Post by Cuarlang / Legladhor on Feb 2, 2012 21:57:22 GMT -5
(except where indicated, all translations of names are from Sindarin)
Cúarlang ("[man of] bow and sword"; pronounced KOO-ahr-lahng) is a hunter, archer, woodsman, and former Ranger of Ithilien. He stands about 6'1". His build is moderate, neither lean nor stocky. He has a measure of the strength characterstic of his kin, but sheer physical feats are not his forté. His eyes are grey, and his shoulder-length hair is seal brown. In Ranger manner he goes about cloaked and hooded, with a quiver strapped to his back. He carries a recurve bow of yew (which he made himself) named Naithros ("rain of thorns"). In its scabbard a hand-and-a-half sword named Celeglang ("swift sword") hangs from his belt at his left hip. In a sheath attached to the back of his belt he carries a hunting knife named Draugarch ("wolf fang"). His horse is a dark bay stallion named Súlfaron ("wind hunter") who has faithfully and tirelessly borne him and kept him company in his travels.
In the year 2980 of the Third Age he was born in a hamlet in Lossarnach, a province of Gondor. At birth he was named Cúon ("bow"). His father Cúfaron ("bow hunter") son of Cúwaith ("bow man") was a hunter and a bowyer. His mother Laineth ("spinner") was a seamstress. From his father he learned how to hunt and how to make bows and staves. In the course of hunting from adolescence through his coming of age he gained great skill with bow and arrows. When he was 20 years old he left his home and travelled to Minas Tirith. There he lived for four years and earned his living making bows, staves and arrows for the archers of the city.
When Cúon was 24 he enlisted with the Rangers of Ithilien. After a period of intensive evaluation and training lasting most of a year he was inducted into the Rangers. Over the next 13 years he went on countless patrols through Ithilien; and he felt as though he were trodding the paths of his homeland, for his forefathers had long dwelt there, and he knew much of that realm from the tales of his father and grandfather. During his service with the Ithilien Rangers a goodly number of orcs, Easterlings and Haradrim he felled with his arrows, and his bow-skill grew even more; and any foe that came within reach of his sword similarly met its end, such that his exploits in battle earned him the byname Cúarlang.
When he was 38 years old he bid farewell to the Rangers and departed Gondor. He travelled northwest across Anórien and Rohan through the Gap of Rohan and then along the Old South Road (the Greenway) to Bree. Over the next year he worked in and around Bree as a bowyer and in sundy other odd jobs and as a sort of hunter-for-hire. While in Bree one autumn day he met a lovely young woodswoman named Vendla who won his heart, and he won hers. The following summer they married and made their home in a humble cottage in the northwestern edge of Chetwood.
The preceding is very much a work in progress. The more I read of and about Tolkien's legendarium, the more I learn, and accordingly my ideas about my characters gradually change. There are many things missing, like how many siblings he had and what their names were, who his maternal grandparents were, etc. I prefer a character's backstory and the elements thereof to be filled in before going all that far in developing the "present" of the character's overall story.
Among the most important things to be filled in is, in my reckoning, why Cúarlang left the Rangers prematurely. Granted, by the time he left he wasn't as young as he used to be, but I reckon he had at least another decade of service in him. I imagine being a Ranger is normally a "till death, disabling or dishonor, whichever comes first" sort of rôle. Also, I surmise that Rangers tend to be older—and thus wiser and more experienced—than standard men-at-arms and line archers, sort of like how real-world special forces operators (e.g. Navy SEALs) tend to be in their thirties and even early forties, whereas regular infantry are typically aged 19 to 25 or so. I figure it was likely that "something went wrong" between Cúarlang and the Rangers of the company he was with. Given that he's a man of honor, I reckon any disgrace would be something he was framed for; so perhaps he left the Rangers due to said (real or imagined) dishonor. Or perhaps he made an honest mistake but due to the demands of honor he had to go into de facto exile.
I take a keen interest in names, and I find the linguistic aspect of Tolkien's legendarium fascinating and intellectually as well as emotionally satisfying. (It's perfectly reasonable for one to wonder why there is so little actual spoken Elvish in Lord of the Rings or even The Silmarillion, until one realizes that it's really more or less all in the names of people, places and things.) If I'd had my druthers, this character's name would most likely be just Cúlang (which also means "man of bow and sword"), since that's shorter and simpler (and thus more effective to my eye/ear); but since there are already multiple NPCs with that name in LotRO, I had to "resort to" the more polysyllabic Cúarlang (which is, I believe, actually Doriathrin rather than in the Gondorian dialect of Sindarin, so it's fairly antequated).
I plan to revisit this character outline and update it little by little, though perhaps with subsequent posts rather than amendments to this opening one.
Cúarlang ("[man of] bow and sword"; pronounced KOO-ahr-lahng) is a hunter, archer, woodsman, and former Ranger of Ithilien. He stands about 6'1". His build is moderate, neither lean nor stocky. He has a measure of the strength characterstic of his kin, but sheer physical feats are not his forté. His eyes are grey, and his shoulder-length hair is seal brown. In Ranger manner he goes about cloaked and hooded, with a quiver strapped to his back. He carries a recurve bow of yew (which he made himself) named Naithros ("rain of thorns"). In its scabbard a hand-and-a-half sword named Celeglang ("swift sword") hangs from his belt at his left hip. In a sheath attached to the back of his belt he carries a hunting knife named Draugarch ("wolf fang"). His horse is a dark bay stallion named Súlfaron ("wind hunter") who has faithfully and tirelessly borne him and kept him company in his travels.
In the year 2980 of the Third Age he was born in a hamlet in Lossarnach, a province of Gondor. At birth he was named Cúon ("bow"). His father Cúfaron ("bow hunter") son of Cúwaith ("bow man") was a hunter and a bowyer. His mother Laineth ("spinner") was a seamstress. From his father he learned how to hunt and how to make bows and staves. In the course of hunting from adolescence through his coming of age he gained great skill with bow and arrows. When he was 20 years old he left his home and travelled to Minas Tirith. There he lived for four years and earned his living making bows, staves and arrows for the archers of the city.
When Cúon was 24 he enlisted with the Rangers of Ithilien. After a period of intensive evaluation and training lasting most of a year he was inducted into the Rangers. Over the next 13 years he went on countless patrols through Ithilien; and he felt as though he were trodding the paths of his homeland, for his forefathers had long dwelt there, and he knew much of that realm from the tales of his father and grandfather. During his service with the Ithilien Rangers a goodly number of orcs, Easterlings and Haradrim he felled with his arrows, and his bow-skill grew even more; and any foe that came within reach of his sword similarly met its end, such that his exploits in battle earned him the byname Cúarlang.
When he was 38 years old he bid farewell to the Rangers and departed Gondor. He travelled northwest across Anórien and Rohan through the Gap of Rohan and then along the Old South Road (the Greenway) to Bree. Over the next year he worked in and around Bree as a bowyer and in sundy other odd jobs and as a sort of hunter-for-hire. While in Bree one autumn day he met a lovely young woodswoman named Vendla who won his heart, and he won hers. The following summer they married and made their home in a humble cottage in the northwestern edge of Chetwood.
The preceding is very much a work in progress. The more I read of and about Tolkien's legendarium, the more I learn, and accordingly my ideas about my characters gradually change. There are many things missing, like how many siblings he had and what their names were, who his maternal grandparents were, etc. I prefer a character's backstory and the elements thereof to be filled in before going all that far in developing the "present" of the character's overall story.
Among the most important things to be filled in is, in my reckoning, why Cúarlang left the Rangers prematurely. Granted, by the time he left he wasn't as young as he used to be, but I reckon he had at least another decade of service in him. I imagine being a Ranger is normally a "till death, disabling or dishonor, whichever comes first" sort of rôle. Also, I surmise that Rangers tend to be older—and thus wiser and more experienced—than standard men-at-arms and line archers, sort of like how real-world special forces operators (e.g. Navy SEALs) tend to be in their thirties and even early forties, whereas regular infantry are typically aged 19 to 25 or so. I figure it was likely that "something went wrong" between Cúarlang and the Rangers of the company he was with. Given that he's a man of honor, I reckon any disgrace would be something he was framed for; so perhaps he left the Rangers due to said (real or imagined) dishonor. Or perhaps he made an honest mistake but due to the demands of honor he had to go into de facto exile.
I take a keen interest in names, and I find the linguistic aspect of Tolkien's legendarium fascinating and intellectually as well as emotionally satisfying. (It's perfectly reasonable for one to wonder why there is so little actual spoken Elvish in Lord of the Rings or even The Silmarillion, until one realizes that it's really more or less all in the names of people, places and things.) If I'd had my druthers, this character's name would most likely be just Cúlang (which also means "man of bow and sword"), since that's shorter and simpler (and thus more effective to my eye/ear); but since there are already multiple NPCs with that name in LotRO, I had to "resort to" the more polysyllabic Cúarlang (which is, I believe, actually Doriathrin rather than in the Gondorian dialect of Sindarin, so it's fairly antequated).
I plan to revisit this character outline and update it little by little, though perhaps with subsequent posts rather than amendments to this opening one.