1. DAGOR BRAGOLLACH Then suddenly Morgoth sent forth great rivers of flame that ran down swifter than Balrogs from Thangorodrim, and poured over all the plain; and the Mountains of Iron belched forth fires of many poisonous hues, and the fume of them stank upon the air, and was deadly… Thus began the fourth of the great battles, Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame.
In the front of that fire came Glaurung the golden, father of dragons, in his full might; and in his train were Balrogs, and behind them came the black armies of the Orcs in multitudes such as the Noldor had never before seen or imagined. And they assaulted the fortresses of the Noldor, and broke the leaguer about Angband, and slew wherever they found them the Noldor and their allies, Grey-elves and Men. Many of the stoutest of the foes of Morgoth were destroyed in the first days of that war, bewildered and dispersed and unable to muster their strength. War ceased not wholly ever again in Beleriand; but the Battle of Sudden Flame is held to have ended with the coming of spring, when the onslaught of Morgoth grew less.
A khanda broadsword from Rajasthan, Northern India, in the mid-1800s, with a couple of extras in the form of a katar punch-dagger and a single-shot percussion pistol. Decisions, decisions, which one to use first?
In fact given the Indian swordsmiths’ fondness for tucking away a hidden sting in the tail, there may even have been a version of this with a stiletto that screwed up inside the grip. Rather like these…
And the katar dagger could have been enhanced as well…
Indian weapons are a great source of inspiration for writers and artists who want something a bit OTT but with the realism that comes of having actually existed.
MisbehavingMaiar: Tumblr Archive 