Lurker in the Mirk
Doriath
Apr 26 2014, 8:38am
Views: 25222
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Of Elvish Armour and Helm a.k.a. dear leaders' safety is non sequitur?
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Too right!
That would not be fabulous at all. I'm not fond of the helmet either.
The throneroom royal/honour guard's concept was pretty nifty though, and the helmet add the ominous accent when Thranduil decides to menace whoever's got his audience. I don't know why, but I like the idea of the covered faces, even though it's quite unelvish. Almost like something you'd see in Mordor fashion or even Dol Guldur than an elven realm. But it fits the times, and reflect Thranduil's darker and seemingly contrarian thinking of a character who could go either way. definitely get the Mirkwood Elves=More dangerous vibe!
Actually, remove this helmet and you pretty much have the foundation of that concept art picture, except that picture, as we've agreed, just doesn't have quite the wow factor of the armour we've got (or is my judgment being clouded by Thranduil being in it?  ).
The ceremonious nature of the royal guard armour is very much in contrast to the border guards. Again, there's a themetic look, but you can see these guys' armour is much more functional...
One interesting point of reference for the leader's guard when outdoors... look! Helmets!
Armour of Elrond's hunting party. Still got that shiny element you'd expect of Elves
Armour of Thranduil's contingent on his state visit to Erebor (but the honour guards do seem to be among the entourage. The 4 elves with Thranduil in the Erebor scene seemed to be wearing the honour guard armour, just no helm.)
... another look, sans helms (Slight OT: oooh... lookie those swords! Wicked!). It seems more... organic? And could serve somewhat as camoflage in a woodsy setting. But I'm glad to see Mirkwood's been doing right by defence spending. Thranduil certainly learnt that lesson that cost the troops much more lives than they would have suffered just cos of inappropriate gear for the Last Alliance.
So evidence suggests leaders are aware of the importance of keeping the soldier's head on his shoulders, and preferably in functioning condition. But nope, the leaders themselves obviously need to show their faces, or hair, and be a beacon to the troops. Nevermind putting a great big "Shoot here!" to enemy long-range weapons and risking troop morale and the gameplan.
 
Hey, speaking of helmets...Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of the major characters in both LOTR or TH never wear a helmet into battle? Sure, there are exceptions to that rule, like Theoden, Eomer, Eowyn, and both Merry and Pippin at certain times. But other than them, I can think of a lot of important characters that don't wear a helmet even when they really should for the sake of their health. Just off the top of my head, in LOTR there's Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, Haldir, Elrond, Gil-galad (not that a helmet would have made much difference for him, poor guy). And in TH there's, oh I don't know...all 13 dwarves!, Bilbo, Legolas (again), Tauriel, Bard may wear a helmet during Bo5a but then he may not, and I doubt that if/when we see Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, Radagast, and Saruman in action again that any of them will wear helmets, and now we've got Thranduil to add to the list too. I mean, haven't any of them seen those "This is your brain without a helmet" posters?!
Exactly. How can any Mirkwood soldier not want to be reminded of the hair-glory and swashbuckling cool the King struts? To the end of the world! Or maybe just into Erebor for now.
Plus it may serve the purpose of striking fear into the enemy to realize the legendary warrior is in the fray. (Damn: BOFA can't get here fast enough!)
Seriously. Of course we know that the real reason Thranduil doesn't wear a helmet is because no one with hair that shiny and gorgeous would want to cover it up, much less get helmet hair  . But the rest of them don't have an excuse.
Fan of both books and movies. Oh, and it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment.
Thranduil Appreciation: I, II, III
(This post was edited by Lurker in the Mirk on Apr 26 2014, 8:39am)
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