of Noldor, though their armor would be improved by Noldorin skill. Unlike in Doriath however, the Elves of Nargothrond used horses in battle (they used them both in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears and during the sack of Nargothrond).

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c- Nandor

“Those were the Nandor; and they became a people apart, unlike their kin, save that they loved water, and dwelt most beside falls and running streams. Greater knowledge they had of living things, tree and herb, bird and beast, than all other Elves.” 41

The Nandor were the Elves of the host of Olwe, whom Lenwe led away from the march. Years later the son of Lenwe, Denethor, led a part of his people into Beleriand, where there was peace under the power of Thingol. The reason for the migration was the coming of the fell beasts of the North, who could not be stopped because the Nandor had no weapons of steel. 41 Yet even after they came to Beleriand, they remained light-armed42 and paid dearly for that in the first battle of Beleriand, where Denethor and all of his nearest kin were slain by the Orcs. Of the weapons of Green-elves(as the Nandor became known after the battle) the published Silmarillion mentions only bows43, but The Book of Lost Tales 2 mentions them(or rather the Elves that would become known as the Green-elves in later writings) having knives44 . It is likely however that they retained spears as well, since it was one of the original Elven weapons on the Great Journey, and those of the Nandor that remained in the Vales of Anduin retained them (the matter will be dealt with later in the essay).

The stealth of the Green-elves, however, compensated for their lack of weapons to a certain extent and in a certain terrain they could overwhelm a much better armed enemy. This is how Silmarillion describes their stealth - “The woodcraft of the Elves of Ossiriand was such that a stranger might pass through their land from end to end and see none of them. They were clad in green in spring and summer, and the sound of their singing could be heard even across the waters of Gelion” 45. Thus in the battle by Sarn Athrad, where Beren and the Green-Elves defeated the Dwarf army that sacked Doriath, the Green-elves were able to shoot the Dwarves without even being seen, being practically invisible in the woods.

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3- Beyond the First Age

a- The Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien>
“In the Wide World the Wood-elves lingered in the twilight of our Sun and Moon, but loved best the stars; and they wandered in the great forests that grew tall in lands that are now lost.” 46

The majority of the Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien were Silvan Elves, the Elves of Telerin origin, which remained in the Vales of Anduin during the Great Journey, thus being a closer kin of Nandor of Ossiriand rather than Sindar. 47 Yet in the Second Age, before the building of Barad-Dur, a migration of Sindar to the East followed, resulting in Sindarin princes establishing themselves as rulers of Silvan Elves48. There were also some Noldorin Elves in Lorien49, and both Mirkwood and Lorien had some Elves of Avari origin among them50.

Despite the mixing of the Elven races, the weapons of Mirkwood remained primarily Nandorin, though enriched by the skill of Sindar. There are a few quotes that describe the arms of Wood-elves in The Hobbit, and the majority of them describe them wielding bows and spears51. One quote, however, mentions Mirkwood Elves wielding swords - “The elves were the first to charge. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter. Their spears and swords shone in the gloom with a gleam of chill flame, so deadly was the wrath of the hands that held them.” 52 It clearly seems indeed that the swords were wielded by the minority (especially considering that the previously mentioned quote (51) names the majority of Thranduil’s host to be bowmen and spearmen). Who would be wielding them? Chances are that it was the original Sindarin elite, the Elves that were born before the migration - while they willingly to assimilated with the Silvan Elves and adopted their way of life53, the skill of wielding a sword would not easily be forgotten. This is especially likely since Legolas, a Sindarin Elf by blood, who nevertheless considered himself to be a Silvan Elf54, wielded a long white knife(and wielded quite skillfully!) despite having the opportunity to get a sword on multiple occasions. The conclusion we can derive is that Legolas simply did not know how to wield a sword since he grew up in Silvan culture, among which the sword was not used and thus only the Sindar who came from the outside would possess the skill.

Did the Elves of Mirkwood have armor? That is a complicated question. In The Hobbit, there is no mention of them wearing armor. Their clothes were described as green and brown55, so it seems that they preferred camouflage to armor, at least while they were in their own forest. This doesn’t mean, however, that none of them ever wore armor. “The Silvan Elves were hardy and valiant, but ill-equipped with armor or weapons in comparison with the Eldar of the West” 56 - this quote describes Silvan Elves in the Last Alliance, and it implies that they had at least some armor. Furthermore, when preparing for the war with Saruman, Legolas did wear armor -“Now men came bearing raiment of war from the king’s hoard, and they arrayed Aragorn and Legolas in shining mail. Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white.” 57 If armor was completely foreign to him, it is doubtful that Legolas would be arrayed this way - he did not choose a better weapon (a sword) from the King’s hoard because he did not know how to use it, therefore if he decided to put on armor, it is likely that he wore it before. One could of course speculate that Legolas, being the son of Thranduil, would be privileged and would have access to equipment that ordinary Wood-elves wouldn’t. Yet considering that he did not learn to use Sindarin weaponry, but used that of Silvan Elves(considering himself to be one of them), it is unlikely that he would wear to battle something that was never used by the rest of Silvan folk.

It is interesting to note that the Elves of Mirkwood had horses, and they used them both for hunting and for war. Oropher’s (the first Sindarin king of Mirkwood) troops used horses in the Last Alliance58 and Thranduil rode to what became the Battle of Five Armies(though it is unknown whether he used horses in the battle itself) 59.

The weaponry of the Elves of Lorien was different from their Northern kindred (the Elves of Mirkwood) in a few important respects. The first one is that the only weapon of the Galadhrim that is ever mentioned is their bow. Judging by the talk of the Galadhrim, the phrases like “”We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp” 60 and “But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlorien maintained and defended against its Enemy” 61 the bow was their main weapon of Galadhrim. The bows of Galadhrim were indeed longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood62, and this could to a certain extent for the lack of other weaponry, but would it be enough? Possibly. The march-wardens of Lorien, for example, were pretty confident that they could use their bows against Gimli in close combat, when the possibility of such confrontation arose. And yet again - even Beleg Cuthalion could not use his bow when the Orcs came in close range63; it is unlikely that the Elves of Lorien could exceed his skill. Of course within their land they would not need it - the example of Green-elves in the battle by Sarn Athrad defeating heavily-armed Dwarves with only bows clearly shows how well-disguised Elves could defeat many enemies. The Elves of Lorien had the advantage that the Green Elves did not(at least under the rule of Galadriel) - the cloaks that changed their appearance in order to adapt to terrain(as well as the power of Galadriel defending their land), so this tactics would work for them as well. Yet what about the times when they were outside of their land? During Sauron’s invasion of Eriador, during the Last Alliance and during their storm of Dol Guldur they came forth and fought outside of their land (being moderately successful during Sauron’s invasion of Eriador, suffering a great deal of losses partially because of their leadership in the Last Alliance, and taking an unquestionable victory in their attack on Dol Guldur). It is likely that they would have other weapons during such encounters (spears for example, which their Mirkwood kin had), but we cannot nevertheless say that for sure. However, the presence of Sindar and Noldor among them would ensure the possibility of manufacturing of weapons other than bows, just like it ensured the manufacturing of mail. The wardens of Galadriel and Celeborn at least had grey mail65, and while the marchwardens on the borders of Lorien are not mentioned to wear armor, it is likely that when coming forth from Lorien, many of the Galadhrim would be armored.

Boats were another important item of the Galadhrim that they used for warfare. This is how the Galadhrim described their boats in the chapter Farewell to Lorien in The Lord of the Rings: “ These boats are light-built, and they are crafty and unlike the boats of other folk. They will not sink, lade them as you will, but they are wayward if mishandled.” According to Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, the boats were used in the assault of on Dol Guldur at the end of the War of the Ring.

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b- The Falathrim

“At Grey Havens dwelt Cirdan the Shipwright, and some say that he dwells there, until the Last Ship sets sails into the West.” 66

The Falathrim were the Teleri Elves that were persuaded by Osse to remain in Beleriand during the Great Journey. Their lord was Cirdan the Shipwright, and before the Battle of Unnumbered tears, they dwelt in the region called the Falas, the Havens, which were located in Eglarest and Brithombar. They were the first mariners in Middle Earth and the first makers of ships67. Holding Thingol to be their overlord68 , they nevertheless were quite friendly to the Noldor, Fingon, Finrod and Turgon at least. It is because of this friendship that Gil-Galad, the future High-King of Noldor, was sent to Cirdan, and it is also because of this friendship that the Falas were sacked by Morgoth after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, where most of Cirdan’s folk perished. Indeed, in the First Age, the Falathrim took part in most of the battles of Beleriand, saving the princes of Noldor on more than one occasion. In the Second Age, the realm that Cirdan and Gil-Galad founded in Lindon, became probably the most powerful of the Elven nations, being the dwelling of many people, which included the Falathrim, High Elves, and survivors of Doriath70. During the Second and Third Ages, this realm has seen a lot of wars - Sauron’s invasion of Eriador, the Last Alliance, and the wars against Angmar. Yet the realm remained fairly powerful, and the building of ships at Grey Havens allowed the Elves to escape from the circles of the world without risking getting an arrow in the back while boarding the ship.

Despite this rather impressive military career, not much attention was paid in Tolkien’s works to their weaponry. We can however figure out quite a lot from indirect evidence. As all the Elves on the Great Journey, their initial weapons would be bows and spears. Despite having quite a unique fate, the Falathrim were Sindar and under Thingol’s power, so their later weapons and armor would be identical to that of Sindar of Doriath. Yet because of the great number of Noldor living with them, their weaponry would be a subject to change. One might ask - why would their weaponry change if the weaponry of other Sindar in Noldorin realms changed little? The thing is that in realms like Gondolin, Sindar were the majority and affected Noldorin culture to the greater extent than Noldorin culture affected them (the adoption of Sindarin language as the language of all Elves of Beleriand is the example of such influence). Of Cirdan’s original people, only a handful survived the sack of the Falas, and they would be outnumbered by Gil-Galad’s people (the High Elves), despite them being less numerous than Sindar on the whole. It is likely that the older generation of the Falathrim would retain their Sindarin weaponry, but the younger one would be influenced by the Noldorin traditions (especially considering that intermarriage between Noldor and Sindar was going there just as everywhere71). How exactly would this affect their arms? To answer that, we need to briefly look at the arms of Noldor.

Sindarin and Noldorin arms are similar in a lot of respects, yet one important difference remains - the use of swords. While Sindar did use swords, among Noldor it was a primary weapon. Indeed Morgoth’s Ring gives “Sword-elves” as one of the names of Noldor72. The phrases like “Journey light: but bring you your swords!” 73 or “It may be that he[Morgoth] feared him[Feanor] little, for he had as yet no proof of the swords of Noldor;” 74 or “…and indeed there followed after long years of peace, while their[Noldorin] swords fenced Beleriand from the ruin of Morgoth…”75 or “the light of the drawing of the swords of the Noldor was like a fire in a field of reeds;” 76 also point to the fact that the sword was the main weapon of Noldor. So does the use of swords by Noldorin chieftains - Feanor and his sons77, Fingolfin (Ringil), Turgon (Glamdring) - all of them used their swords to win renown. Keeping all of that in mind, it is likely that a shift from the use of an axe to the use of a sword as the main weapon happened among the younger generation of the Falathrim under the Noldorin influence.

The use of ships was quite important to the military actions of the Falathrim. While no sea-battles are reported (probably because most of the servants of Morgoth shunned water) the use of ships as transportation was very valuable. It is because of ships that Cirdan and the remainders of his folk were able to escape the sack of the Havens78 and ships were also used to carry Cirdan’s and Gil-Galad’s warriors to help the Elves of Sirion against the kinslayers79 (they came too late, but that is another matter).

Another thing to add is that the Sindarin Elves of Rivendell would be arrayed in a very similar manner to those of the Havens since the foundation of the population of Rivendell was the host that Elrond led from Lindon in order to help the Elves of Eregion during Sauron’s invasion of Eriador80. While survivors of Eregion did join Elrond’s forces, they were not many and would not affect very much the Sindarin population.

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4- A Few Words to End

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone,
and I must follow, if I can…”81

This essay of course doesn’t come even come close to describing the weaponry of all the people of Middle Earth. Noldorin Elves, Men, creatures of darkness and even Maiar - all of these beings would have a wide variety of arms and armor. Yet hoping that this essay accomplishes its objective and is in accordance with the views of Professor Tolkien, I also hope that it will push one deeper into the lore of Middle Earth, further into the depths of Tolkien’s amazing creation.

Written by Elnarsil of The Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza. Copyright @ March 2004

Citations:
1 Silmarillion, 48
2 Silmarillion, 53
3 According to the Annals of Aman given in Morgoth’s Ring, the Great Journey started in the Year of the Trees 1105 Morgoth’s Ring on pages 59-60.
4 Morgoth’s Ring, 106
5 Silmarillion, 87
6 Silmarillion, 66
7 The Lays of Beleriand, The Gest of Beren and Luthien
8 Silmarillion, 91
9 Silmarrilion, 94
10 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 80
11 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 20
12 Silmarillion, 208
13 The Book of Lost Tales 2, 230
14 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 121
15 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 123
16 Silmarrilion, 93
17 Silmarrilion, 115
18 Silmarrilion, 185
19 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 120
20 The War of the Jewels, 13
21 Silmarrilion, 157
22 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 180
23 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 81
24 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 83
25 The Lord of the Rings, The Choices of Master Samwise
26 The Book of Lost Tales 2, 229
27 Silmarrilion, 133
28 Silmarrilion, 201-202
29 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 152
30 The Shaping of Middle Earth, The Earliest ‘Silmarillion’
31 Silmarrilion, 119
32 Silmarrilion, 126
33 Silmarrilion, 190
34 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 51
35 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 52
36 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 52
37 Silmarrilion, 120
38 Silmarrilion, 168
39 Silmarrilion, 114
40 Silmarrilion, 210
41 Silmarrilion, 94
42 Silmarrilion, 94
43 Silmarrilion, 235
44 The Book of Lost Tales 2, 235
45 Silmarrilion, 123
46 The Hobbit, 144
47 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 268-9
48 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B
49 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 248
50 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144
51 The Hobbit, 147 and The Hobbit, 215
52 The Hobbit, 238
53 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 272
54 The Lord of the Rings, The Ring Goes South
55 The Hobbit, 132
56 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 271
57 The Lord of the Rings, The King of the Golden Hall
58 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 271
59 The Hobbit, 215
60 The Lord of the Rings, Lothlorien
61 The Lord of the Rings, The Mirror of Galadriel
62 The Lord of the Rings, Farewell to Lorien
63 Silmarillion, 201
64 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 250
65 The Lord of the Rings, The Mirror of Galadriel
66 The Lord of the Rings, The Mirror of Galadriel
67 Silmarillion, 58
68 Silmarillion, 91
69 Silmarillion, 196
70 Silmarillion, 247
71 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 37
72 Morgoth’s Ring, 164
73 Silmarillion, 83
74 Silmarillion, 106
75 Silmarillion, 113
76 Silmarillion, 191
77 Silmarillion, 69
78 Silmarillion, 196
79 Silmarillion, 247
80 Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth and Numenor, 249
81 The Lord of the Rings, A Long-Expected Party

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