*squints* it does not take a genius to tell i'm going to be a history major

[bedlamsbard]

I am worrying way too much about Narnian armor. (Dust era, now. I'm not currently working on Dust and this isn't even relevant in Dust 9, which is Cair Paravel.)

On the one hand, I kind of want full plate armor (first pic on the left), but to tell the truth, I find full plate kind of ridiculous. It has been three hundred years; I want a change from the Telmarine armor we see in PC. So -- less leather, more plate. Full plate? Maybe. Not as much mail as Peter and Edmund wear. Probably significantly darker in color -- more bronzed, like Miraz's armor -- than the bright armor we see the Narnians wearing in LWW.

Mind you, I'm just talking about humans here -- if I start thinking about nonhuman Narnian army uniforms I'm going to cry. And when I say humans, I mean nobles -- Tirian, his cousin Vespasian, any other nobles that have survived. Knights, more or less. (I am actually not sure if I want Narnian knights. I think I'm going to put the Archenlanders, who do have knights -- the Archenlanders here are a little more traditionally Medieval-esque than the Narnians -- in plate for sure. The cavalry, at least; I haven't thought about the infantry or the archers yet. The archers don't need to wear a lot of armor.)

Where was I? Yes, so I have to somehow combine Telmarine and Narnian designs, kindly ignore the fact that the Narnians are barely clinging to what they have left of traditional Narnian armor. Although it would be kind of funny if some Telmarine king or armorer adapted, oh, minotaur style armor and there are hints of it in the design of Vespasian's armor (we are seeing Vespasian's armor long before we see Tirian's; we may or may not actually see Tirian's armor at all; he may end up in plain plate, rather than the fancy royal bit. But who knows; I certainly don't).

See, I thought all this out, and then I stopped and went, "Hey, you know what? What kind of armor they wear may also depend on the makeup of the army, which isn't all-human, so shit. Are the human cavalry still going to be wearing full plate if they've also got centaurs and minotaurs acting as cavalry? I mean, full plate was developed to protect against missiles like crossbow bolts and arrows, which are obviously still relevant, duh, since I'm not introducing black powder, which led to the downfall of armor for a while there, but STILL."

I. Hate. My. Brain.

Comments

please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[redangel618.livejournal.com]

if it makes you feel better, when i watch battle scenes i yell at the centaurs to find some cavalry armour for their horse bits. you see the back half of this armour (http://www.ruble-enterprises.com/image_page/horse5.jpg), doesn't that strike you as useful? or some chainmail tossed over your horsey backend? why hasn't anyone invented that yet? get on that centaurs.

also of note to invading forces, shield phalanxes don't work when fighting guys who are part goat. thought you might want to know. disregard

Re: please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

They do have cavalry armor for the horse bits, though: it's just not plate, it's boiled leather (http://costumes.narniaweb.com/Narnians/centaurs/finishedcentaur1.jpg), looks like. In LWW, at least. I can't check PC right now, but I think that they may not there.

*grumbles* I can't believe I have to come up with Narnian armor, Red Company armor, Calormene armor, Archenlander armor, and two other groups, too. *throws up hands* I can't believe I care about this. (I mean, it leads to detail and I like detail, so yay. On the other hand OH MY GOD.)

Re: please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[redangel618.livejournal.com]

hmmm. i would have sworn main centaur guy in LLW wasn't wearing anything on his back half. guess i'll have to rewatch. it sort of makes sense they don't have it in PC seeing as they're a cobbled together army of guys who've been on the lam for the last thousand years or so.

i just flipped through my del.icio.us account and found some renfaire costuming sites that might help with thinking about armour. at least the girl end of it. http://www.medieval-gothic-clothing.com/default.htm , http://www.ravenswoodleather.com/ , http://www.sempstress.org/ . most have links to other costumers and resources.

Re: please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Well, the leather armor's about the same color as him, so it's easy to miss.

OOH. I am excited. Thank you! Gosh, I don't know why I never thought about looking at renfaire sites. *pouts*

[katakokk.livejournal.com]

Huh. Well, from the LWW centaur picture you have, they're using a great deal of plate.

But this is Dust, right? When resources are low?

I want to say that the Pevensies (more specifically, Peter and Edmund, but whatever) would probably have close to the same armor as they did during their reign because, you know, somehow, all of this clothes is preserved for thousands of years (granted, the clothes this time around would be from the last couple years of their reign, unlike PC).

...And why is it that Peter's armor (in PC) is mail and plate, while Edmund's is mail, plate, and leather? *confused*

[1aquaesulis76.livejournal.com]

Completely off the topic of armour... I thought of your Narnia & Peter's 'link' today! I was watching a new BBC series - the History of Scotland. The ancient Gaels crowned their kings in a place called Dunadd. As part of the ceremony, the new king would be 'married' to the country, then place his foot in a foot shaped hollow in a rock, to show that the land was his servant, and also his master. Narnia would completely approve I think!

On the topic of armour - which I know absolutely nothing about - I like the idea that the Narnian army would be in short supply, and be wearing whatever they could scrounge, improvise, make or steal!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

This is the Narnian army before the Calormenes took over, and the remnants of it afterwards; the gear they have is likely to be significantly better than anything the refugee Narnians can scrounge up. (I mean, for that matter there may be stockpiles of arms and armor that the Calormenes don't know about, like the tower in LB.)

The Pevensies are going to be wearing their traditional armor.

Edmund's armor in PC is mail, plate, and leather because the filmmakers/costume designers wanted him to be more of a "ranger" type of fighter rather than a "knight" style like Peter. Less straight-up bashing.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

OOH.

This is true, but I'm trying to think of backstory -- the Narnian army before the Calormene conquest/occupation.

Re: please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[redangel618.livejournal.com]

if you're looking for something really exotic for one of the mercenary groups you could always do zouaves. as in the louisiana fighting tigers (civil war) which were both coppen's zouaves and white's company B under wheat's first special battalion. one was comprised of mostly immigrant brawlers and the other was younger sons of well to do families and both groups were never ever allowed leave near cities.

other armour possibles: mongols for cavalry units, japanese samurai, native american archers, fantasy armour on ball jointed dolls, the ottoman empire

i fear you've awakened my inner costumer.

Re: please feel free to disregard this. i'm full of cold medicine.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Narnia awakened my inner costumer and (well, not so hidden) military fanatic. I didn't even know I had an inner costumer.

...that's where LSU got its mascot, isn't it? Since they're the Fighting Tigers? (LSU! Tulane's major rival! Except LSU doesn't appear to be aware of this.)

*goes to look up*