Anyone know anything about Peter Lyon?

[CD Fleischer]

He is the swordsmith that designed the swords for the Lord of the Rings movies. I was wondering if he mostly designed for movies or if he made swords for purchase. My internet searches to date have been fruitless.

I was jsut impressed with the swords in the movie as not being stupid looking or too "prop-ish" (ever see "Ladyhawke"?). Seems to like hand-and-a-half swords though.

I guess there is always the United Cutlery replicas... :barf:

Thanks,

Clay

 

[Guy Thomas]

Hi Clay, I was interested in finding some more examples of his work but also came up with nothing. My guess is that he is little known outside of New Zealand or Australia. The WETA workshops are well known for utilizing local talent whenever possible.

While I realize the United Cutlery repros are not made from an ideal sword steel they do seem to be well made (though I don't know how well they actually heat treat the stainlees steel). I handled Sting (the UC repro!)and the balance and weight was superb. So, well made wall hangers sure beat chunks of junk from Toledo any day!

Guy Thomas

 

[CD Fleischer]

Thanks for the info, Silent!

Good to know on the UC swords. Mostly, I just hate buying anything with their name on it.

I was worried that they would be too heavy. I have a Museum Replicas sword, that, at 3.5 pounds, and no room for 2 hand use, is rather unwieldy.

Wonder if they will release some of the other swords -- Boromir's sword, Aragorn's sword, Anduril (since they weren't the same in the movie).

Clay

 

[FullerH]

Actually, he has been posting over on SwordForums, in the "Sword Movies & Movie Swords" forum. He does not yet have a website, but his email address is lyonesse@paradise.net.nz. He said that he cannot make copies of the LOTR swords, as they are copyrighted by the movie maker, who sold the rights to United Cutlery. The bottom line is that anyone wanting a sword from the movie is stuck with the United Cutlery wall-hangers, which the SFI folk warn against ever using, since they are stainless and thus have a tendency to break. I have no experience there, I only report their comments.

 

[Triton]

I actually had a chance to handle all three swords while in Toronto on business. First off I will say that both Glamdring and the Nazgul sword were overweight. They were both far too whippy this is especially true of the Nazgul sword. They points of balance are also off on both. Sting is really more like a long knife then a sword so I did not worry so much about weights and points of balance on that one. Having said that I will say that they are all rather attractive although certainly unusable.