Steve Shackleford

Editor’s note: The following appeared in the February 2002 issue of BLADE magazine. Read more from the deep archives of the world’s foremost knife publication in this download of 25 years of back issues.

A Movie that Knows How to Do Swords

When New Line Productions’ The Fellowship of the Ring, the first in a series of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, debuts just days from now, blades will be among the stars of the film—and reproductions of three of those pieces are available from United Cutlery.

Moreover, they are but the first in a series of swords United Cutlery (UC) will reproduce in conjunction with the debuts of the Rings sequels in 2002 and 2003.

UC art director Kit Rae oversaw the reproduction of the three swords. It was a dream job for Kit, who’s been a fan of The Lord of the Rings since elementary school.

“It was one of the first fantasy books I read, though I first read The Hobbit [the prequel to the trilogy],” he recalled. “That had more influence over me and the direction with what I do [as a blade designer] than anything I’ve ever read.”

None Shall Pass on Naming These Sweet Swords

The blades of The Fellowship of the Ring are Sting, the short sword of the movie’s hero, Frodo Baggins; Glamdring, the sword of Gandalf the Grey, a powerful wizard and Frodo’s friend and guardian; and The Sword of the Witchking, the blade of one of the film’s villains.

In addition to the three pieces, the movie sequels-one to debut around Christmas 2002, the subsequent one around Christmas 2003-will feature more blades that also will be reproduced by UC, thus setting the stage for all of the pieces to be collectible as a series.

A Precious Partnership: United Cutlery and the Box Office

The Fellowship of the Ring is the latest movie for which UC has either designed and/or reproduced blades, including the three Rambo films, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Total Recall, Mortal Kombat, The Mask Of Zorro and others.

However, Fellowship represents UC’s most ambitious project to date.

“This is the biggest movie license that we’ve ever had,” Rae noted. “We’re planning on making reproductions of nine swords from all three films to be released over the next three years. Three swords have been released this year, with another two to four swords next year. Each will come with a hardwood wall plaque. We may make scabbards for them at a later date.”

Staying True to the Movie

The swords are meticulously reproduced from the description in the script, photos of the actual props and the props themselves as supplied by New Line Productions. There were several copies of each sword made for filming and each was slightly different.

“We have combined those differences into our reproductions while remaining faithful to the original designs,” which were done by the Weta Workshop in New Zealand, Kit said.

Each sword prop has an “aged” or worn look to it in the films, as if it’s been around for many centuries and seen many battles.

“We did our best to copy that look for our reproductions,” Rae maintained. “We want the swords to be as authentic as possible. We’ve found that it’s actually harder to make the swords look aged than to make them look shiny and new. The plaques’ shapes are tailored to each sword and feature screen-printed gold designs that I’ve styled after the look of each character in the film. New Line gave us a great style guide with art from the film to work with.”

No Pressure: 100 Million Books Sold

Having sold over 100 million copies in over 40 languages, Tolkien’s epic trilogy is considered by many to be the greatest fantasy adventure story ever written.

Penned in the 1950s, it chronicles an epic struggle in “Middle-earth” involving humans and a collection of Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Wids, Ring Wraiths, Ents, Orcs and other fantastic creatures over possession of a magical ring that can shift the world’s balance of power.

Frodo’s Short Sword: Sting

Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, is a Hobbit and one of many in search of the ring. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo’s uncle, uses his short sword, Sting, many times in his adventures. In Fellowship, Bilbo (Ian Holm) passes Sting down to Frodo. The piece is magical and, in the movie, its blade glows blue when the evil Orcs are present.

“This is probably the most popular sword in the books,” Rae stressed, “and is probably going to be the one most people will want to own after they see the film.”

Sting’s blade and guard feature runes in the Elven language of Sindarin that translates to, “Maegnas is my name, I am the spider’s bane.”

According to Kit, the runes are true to the actual Sindarin created by Tolkien. Maegnas comes from the Elven word “maeg,” which means sharp. The hardwood handle of UC’s Sting repro is inlaid with an Elven vine design.

“If we hand inlaid the metal just like the real thing, these swords would have been extremely expensive,” Rae related, “so we tried many other processes, including powdered metal and a laser, but finally settled on a special inlay process.”

Scaling a Sword for a Hobbit

Hobbits are about half the size of a man, so several tricks are used in the film to make the human actors look smaller, including making the sword props larger than they appear on screen.

“We had to scale the prop sword, which was 1:1.38 scale, down to the actual size that it appears, on film,” Rae explained. “The prop we had was a full-size sword but on film it appears as a short sword or dagger. We cheated a little and made the blade a bit longer, but otherwise it’s the correct scale.”

The overall length of the UC Sting repro is 22 inches, including a 15-inch blade of 420 J2 stainless steel etched with Elven runes. The metal guard and pommel feature and antique metal finish. Sting comes with a wood plaque silk-screened with Elven runes.

Gandalf’s Glamdring Sword

Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) found his sword, Glamdring, along with Sting in the troll hoard in The Hobbit. Gandalf is an old and powerful wizard and uses a wizard staff to cast his spells, but he pulls Glamdring from its scabbard for battle several times in the film.

Like Sting, Glamdring’s blade glows in the presence of an enemy in the movie. (Editor’s note: the blades of the Sting and Glamdring repros don’t glow.)

“The repro is made with three hollow grinds and the handle is wrapped in leather,” Rae commented.

The metal crossguard and pommel are engraved with Anglo-Saxon-styled runes in the Elven language, which basically say that Glamdring was forged for Turgon, the King of Gondolin.

“Gondolin is only vaguely referred to in the Rings books but is from Tolkien’s earlier work, the Simarillion, a history of Middle-earth,” Kit explained. “That how much research the designers did for the movie. To true Tolkien fans, that will mean a lot.”

Sporting a 36-inch blade of 420 J2, UC’s Glamdring repro is 47 5/8 inches long overall. The hilt is leather wrapped and the metal crossguard and pommel feature an antique finish and engraved Elven runes. The accompanying wood plaque is decorated with silk-screened designs.

The Sword of the Witchking

The Witchking is the leader of the nine Ring Wraiths and uses the Sword of the Witchking, as well as a dagger. The Ring Wraiths are sent to find the ring and return it to their dark master, Sauron (Christopher Lee).

They appear evil in the film, cloaked in black and riding black horses. They are very ancient beings, no longer human. The swords they carry look thousands of years old with corroded and worn blades and handles.

“We have developed a special chemical process to make the blades look like they are 3000 years old, as they appear in the film,” Rae remarked. “The crossguard and pommel have an aged iron look, and the grip is leather wrapped.

“They are huge swords, almost like European two-handed broadswords. This sword is one of the largest we have ever made–over 54 inches long overall.

UC’s Sword of the Witchking repro boasts a 39 3/4-inch blade of 420 52 steel, a leather-wrapped hilt, and metal crossguard and pommel with an antique finish and engraved designs. The accompanying wood plaque is silk-screened with Naszul designs.

Sword Scenes

At press time, Kit had seen a short preview of the movie’s highlights. Though he didn’t want to give too much away lest he spoil the film for BLADE readers, he did reveal a few “sharp teasers.”

He said the most memorable scene with Sting is when Bilbo passes it on to Frodo. However, one scene particularly special to Rae is when Frodo first pulls Sting from its scabbard, the blade pulsating blue due to the proximity of the Orcs.

“It’s something I’ve waited for years to see,” he said, adding that Sting really doesn’t have any big fight scene in the movie other than Frodo using it in the Mines of Moria.

“Sting will have its best scene in the third film,” Rae confided. In the climax of Fellowship, there’s a huge battle in which Gandalf uses Glamdring.

“I can’t give away what happens but Glamdring has a big part in it,” Kit said. As for the Sword of the Witchking, it’s prominent throughout the film in the hands of the Witchking.

Another sword in the film, Narsil, is shown in a flashback that updates viewers on the history of the ring. The blade is shattered and appears later in its broken form.

UC’s “flashback” full-blade repro of Narsil will be available in April 2002, and the repro of the broken Narsil, along with the repros of the Ring Wraith swords, will be available in September 2002. UC also will be offering 1:4 scale collectible miniatures of the movie swords in early 2002.

As with the full-sized swords, UC will be releasing the minis over the span of the three films. UC will release other sword repros from the first sequel in November 2002.

Editor’s note: The following originally appeared in the December 1997 issue of BLADE. Find more from BLADE‘s extensive archive in this download.

Brian Lyttle’s Blade Get Top Billing in Survival Epic, The Edge

Could this be THE movie where a knife will come across as what it truly is, an inanimate yet indispensable tool, instead of a living, breathing, killing demon that irrational crusaders and inept politicians constantly point to as the root of all evil? Let’s hope so.

Meanwhile, The Edge, starring award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins as a man trying to survive in harsh environs with the help of his knife and his ingenuity, may be a movie worth watching not only for the way he employs his blade but because it’s just fine entertainment.

One thing’s certain: Canadian knifemaker Brian Lyttle will be much more than just an interested observer because he made the “steel star” of the film and even appears in the flick as an extra.

The Design

The knife is a large folding hunter designed for the applications to which Hopkins puts it in the movie.

“It’s a gentleman’s piece in an old-time style but large enough for use as a tool to make traps and spears and for other survival needs,” Lyttle (pronounced LITTLE) observed. According to the maker, a voting member of The Knifemakers’ Guild who specializes in highly embellished folders and straight blades, film officials inspected similar knife patterns by assorted U.S. manufacturers to arrive at the piece they wanted.

“They liked big folders with clip-point blades,” he noted.

The result is a knife about 4 1/2 inches long closed with a 3 3/4-inch blade, inch-and-a-half bolsters and an ivory handle. Though Brian specializes in damascus, he used ATS-34 for the blade because movie officials said they wanted a material that wouldn’t stain. The letters “CM” on the knife are the initials of the character played by Hopkins, Charles Morse.

Multiple Models

Lyttle did five knives in all for the movie-four lockbacks and one sliplock. Of the four lockbacks, one is sharp for scenes where cutting is required; one’s dull for scenes where the prevention of any “accidental cutting” is the main concern; one’s a standby; and one’s the presentation piece used in the film. The sliplock appears in an underwater scene where the knife is used to cut a seat belt.

“They didn’t want the performer to have to worry about unlocking the blade while underwater,” Lyttle explained the reason for the sliplock.

He sold four of the knives to movie officials and rented the fifth one to them so he could get it back after filming.

The Knifemaker Steps Into the Movie

Don’t look for Lyttle’s name in the credits at the end of the movie. However, do look for a reference to the maker during the scene where the knife is presented to Hopkins. Inside the blade’s presentation box is a certificate that says, “Lyttle Knife Co.” By the way, that’s the blade Brian rented to the movie and is the one photographed with this story.

Knives are not the only examples of Brian’s work in the film. A skilled engraver, he engraved two watches (a gold one for Hopkins and a stainless steel Omega for co-star Alec Baldwin) and the presentation knife that appears early in the flick.

“The engraving will be easily visible and there’s a special reason for it to be seen,” he winked. “I read the script and it looks like one helluva movie. Hopkins doesn’t do duds.”

A Connection Through Brad Pitt and Legends of the Fall

How did the movie officials learn of Lyttle and his knifemaking? During the filming of Legends Of The Fall, an earlier flick also done in the High River area starring Hopkins and Brad Pitt, Lyttle’s work came to the attention of Pitt.

Pitt visited Lyttle’s home and bought some knives and gave them to some of the movie’s cast, including Hopkins. The same man who put Lyttle in touch with Pitt introduced Brian to an assistant props master.

When it came time to select the knives for The Edge, the assistant props master brought along Lyttle’s knives during a meeting of movie officials, a meeting attended by Hopkins. When Hopkins saw the blades he recognized the maker’s name on them.

Hopkins reportedly said, “They’re damn sharp!”

His reaction no doubt helped sway the movie officials’ decision and Brian had almost every knifemaker’s dream job: making movie blades.

“A Pain in the Neck”

As with most movie relationships, however, it was no picnic for Lyttle. He had to work long hours to get the pieces ready.

“I had three weeks to get the first knife done and I had a knife show to do in-between,” he recalled. “I had to work day and night to meet their deadlines. I had two days off one month and worked some days through midnight until four in the morning.”

And, of course, the movie officials could be a pain in the neck.

“They were very fussy over stuff,” Brian related. “Twelve presentation boxes (for the knife presentation scene) had to be made before they were satisfied with one.”

Worth the Trouble

Still, as almost any knifemaker will tell you, all the toil and trouble is worth it for the dividends such exposure does not only now but down the road, and specifically for Lyttle when people will come up to his table at a knife show and say, “Wasn’t that your knife in that movie with Anthony Hopkins?”

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the December 1994 issue of BLADE. Read more from BLADE‘s extensive archive here.

Again and again, when knives hit the silver screen, they become characters unto themselves. Some knives take that more literally than others. Here’s one example.

A Movie Knife with Tibetan Influences

The Phurba, the knife from the 1994 motion picture, The Shadow, breaks new ground for movie blades because it’s the first to take advantage of new computer-generated special effects. For the dagger in The Shadow, that means the creation of a living, breathing character, so to speak.

“It growls a couple of times, flies through the air, sprouts legs and even bites Alec Baldwin’s hand,” United Cutlery’s Kit Rae said of the knife. “They used a lot of computer graphics so the face on the handle moves, and the handle twists around.”

Designed for the movie by Joe Nemec III, the Phurba – or “Phurbu” as it is also spelled – is based on an actual Tibetan exorcising knife or “ghost dagger” used by lamas (Buddhist monks) to drive out evil spirits. The Phurba dovetails with the theme of The Shadow since the movie begins in Tibet.

A Three-Sided Blade

According to A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor, by George Cameron Stone, the original Phurbas had, “a three-winged blade and a hilt made up of lamaistic symbols. The pommel is usually a head with three faces crowned, with an animal’s head and neck projecting from the top. Thunderbolts (vajras), dragons and dragon’s heads are frequently present. Usually the blades are made of iron and the hilts of brass; sometimes the entire knife is of brass, and occasionally of wood.”

Nemec couldn’t get an authentic Phurba, so he based the movie knife on research, Rae said. The movie Phurba is true to the original knife in looks, right down to the three-sided blade. The main difference is in the number of faces on the handle, which was sculpted by Nemec. Where authentic Phurbas have three faces, the movie version has but one.

“[The movie’s officials] decided on a single face because it fit in with the idea that the knife was a living character,” Rae said.