The Four Kingdoms Armoury:
The Weapons of the Seven
I
was initially inspired by this painting by Rembrandt of the Polish Rider, part
of the Frick Collection in New York, when deciding how to outfit the boys. (Thanks
to Sue of the “You Want Fries With That” fanfic archive for finding it for me!)
I know you may think that Chris and Buck seem to be wearing more weapons than
they could possibly know what to do with, but this young man posing for
Rembrandt is living proof that I’m not completely loopy. He carries two swords – one at his waist on
the left side (from the black wrapped hilt a small pommel – probably a short broadsword)
and a cavalry sword attached to his saddle on the right side. In his left hand, he holds a bow (or
possibly the horse’s reins, but there is a bow there – you can see the end of
it behind him), and on his right thigh is a thick quiver of arrows. And
Finally, in his right hand, he holds a war hammer. Now this “rider” may have as
easily been a hunter instead of a soldier, but the cavalry sword suggests a
soldier, or at least a warrior. When I
inquired about it, I learned that it was fairly common for warriors and knights
to carry two or three swords at a time, along with various other “smaller
weapons” like maces and throwing axes, when traveling. Those who carried rapiers, though, tended just
to have a small riding sword or daggers as complements. Archers, like Vin, also carried light short
swords, but just one. They avoided hand
to hand combat whenever possible – so the sword was a last resort. Obviously, I took liberties with time
periods and so on, but, hell, this is fantasy.
If you couldn’t exaggerate, what would be the point? One thing I did note, though, everyone
carried daggers, even the women – they were useful for cooking.
The following are a series of collages I made to show off the weapons I’ve collected for each of the seven. The weapons are all real, usually museum replicas of weaponry discovered in ancient armories around Europe. Hope you like them. They are in no particular order. Chris and Buck win for quantity. The others just tag along.
