EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Mad Dwarf Workshop -Part 2

In the second part of my Q&A with Mad Dwarf Workshop, Andy Davis and David DelaGardelle divulge their plans for their future and reveal the answer to the question we all want to know: are there any big budget movie contracts in the works for MDW?

1. David: out of all the books you read growing up, which world was your favorite?

Tolkien without a doubt has impacted me the most artistically and aesthetically; Lewis definitely the most emotionally and philosophically; Chesterton the most historically and intellectually; but the world Bunyan portrayed in his book “Pilgrim’s Progress” has absolutely impacted me the most in my day-to-day life and worldview. Now to be fair and honest, it may not be the world’s most original book artistically or metaphorically (Tolkien & Lewis themselves had their hesitations about such methods of storytelling). But I don’t care who you are or what your worldview is, there are objective unchanging moral truths in that book that Bunyan shows which you simply cannot deny… especially when you are approaching it as an artist. It hit home for me personally as one who is trying to grow up and maintain my identity in this superficial brainwashing culture. Society is relentlessly trying to bombard individuals with its self centered rhetoric. That story offered a radical idea about going against the grain of what culture considers popular and acceptable. “Pilgrim's Progress” also defines the concept that an individual should only care about how he is viewed in the eyes of his Creator. The main Character, Christian the Pilgrim, goes off on his quest against the will of everyone around him just to reach his goal. 

To me that idea is a powerful message, and I think one that is extremely relevant to our time. It’s also a story that is so old that it’s unfortunately been repeatedly butchered by countless artists who didn’t put enough time and effort into their work. As a result, modern people get a quick taste of the story from this bad art and immediately disregard it before even digging into it for themselves. So as an artist, this makes me all the more motivated to work hard and maybe some day respectfully portray this story in visual terms, either in the form of illustration, or maybe even working on a production bringing it to the silver screen, but do it RIGHT this time. Right now, I am obviously just hoping and dreaming, but it’s a timeless story that deserves good art and which more people need to experience for what it is.

2. Andy: what was your favorite piece of ancient weaponry you got to handle while working at Ball State Museum?

Working at the museum gave me an amazing look into historical weaponry and art. The museum housed very few weapons, although the few they have are very good examples of weapons from their respective periods. The most fascinating to me was going through a very large collection of Japanese sword handle components that has thus far, been undocumented. There are 6 shoebox sized museum storage bins full of hand crafted 300+ year old sword handle pieces. It was really fun to bring in one of our friends, who is a very renowned Japanese sword maker, and have him work with me on documenting them. There is also a 9th century Chinese cast bronze sword that is one of my favorites. I would love to do a reproduction of it some day. The blade is so thin and precise it boggles my mind how they managed to cast it without the use of modern technology.

3. Are you planning on expanding your creations to include bows and such?

At the moment we do not have any have plans to craft bows, but you never know! Our mindset is that wherever the good Lord leads us artistically we plan to pursue it with passion and energy. We don’t merely want to master more trades and crafts for our own selfish glory and gain. Instead we want to do work that other people can enjoy and benefit from, both practically and aesthetically. We also never like to limit ourselves on where our work can and should go. Swords are definitely one of our main passions because of our love for epic myths, nature, and our Northern ancestry. Swordsmithing also is one of our main creative focuses because it serves as such an amazing medium to do the things we want to do and say what we want to say. However we are constantly brainstorming what other mediums we can branch into. Right now, we’re working on multiple commissions which involve crafting ornate helmets, spears, axes, shields and even mugs. 

Andy is currently studying advanced pattern welding and mosaic steel techniques, bronze casting and carpentry skills in his last year at art school. And I (David) am also working as a graphic designer and illustrator in addition to bladesmithing. I’m studying traditional bookbinding, leather working, and doing digital art for book, magazine, and CD covers. So as we get better and continue to learn all of these other crafts (while they’re very different from swordsmithing) will most definitely be featured through the Mad Dwarf Workshop very soon. So keep an eye out!

4. Have you ever been contacted by a studio to work on a film? If so, which one? If not, would you if you were offered?

We’ve been keeping it a secret for almost a year now… But yes we have. Last November, we were contacted by a well known props team in Hollywood working on a big budget film. And they were in need of some Swordsmith’s who could craft multiple copies of a very intricate and very prominent hero sword for this movie. We took on the task to the best of our abilities, finished the swords, the movie has since filmed, wrapped, and is set for a spring release date in the USA and across the globe…

Unfortunately, we’re legally not yet allowed to share what film this is until it is released. However, we can definitely hint at it! And for that we’ll simply give you a name: Kenneth Branagh.

5. What are your goals for MDW and where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

In one sense, when we’re working in a craft like this we can only worry about today and the blessings that have been given to us in the moment. And it may sound weird, but we simply hope for MDW to be wherever God wants it to be in the future, because whether that means growing and moving forward onto great things, or if it means loosing everything and ending our work in a heartbeat, both routes are good if its in His Sovereign plan. Within that mindset though, our hopes and goals with the work we are doing are obviously optimistic. Andy has always loved sharing his passions with others. Andy has felt convicted to begin sharing the little knowledge we’ve already gained about this craft with people any way he can as an educator. By teaching, he would continue to learn more of the craft by sharing it with others. That opportunity may take shape in the form of teaching simple classes, or possibly getting connected with a traditional craft’s school somewhere down the road? With my (David’s) work I simply hope to continue to learn how to be a better artist and never stop learning. I want to continually push my abilities to wake up people’s senses to those eternal unchanging truths that men like Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton and Bunyan were so good at doing. Granted however, they all used language, while my hope is to inspire and motivate people with my visual and physical art. Whether it is in the form of a finely crafted sword, or any other medium I can get my hands on. 

We could work our fingers to the bone & try to become world renown bladesmiths and artists, but at the end of the day if we are not loving people, connecting with them on a down to earth level, and not doing this for the good of others, then we are wasting our time and ultimately wasting our lives. Swords, knives and all these forms of art are definitely cool. But G.K. Chesterton once famously said “The dignity of the artist lies in his duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world." We most definitely believe he was right! And if we’re not doing that then there is no sense in doing this at all. We just hope that through our work people feel that sense of wonder and mystery and see the same things we see through the amazing medium of this ancient craft.

This ends the Q&A, however if you just can’t get enough, you can follow MDW on Twitter and Facebook.

All images where used with permission from MDW.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Mad Dwarf Workshop -Part 1

The moment I first came across Mad Dwarf Workshop, I was immediately impressed. The two masterminds behind the Indiana based swordsmithing shop, Andy Davis and David DelaGardelle, put their amazing talents together to create some of the most exquisite creations I've ever seen. From daggers to swords, each one is intricately and lovingly designed by hand. Looking at their site was like stepping into the lands of Middle-earth and I found myself wanting to know more about the two men who pound away at metal all day. Here begins the first part of my Q&A with Mad Dwarf Workshop (MDW):

1. You mention on your site that the two of you became friends at an early age - when was it you both realized you had a passion for swordsmithing and joined interests to create MDW?

Andy Davis

Andy and I were blessed to have met at such an early age and to have had a great environment to hang out and to grow up in. We were also extremely blessed to have such awesome families who’ve always supported us in our weird creative endeavors ever since we were little kids. So right from the get-go when we first started hanging out we almost instantaneously became brothers. The glue that most definitely bound our friendship together from the start was our shared crazy creativity. We both had the freedom of being home schooled. Our learning environment gave us opportunities and confidence to explore who we wanted to become at a level most young kids unfortunately are not able to explore. We’ve been extremely blessed in that sense, and definitely do not take it for granted. It really all began with hours and hours spent building ridiculous creations out of Legos around age 7-8. We then moved into basic woodworking. We would make our own toy guns and swords; then we would proceed to beat the crap out of each other with the wooden weapons. Countless afternoons were spent digging trenches on Andy’s parents’ farm where we pretended we were soldiers in WWII. The landscapes we grew up in helped cultivate a passion and love for the natural world, especially when going on trips to the mountains of Colorado, Canada, and even England in our high school years. And finally, diving into the world of classic authors like Tolkien, Lewis, and completely eating up classic myths and legends like “Beowulf” really propelled our interest in Arms and Armor. It was right around 2000, a year before the first LOTR film came out (which we were a little critical of even at that age) when we first really started playing around with the idea of learning blacksmithing and blade making just for fun. Little did we know it would spiral us into an incredible world of craftsmanship and history, learning from some of the most amazing smiths alive.

David DelaGardelle

The sword had always been an intrinsic love for us for as long as we could remember. And I think that may be the similar case with most boys, because lets face it, boys are boys and they dream of saving the damsel and slaying the dragon. The moment we realized we might actually be able to get our hands dirty and try this craft for ourselves was a revelation. After years of researching, hunting down tools, and learning the basics; we officially started what we jokingly called “the Mad Dwarf Workshop”. And it wasn’t started with any huge goals in mind. We were still in high school at this point, and were literally only interested in crafting cool bladed weapons for ourselves to keep. Once we started to share our work with others, however, the positive and encouraging response from people was overwhelming. We figured why not try and refine our skills to the point of actually selling our creations? MDW took on a life of its own very quickly. We almost feel like we were merely the instruments, not the creators.

2. What is the story behind the name, MDW?

We really wish we had some cool epic story behind the name… But we don’t. :)

It literally spawned out of the minds of a couple Mythology loving overly ambitious artistic high school kids who’ve read the Hobbit one to many times. What we can remember though is a couple conversations we had about “MAD” referring to “Metalworking by Andy & David”. It also gained a second meaning when our good high school buddy named Mason occasionally joined us in the shop. But as of today; the name Mad Dwarf Workshop simply stands as a wild idea that a bunch of young kids thought up after being inspired by guys like Tolkien, Lewis, and the stories we’ve loved growing up.

3. What is your favorite part of the swordsmithing process?

Andy: My passion has always just been working with hot steel and letting the material dictate organically what the finished piece should look like. I really love the task of forge welding (fusing metals together) and creating natural looking patterns within the steel itself. The forging and manipulation of the steel when we craft some of our swords is always what gets me excited with a new project. On top of that, however, there is a whole different drive behind the work for me.   While I really enjoy making swords for customers, David is much better at it, and my true passion lies in the teaching of our craft to other people. It’s great to make a custom sword for an individual and get my work into their hands. But in many ways I personally feel it’s almost more rewarding to teach that person the craft, and then witness them use their own hands and own abilities to bring their dream to life.

David: For me it’s definitely the moment in which the materials I’m working with suddenly transform from simply being wood, steel, leather, or bronze into a real functional sword that seems to almost be alive. On every sword, it seems that point occurs at different times. Sometimes it happens right when I heat-treat the blade, which makes it tough enough to withstand combat. Sometimes it is when I am grinding the blade’s geometry to shape, and it suddenly begins to sing differently when struck against another object. And sometimes it doesn’t truly come to life until the hilt is fully assembled state and I can feel what some describe as the swords energy really come to life in my hand. Regardless of when it happens, it’s always an extremely satisfying and rewarding feeling as a smith and as an artist.

4. If you could design any weapon from one of Tolkien’s many made-up nations, what would it be and why?

Andy: I’ve always loved Tolkien’s description of Turin Turambar’s black sword “Anglachel” which later became “Gurthang”. Even if your slightly familiar with Northern myths and legends which spoke of weapons almost as people, its still striking to read Tolkien’s description of the black sword in such evocative detail. It literally is a character in the story, and is so much more than just an instrument of violence used by this flawed character. I think a few swordsmiths have attempted to bring this sword to life in their own way. But I think it would take a lot of time, craftsmanship, and passion to truly bring out the real spirit of this sword and have it do justice to Tolkien’s story. Plus, I love a good challenge! So maybe some day it will happen.

Source: MDW

David: For a long time I’ve dreamt about bringing Farmer Giles of Ham’s sword “Caudimordax” aka “Tail Biter” to life. I have always loved The Hobbit, LOTR, the Silmarillion, and Tolkien’s other Middle Earth tales. But something about Farmer Giles of Ham always resonated with me, both in a comical sense of the story, and in a serious sense of its narrative. I’ve always found it one of Tolkien’s best yet most under rated and overlooked stories. It’s a hilarious story that also provides some awesome subject matter for weird on the fringe artists like me. And how cool a name is “Caudimordax”!? I drew an elaborate sketch last year of Farmer Giles, showing multiple variations of his sword. [On right.]

5. While smithing away, is there any music you find that most inspires you?

The list of music that we love listening to while forging could fill an entire book, so we’ll try to sum it down to our absolute favorite musicians and bands. Probably the 1# band we listen to on our shop is a band called Flatfoot 56. They are great guys from Chicago who we’ve actually met in person and have been really encouraging to us in the work we do. Their music is an awesome mix of Irish/Celtic & Punk Rock. It fits the old world vibe of our shop while still being loud enough to keep us moving during a long day of working.

We also love a lot of traditional Irish, Celtic and even bluegrass tunes. It is the kind of music that you might expect to hear in a blacksmithing workshop. Some of our favorite artists in general include: Lunasa, the Chieftains, the Crossing,and Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings.

We also really love a lot of “percussion” Acoustic guitar musicians such as:

Michael Hedges, Phil Keaggy, Josh Garrels, Trace Bundy, and Preston Reed

TO BE CONTINUED...

Can't get enough? Mad Dwarf Worksop is also on Twitter and Facebook, check them out!

Dunedain Radio Has Set A Launch Date!

It’s official! Middle-Earth Network, aka 

Dunedain Radio, will go live March 25th, at 8pm CT, so mark your calendars. The Tolkien/fantasy based station is run by three geniuses and fellow Tolkienists: Mark aka Maerech, Candace McCarty of The Green Dragon Inn, and John Di Bartolo of the Lonely Mountain Band. The station offers everything from rock to classical and has had an impressive lineup of podcast interviews, including the most recent, Doug Adams, author of The Music of the Lord of the Ring Films. The Tolkien Professor (Corey Olsen), Ted Nasmith, Kate Madison, Mad Dwarf Workshop, and Gandalf’s Fist are among some of the others to grace the station with their presence. Even Weta Workshop in New Zealand has agreed to let the station re-air their podcasts.

And that’s just the beginning. To kick off their launch date, they have been hard at work, creating their very own Map inspired by Middle-Earth! From February 25 until March 25th you can get your hands on one, for a donation of $15 or more. Once the 25th has gone and passed, you may still receive one for a donation

of $20 and up.

Besides a major revamp of their website under way, Dunedain Radio is now an affiliate of Amazon.com and Audible Books, launching a “One Stop Shop” on everything Tolkien/fantasy-related. It’s a Tolkien lover’s dream, and much needed as there are not many places where you can find such a vast network of Middle-Earth-centered material.

Trouble in Mordor as ‘The Last Ring-Bearer’ gets Press

Kirill Yeskov (Source: Open Page)

Russian author, Kirill Yeskov, is a big Tolkien fan. So big, in fact, that in 1999 he wrote and published The Last Ring-Bearer, a look into the evil Lord Sauron’s side of the story. The book begins it’s tale as the ‘free-peoples’ of Middle-Earth fight back against Sauron, and continues past his fall and destruction. Despite it’s opposing view in comparison to Tolkien’s work, Yeskov’s book quickly became a favorite among Russian fantasy-reading fans and caught the attention of translator, Yisroel Markov. His devotion to the book spurred him on to work on an English translation. As he quotes on his live journal page,

“I was impressed enough by this work to spend a few dozen lunch hours translating it to English...I have been fortunate to establish communication with the author and have the translation vetted (and much corrected) by him.”

The translated English version was then put on the web, and has since been downloaded thousands of times. However, not all that’s well ends well. It seems the Tolkien Estate has something to say about Yeskov’s take on The Lord of the Rings. It seems there could be a strong case for copyright infringement.

David Brawn at Harper Collins, Tolkien’s exclusive publisher, told The Guardian, "To my knowledge, none of us have ever been approached to publish this book." He went on to explain, "Online there are lots of infringements which it is extremely difficult to do anything about... When you get something as popular as Tolkien, fans want to create new stories. Most are pretty amateurish. Tolkien himself isn't around so it's the estate's view that it's best to say no to everything. If you let one in, you'd open the floodgates."

The bottom line for The Last Ring-Bearer is that copyright infringement would occur if the book becomes available in English, without permission from the the copyright owner.

Sources: guardian.co.uk

Rumors Continue Over Mount Doom and Lake Town

Source: Shyong Foo

 

Hobbit rumors continue as Sir Peter Jackson has been denied access to Mt. Ngauruhoe, aka Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. With only five weeks until cameras start rolling, the Maori have refused to let Jackson film there once again, as they consider the mountain sacred. Now Jackson is forced to look at other locations such as Southern Alps as well as New Zealand’s Lake Wanaka and Mt Taranaki.

Meanwhile Aratiatia Rapids, located in the middle of New Zealand’s north island, is preparing for Jackson and his crew to arrive. It’s roaring waters have caught the producers’ eyes, so the site will be closed for four days, for the filming of The Hobbit. In an article released by the nzherald, Jonathan Milne writes,

“While production company 3foot7 Ltd isn't saying what role the Aratiatia Rapids will play in The Hobbit, it is possible they could feature as the Forest River, down which Bilbo and his dwarf friends float in (and on) wine barrels to escape the elves of Mirkwood.” He further writes, “Wanaka would seem a perfect candidate for Laketown, the town devastated by the wrath of Smaug till the dragon was brought down by the black arrow of Bard the Bowman”

Wanaka is located on the south island of New Zealand and has been reported by the Otago Daily Times to be  “...in the sights of the makers of ‘The Hobbit’.”

Sources: Otago Daily Times, nzhearld

Saoirse Unconfirmed for ‘The Hobbit’

Source: VanityFair.com

Since the highly viewed press release of The Hobbit cast aired last week, new rumors and news on the film have hit the web, the top story centering on Saoirse Ronan. During an interview back in January, casting director Ros Hubbard stated to IFTN, “...working with Peter Jackson is like working with a family... Saoirse’s family will go too, everyone is very close and very loving on those sorts of jobs.” Within moments of the articles posting, the word had gone out that Saoirse  had indeed signed on to The Hobbit, to play the woodland elf ‘Itaril’. However, when she was asked about Hubbard’s statement, during this weeks IFTN awards, she responded, "No, nothing has actually been confirmed yet. I’d love to get a role in The Hobbit. I think everybody in the world would like a role in The Hobbit.” It seems we’ll have to wait for further confirmation to dub this

rumor ‘true’.

Sources: www.iftn.ie, http://www.irishcentral.com/

Who is the Tolkien Professor?

Source: Matt Mcclain/the Washington Post

Corey Olsen, dubbed the ‘Tolkien Professor’, has been getting a lot of press lately. And why shouldn't he?  In 2007 the tenured English professor, with a PhD in medieval literature from Washington College, created a podcast on iTunes called “How to read Tolkien and Why” and it has since had over a million downloads. His unusual approach, reaching out publicly vs. publishing his own scholarly works, might be called unconventional by some, but it seems to be working. In an article written for The Washington Post, the author, Daniel De Vise calls Olsen “..one of the most popular medievalists in America” In the same article, Olsen spoke about his unique public approach saying, "Instead of spending all my time doing scholarly publishing, which we're told to do - which most people will never read - I basically decided to put myself out to the public."

Olsen’s love for Tolkien began when he first read The Hobbit at age eight, and by seventh grade he professed himself to be an expert on The Lord of the Rings. After studying at Williams College in Massachusetts as an undergraduate, he went on to Columbia and received a doctorate in Medieval literature. From there, he went on to teach at Washington College in Chestertown, MD and in 2007 won their top teaching award. But it wasn’t until 2009, when he uploaded an introductory lecture onto iTunes that his website began to get noticed . It took only two months for his site to gain over 5,000 subscribers.

With millions of fans eagerly seeking Olsen’s views on Tolkien and his books, the Professor is kept busy. During a live interview conducted by The Washington Post, Olsen was asked what he thought of The Lord of the Rings films. “I like [them] a lot.” he answered. “The film adaptations are, of course, adaptations -- that means they are different stories, and we shouldn't even expect them to be the same. … I'm very glad the films were made, and were done so well. … For me, the greatest triumph of the films is visual -- the landscapes, costuming, and scenery are often simply perfect.” When asked which of Tolkien’s characters was his favorite, Olsen replied, “Sam Gamgee, hands down.  Sam is the real hero of the Lord of Rings (in my opinion) -- the exemplar of all of the virtues that matter most in Tolkien's books.  I'm a huge Sam fan.”

Olsen is currently working his way through The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, and you can  download the lectures here. You may also find him online via Twitter, Facebook and www.tolkienprofessor.com.

And now, Dunedain Radio have announced that the ‘Tolkien Professor’ will be joining them live on their Bird and Baby show, hosted by Mark aka Maerech, John from the Lonely Mountain Band and Candace from the Green Dragon Inn, so stay tuned for a set date!

Sources: The Washington Post, www.tolkienprofessor.com