The Bow of Bregor

MithLuin

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We are told that Bregor's Bow is one of the artefacts from the First Age that is preserved in Númenor (and then subsequently lost in the drowning of Númenor at the end of the Second Age).

So...we should probably come up with that story! The bow will need to make its way to the Havens of Sirion by the end of the First Age (in preparation for being carried off to Númenor), but there are many possible paths by which it could get there.

Bregor is Andreth's older brother and the father of Barahir (in Silm Film). He has the bow in Ladros when the House of Bëor moves there in Season 5. The bow is then passed from Bregor to Barahir prior to the Dagor Bragollach. Barahir has the bow during the battle and during his time as outlaw in the years afterwards.

At the end of Season 6 Episode 2, Barahir is killed by Gorgol the Butcher at Tarn Aeluin. So, what happens to the Bow after that?

Some options:

1) Beren buries the bow with his father. Then, at some point in the future, another character graverobs Barahir's cairn, and the bow is brought back into the story. The graverobber could be Mîm the Petty-dwarf, and this 'later point' could be the Túrin story. We would not need to show the graverobbing, merely show the new character with the bow and make an allusion to how they got that.

2) Beren takes the bow with him after burying his father. He has it when killing Gorgol, leaving Dorthonion, and traversing Nan Dungortheb. It is on his person when he enters Doriath. He could then leave it in a) Doriath or b) Nargothrond while going on the Quest.

3) Beren takes the Bow on the Quest, recovering it from the dungeon of Minas Tirith after his capture. It somehow is not a hindrance to transforming into a wolf. He could leave it in a) Brethil or b) Doriath after losing his hand.

4) The Bow of Bregor is cracked when Barahir dies or while Beren traverses Nan Dungortheb. Beren carries it out of Dorthonion as a memento of his family, but it is now useless. It stays in Doriath. It is taken to Númenor, still a decoration only. The 'shards of Bregor's Bow' can then be remade into a fancy steel-enforced bow at a later time in Númenor's story, and be wielded once more.

Any other suggestions?

It's worth noting that we have exactly zero instances of people wielding this weapon or heroic deeds achieved with this weapon. We will have to invent the story from scratch. But it would be nice to have an idea of what we're trying to do with this item, so we can make good story choices in Season 6.
 
We are told that Bregor's Bow is one of the artefacts from the First Age that is preserved in Númenor (and then subsequently lost in the drowning of Númenor at the end of the Second Age).

So...we should probably come up with that story! The bow will need to make its way to the Havens of Sirion by the end of the First Age (in preparation for being carried off to Númenor), but there are many possible paths by which it could get there.

Bregor is Andreth's older brother and the father of Barahir (in Silm Film). He has the bow in Ladros when the House of Bëor moves there in Season 5. The bow is then passed from Bregor to Barahir prior to the Dagor Bragollach. Barahir has the bow during the battle and during his time as outlaw in the years afterwards.

At the end of Season 6 Episode 2, Barahir is killed by Gorgol the Butcher at Tarn Aeluin. So, what happens to the Bow after that?

Some options:

1) Beren buries the bow with his father. Then, at some point in the future, another character graverobs Barahir's cairn, and the bow is brought back into the story. The graverobber could be Mîm the Petty-dwarf, and this 'later point' could be the Túrin story. We would not need to show the graverobbing, merely show the new character with the bow and make an allusion to how they got that.

Wooden bows decay fast in earth - or you would need a real underground grave chamber like Tutankhamun had.
 
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Wooden bows decay fast in earth - or you would need a real underground grave chamber like Tutankhamun had.

Very true. Barahir's grave is a cairn, so a mound of rocks rather than in the dirt, but I see no reason to think Dorthonion has a particularly dry environment.
 
That was my thought. As Odola suggests, the idea of a bow usefully surviving that long in the same state in which it was made seems unlikely.

Even a bone and sinew bow would not long in earth. We have Tutankhamun's bows and hunting thowing sticks (boomerangs) preserved from his tomb but this a completly different way to construct a grave.
Still maybe an inspiration how such an old relic would look like after several millenia:

1659171768848.png

 
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Even a bone and sinew bow would not long in earth. We have Tutankhamun's bows and hunting thowing sticks (boomerangs) peserved from his tomb but this a completly different way to construct a grave.
Still maybe an inspiration how such an old relic would look like after several millenia:

View attachment 4517


We are in agreement then. The bow would have to be "preserved in state" for it to survive. My suggestion is that the best way for that to happen is if it is unusable as a weapon for a time.
 
Though i ike to think an immortal culture like the elves is likely to have quasi-magic techniques to preserve things for a long time...

Maybe.

But Beren is not an elf. If he buries the bow with Barahir, it has to decay. And the area is inaccessible for others - except for orcs or other Sauron's minions, for some time to come. Of couse orcs might desecrate Barahir's grave shortly after Beren leaves and the bow might end up even in Angband - if we want to... But we would need to show the grave desecration scene and we do not have time for that.
 
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We are in agreement then. The bow would have to be "preserved in state" for it to survive. My suggestion is that the best way for that to happen is if it is unusable as a weapon for a time.
The wood could form a grip for the steel-enforced bow if we choose to go that route. On the other hand we know the fate of the bow in Tolkien's work: it gets sunk along with Aranrúth and Dramborleg.
 
But Beren is not an elf. If he burries the bow with Barahir, it has to decay. And the area is inaccessible for others - except for orcs or other Sauron's minions, for some time to come. Of couse orcs might desecrate Barahir's grave shortly after Beren leaves and the bow might end up even in Angband - if we want to... But we would need to show the grave desecration scene and we do not have time for that.

I think the implication here is that the preservation "magic" was performed at manufacture, not at burial.
 
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