Helm's Deep defenders shield colour?

[Arthadan]

Hi all,

I'm painting Mithril's Gamling miniature and I cannoy make up my ming about his shield.

The lord of Westfold and thus of Helm's Deep was erkebrand who did have a red shield, should their men wear red shields as well? I've re-read Helm's Deep battle and there is no mention to the colour of the shields of the defenders.

Maybe only his personal guard? All/most shields in Helm's Deep?

Anybody knows some obscure relevant quote or have some thoughts to share?

[Argonor]

A lot of the defenders of Helm's Deep were oldies and youngsters seeking refuge from the Uruk-Hai invasion, and Théoden brought warriors from Edoras, too, so I would not suspect a whole lot of uniformity - if you presume that each lord/area had its own shield colour.

I don't think Tolkien says anything on the matter.

[Hobgoblin]

Of relevance here, I think, is this description of Eomer's eored in "The Riders of Rohan":

"Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well; tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down at their knees."

Emphasis mine. Given the attention given to detail and colour in this passage, the obvious inference is that the shields were painted in a variety of colours. If the shields were uniform, it's almost inconceivable that Tolkien wouldn't have given their colour in this context (which is, after all, a detailed description of a military unit). So, given that and the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic models for the Rohirrim, I'd guess that the most "faithful" option would be to give the defenders of Helm's Deep a wide range of shield patterns and colours.

[tyrionhalfman]

The royal banner and certain heroes attire are described in some detail, such as Erkenbrand's shield. Everyone else therefore may or may not have as wide a variety of colours as you see in the Anglosaxon shieldwall at Hastings. Each Thegn and Earl may have his own heraldry, with only the royal housecarls bearing the traditional colours of Rohan. Or as its not described, and therefore open to interpretation go with what feels good to you

[joe5mc]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gamling was part of Theoden's household guard. Thus, if anything, his shield probably would have featured some symbol of the king, or of his house. 

[sukhe_bator]

I'm with Hobgoblin. The vast majority would be using the garrison stash of arms lodged in the keep plus anything anyone would have had the forethought to bring with them. Only the immediate household troops would have any uniformity...
In the real world AS shields were leather faced and painted as much to weather proof them as anything else. Bull's blood was a traditional colourant, and chalk and lampblack, so if you wanted to follow a historical precedent varied shades of red, white, grey and black in batches were likely to predominate...

[Arthadan]

Very interesting, thanks all!

@joe5mc: Gamling is a man of Westfold, left in charge of the forces defending Helm's Dike (the fortification across the Deeping-coomb before the stronghold of the Hornburg defending Helm's Deep) by command of Erkenbrand.

I've done a little research and it turns out the all-famous running horse on green background is the emblem of the House Eorl (depicted in the shields Aragaorn & Co. take from the royal armoury in Meduseld before going to Westfold). Then the King and his household wear the emblem of the golden sun on green (Théoden has a golden shield with that emblem though), and Erkenbrand the well-known red shield.

I like the idea of uniformity only for the household of leaders, but then I'd like some visual cohesion on my miniatures so you can tell apart Rohan's militia from Gondor's or Daleland's. Since I paint for collection mainly and some skirmish game we're speaking about warbands of maximum 20 miniatures. I think I'll go for green and brown shields with horse-inspired motivs on white or yellow (all with different shades).

[sukhe_bator]

One of the great things about fantasy is the opportunity to add your own creative take on simple themes. Tolkien was great on the broad epic brush strokes and tantalizingly vague on details for a wargamer/painter. I've done a fusion of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and LoTR Film inspired shield designs for my Rohirrim (I really must get on and finish them...). When I first started painting these back in the day I did originally have a notion of using 1, 2, 3 and 4 horse's heads for each of the 4 Riddermarks...

[tyrionhalfman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gamling was part of Theoden's household guard. Thus, if anything, his shield probably would have featured some symbol of the king, or of his house. 

The film and book Gamling are quite different characters. as you say the film Gamling was an officer in Theoden's household guards. The book Gamling was an old veteran of Westfold who Erkenbrand left in charge of the hastily reinforced garrison at Helm's Deep when Erkenbrand took the rest of the Westfold forces to join the troops at the battle of the fords (sadly not included in the film)

[Arthadan]

@sukhe_bator Very nice Rohirrim host you have there!