Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-26890432-20170131222057

Hello friends!

Essentially in Middle-Earth, only three factions have ships worth mentioning: these are the High Elves, Umbar, and Gondor. We've had visual representation of the Elven and Corsair vessels so far:

Most pictures of Elven vessels portray a constant design for these craft. The Elven vessel here is typical of this, and appears to be a more built-up longship-style design, perhaps drawing influence from Roman round-ships. The size of the bow and stern seems warranted for weathering the waves of the open Belegaer.

The ships belonging to the Corsairs of Umbar resemble a Xebec but with higher sides. Xebecs are a very old design dating from the early medieval period, that is still in use today in some parts of the Mediterannean. The thing is, while fast in calm waters, this type of craft gave way and foundered in any sort of swell. So the decision to increase the freeboard makes sense, as the Bay of Belfalas wasn't nearly as sheltered as the Mediterannean. In Gondor, a great many types of ship could be claimed to have existed. I'd argue against low-sided, primarily oared galleys such as those used by the Greeks, Romans, and later Ottomans, as those faltered anywhere outside of very calm conditions, which as I mentioned earlier, the Bay of Belfalas cannot be assumed to feature. That narrows down the choices to a very slim margin of ships given the technology of Middle-Earth, although this could be somewhat offset by the claim that Numenorean shipbuilding techniques, being advanced, were passed down in Gondor, if a little diminished. Given the combination of technology, weather conditions on the sea, and cultural influence, I'd say the Gondorians perhaps possessed vessels similar to real-world Caravels. Flagships and large or important warships could have resembled very early Galleons. These vessels were seaworthy both in calm and sketchy sea-states (but nothing too rough) and were servicable for both trade and fighting, both of which Gondor would be in dire need. They were also not too difficult to construct, and when you add this to the appropriate amount of neo-Numenorean influence that might have existed, it is likely that the Gondorians would have come up with vessels like these. Also, the style seems to fit the Dunedain/Gondorians. *Note: Numenorean vessels are mentioned to have oars: this does not make them galleys. A good number Caravels, and even some Galleons retained oars in addition to sails. I've been a nautical history buff for a long while, and these are my thoughts on what might have originated in Gondor, but I'd love to hear other thoughts as well!  