Himring

Rhiannon

Well-Known Member
"The chief citadel of Maedhros was upon the Hill of Himring, the Ever-cold; and that was wide-shouldered, bare of trees, and flat upon its summit, surrounded by many lesser hills."

Himring should be pretty defensible since it will hold out when the other Feanorian fortresses fall in the Dagor Bragollach. Also, the hill should probably be fairly tall since it will survive the sinking of Beleriand and become an island.
2516
 
Looking for relatively tall, wide, bare, and flat hills, I've come across

Suilven in Scotland
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Kovddoskaisi in Finland
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Flattop Mountain in Alaska
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As for the castle atop Himring, I'm fine with it being relatively advanced. Something with impressively solid walls. Like Dover Castle in England:

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2517
 
I do worry that there is nothing particularly elvish about anything in that design. I was trying to integrate the structures with the site, but at the end of the day, it's clearly the work of an engineer, not an architect. I plan to add more outbuildings, I was just trying to get the feel of the main structures first.
 
I do worry that there is nothing particularly elvish about anything in that design. I was trying to integrate the structures with the site, but at the end of the day, it's clearly the work of an engineer, not an architect. I plan to add more outbuildings, I was just trying to get the feel of the main structures first.
What constitutes "elvish" in terms of architecture and design? Is it a certain style? The presence of decoration?
 
I do worry that there is nothing particularly elvish about anything in that design. I was trying to integrate the structures with the site, but at the end of the day, it's clearly the work of an engineer, not an architect. I plan to add more outbuildings, I was just trying to get the feel of the main structures first.

I've been thinking about 18th century star forts...


Give them medieval battlements and machicolations and there might be something there for the keep at Himring.
 
I will look into star forts - the bleakness of a square keep is a bit jarring to me! But I didn't want to get too fancy right away, here, since this is still 'first Noldor stronghold in Beleriand', not 'height of Noldor architecture in Beleriand' (that's Gondolin). But of course it can be reminiscent of Formenos.

I should probably add another wall at the base of the hill. I feel this is a 'can't have too many walls' situation...

What constitutes "elvish" in terms of architecture and design? Is it a certain style? The presence of decoration?

Short hand? Art nouveau. And dwarves are art deco.

So, yes, some decoration, and emphasis on motifs from the natural world. Also, a very innate understanding of nature that would go beyond human. Elves are naturally creative, and the Noldor especially so. So it's not that elves can't have a square building with no relief...but...why *would* they?
 
Hmmm, so an 8-pointed star on the top of this hill.....

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Now, I'm just going to have to be on the lookout for an aerial photo of Flattop Mountain, as naturally most photos are either looking at the mountain from below, or looking at the view below from the trail/summit. Whereas it would be a lot more helpful to have the aerial view to establish a footprint, like these ruins:

Hopefully someone took a drone with a GoPro up there at some point.....
Ah, good, they did....
 
I am interested in using a monadnock (inselberg) for Himring.

Pilot Mountain, North Carolina
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Pietra di Bismantova, Italy
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Hårteigen, Norway
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This made me think of Masada. It’s just ruins now of course but it was built on an ‘inselberg’ or something similar. Interestingly, I think they had some temples or temple-like buildings at one end (where an attack was impossible). Maybe it could be an inspiration, I’ll see if I can find any pictures.
 
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