Weapons and Armor in Middle Earth

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…used in Middle Earth were even decorated much in the fashion that men of Earth decorated theirs; with runes, paintings, and symbols of all kinds. The several of the battle tactics mentioned in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were the same as those used in our Medieval and Dark ages, including: encirclement, shield walls, and trenches. Tolkien was a master of combining things both familiar and unfamiliar to create a fantastically believable world.