August 2021 1st Round vote is CLOSED

[Michael O'Brien]

Due to the lack of suitable suggestions last week we extended the deadline and have now sufficient ideas to move forward to vote on. Please note that this poll is only going to show the status after voting. You have until next Monday to vote. The top two will go into a quick final vote then.

Two of the suggestions were not allowed, the deer and the argonath.

Please comment to support your favourite as well as there will be a lot of undecided voters to convince.

[shireprincess]

The Argonath

This is why I think the Argonath would be a great idea. Also known as the Gate of Kings or the Pillars of the Kings, the Argonath is a landmark on the northern edge of Gondor. The two giant statues with arms outstretched would be a fantastic addition to the Mithril collection.

[cjbowser]

Nár

A bent-over dwarf looking in horror at the severed head of another dwarf on the ground.  I don't see this as a vignette, just a figure with an extra head. Since they weren't necessarily expecting opposition in Moria, I see Nár dressed in travelling clothes with a hooded cloak, maybe a pack or bedroll. 

From Appendix A: "Then Nár came up, and found it was in deed the body of Thrót, but the head was severed  and lay face downwards... As he knelt there...(t)hen Nár turned the head and saw branded on the brow in Dwarf-runes so that he could read it the name AZOG." 

There are quite a few dwarf figures in the line, but most are kitted for combat. Narvi, Gloin at Rivendell, and the scribe are the ones that jump to mind as not being ready for war (although ready for war might be the default dwarf state).

[barliman]

Aug 4, 2021 14:30:49 GMT shireprincess said:

The Argonath

This is why I think the Argonath would be a great idea. Also known as the Gate of Kings or the Pillars of the Kings, the Argonath is a landmark on the northern edge of Gondor. The two giant statues with arms outstretched would be a fantastic addition to the Mithril collection.

This is a "single figure" month, Shireprincess, so - much as I like your idea - the TWO giant ststues that constitute the Argonnath are not going to be an acceptable suggestion. You'd therefore do well to suggest something else, or risk disappointment...

[gilgaladtolkien]

Wounded and stumbling Witch-king

From Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - The Battle of the Pelennor Fields:
"But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground."

I will support "Bolg, Orc-chief of Gundabad", Gerold's suggestion.

[barliman]

Old man seated before the Paths of the Dead

Tolkien's description provides all the information Chris will need to realise the ancient and doubtless ragged hillman who watched over the Door leading to the dreaded Paths of the Dead - presumably the final living descendant of the Hillmen whom Isildur had cursed:

"...when the Eorlingas came out of the North and passed at length up the Snowbourn, seeking strong places of refuge in time of need, Brego and his son Baldor climbed the Stair of the Hold and so came before the Door. On the threshold sat an old man, aged beyond guess of years; tall and kingly he had been, but now he was withered as an old stone. Indeed for stone they took him, for he moved not, and he said no word, until they sought to pass him by and enter. And then a voice came out of him, as it were out of the ground, and to their amaze it spoke in the western tongue: The way is shut.

'Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not look at them. The way is shut, his voice said again, It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.

'And when will that time be? said Baldor. But no answer did he ever get. For the old man died in that hour and fell upon his face; and no other tidings of the ancient dwellers in the mountains have our folk ever learned.'

—J.R.R.Tolkien, The Return of the King chapter 3 "The Muster of Rohan".

[olivier]

Beorn's animals

This month, I propose again a rather unusual miniature: Beorn's animals but which could also be associated with Radagast or even Tom Bombadil. This is a deer with a squirrel on his back, a little bird on his head and a rabbit at his feet.
Nothing heroic or historical (no reference to a character named in a book) but a subject that seems to me perfectly in the spirit of Tolkien and it would be a good complement to the Beorn or Radagast miniatures.
This proposal may seem too detailed for a single figure, but it would certainly be too simple for a mounted figure. If Chris considers it complex for a single figure, he can always simplify and remove the rabbit or the squirrel?

[Halbarad II.]

one Troll turned to stone with bird-nest behind one ear

Many years ago, the three trolls from the Hobbit story were produced.
They were made as beautiful fellowship miniatures - one after the other.

My suggestion for this month is one (or the first) of them turned to stone,
after Gandalf's voice put an end to them.
The figure should show in some way how it has weathered over the years,
perhaps with some moss and vines details
and a little less detail than the troll figures already in our collections,
and there should be no food or mug in the troll's hands,
because they were just arguing and fighting before they turned to stone.
A fun detail will be the bird's nest behind a troll's ear.



J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit
Chapter II
Roast Mutton

'Who are you a-talkin’ to?' said William.
'Now stop it!' said Tom and Bert together.
'The night’s gettin’ on, and dawn comes early. Let’s get on with it!'

'Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!'
said a voice that sounded like William’s.
But it wasn’t. For just at that moment the light came over the hill,
and there was a mighty twitter in the branches.
William never spoke for he stood turned to stone as he stooped;
and Bert and Tom were stuck like rocks as they looked at him.
And there they stand to this day, all alone, unless the birds perch on them, for trolls,
as you probably know, must be underground before dawn, or they go back
to the stuff of the mountains they are made of, and never move again.
That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and William.
'Excellent!' said Gandalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, an helped Bilbo to climb down out of a thorn-bush.
Then Bilbo understood. It was the wizard’s voice that had kept the trolls bickering and quarreling,
until the light came and made an end on them.


J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings
The Fellowship of the Ring
Chapter XII
Flight to the Ford

'There are trolls!' Pippin panted. "Down in a clearing in the woods not far below.
We got a sight of them through the tree-trunks.
They are very large!'
'We will come and look at them,' said Strider, picking up a stick.
Frodo said nothing, but Sam looked scared.

The sun was now high, and it shone down through the half-stripped branches of the trees,
and lit the clearing with bright patches of light.
They halted suddenly on the edge, and peered through the tree-trunks, holding their breath.
There stood the trolls, three large trolls, one was stooping, and the other two stood staring at him.
Strider walked forward unconcernedly.

'Get up, old stone!'
he said, and broke his stick upon the stooping troll.
Nothing happended.

There was a gasp of astonishment from the hobbits, and even Frodo laughed.
'Well,' he said, 'We are forgetting our family history! These must be the very three that were caught by Gandalf,
quarreling over the right way to cook thirteen dwarves and one hobbit.'
...
'You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls,’ said Srider.
'It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls
waiting for us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird’s nest behind his ear.
That would be a most unusual ornament for a live troll !'
They all laughed.

[Thingol]

Arathorn II father of Aragorn - Holding his baby Aragorn in his hands before tragically hunt - Last goodbye

....in 2933, Arathorn went hunting orcs with Elladan and Elrohir, but was shot through the eye and killed. Gilraen took their son to Rivendell to be fostered by Elrond....etc....

[maxtarna]

My idea for august is

BLACK NUMENOREAN with SAURON STANDARD at the siege of Barad-Dur

At the siege of Barad Dur, during the war of the last alliance, Sauron himself led a counterattack... ok, you all know the story.
As every king, he was surely followed by his standard, hold probably by a one of the Black Numenoreans who joined his cause.

I imagine it black, with a red rim: the One Ring (golden or red) is over the grey Orodruin. A chain of 9 small rings below for the nine kings of men serving the power of the one ring, and above all the iron crown, as Sauron aimed to be the ruler of the entire Middle Earth.
The crown could be the one Chris sculpted on Sauron at Sammath Naur.
At the top of the standard pole, the metal tip could be in shape of a flame, as the flame of the mount of doom where the ring was forged.

The coat of arms is made as a sort of mirror image of the King of Gondor's one...upside down: guess it could be appropriate for the evil Lord, who still had a human form, at the time.

I attach here a couple of quick sketches of how I imagine it. ...guess I had in my mind also some image in the tengwar magazines ;-)





Or without the crown maybe:




This figure could accompany our Sauron at Gorgoroth vignette, and could be an occasion to have another black numenorean sculpted by Chris.

Hope this is a good and original idea.

[Gerold]

Bolg, Orc Chief of Gundabad

[gilgaladtolkien]

Gerold, I will support your suggestion and canceled my suggestion.

[Michael O'Brien]

Chris has rejected the Argonath as too big and the Beorn's animals as too many. We need one more idea to continue.

[olivier]

Wainrider man with whip

The appendices mentioned incursions of the Wainriders in Gondor from 1851 TA, for almost a century.
The appendices A mentionned that the Wainriders were a people, or confederacy, of Men from the East. They journeyed in great wagons, and their chieftains rode chariots in battle.
In the Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", it states that they camped in fortified camps of wagons. Their young women were also trained in arms, and they, along with old men and youths, stayed behind, able to defend their homes from attackers.
The MZ670 Wainrider girl mounted is the very first miniature representing this people (2018 December votes).
To complete, I propose another Gypsy member : a man this time.
He is bearded and has long hair. His head is covered with a bandana tied behind and he wears a thick leather bolero, a wide fabric belt and boots. He is armed with a whip that he wields in front of him and a short scimitar is passed through the belt.

[olivier]

Aug 20, 2021 15:05:40 GMT Michael O'Brien said:

Chris has rejected the Argonath as too big and the Beorn's animals as too many. We need one more idea to continue.

Here is it ! Too bad for the deer...

[eleamar]

Glorfindel, fighting on foot.

Mithril has a couple of Glorfindel miniatures on horseback, but none on foot. He is one of the most powerful elves of the third age, the only one, along with Gandalf, to be resurrected. He for sure he intervened in the assault on Dol Guldur and the White Council. I imagine Glorfindel in armor, attacking with the sword.

[Gerold]

There was MS495 Glorfindel & the Witch-king. Actually it was a Salute 2007 figure, but I thought it also got an MS-number and was available for the GF-members at the time...