The Encyclopedia of Arda - Thangail (original) (raw)

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random
Dates Adopted by the Númenóreans after the foundation of their realm in II 321 Race Men (possibly also used by Elves) Division Dúnedain Cultures Númenóreans, and their descendants in Middle-earth Pronunciation tha'ngile (that is, the last syllable rhymes with English 'tile') Meaning 'Shield-fence' Other names Sandastan, Shield-barrier Indexes: Alphabetical: T Others About this entry: Updated 20 March 2022 This entry is complete The shield-wall of the Dúnedain Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV A defensive tactic used by the soldiers of the Númenórean Realms. It was formed from two closely-pressed ranks of Men forming a barrier of shields, solidly enough to withstand the onslaught of their enemies. The thangail was designed to be flexible, and could bend at one or both of its ends to adapt to enemy tactics, even curling round to meet itself and so form an unbroken circle of shields. Our only record of the thangail in actual use is by Isildur, who ordered one drawn up when attacked by Orcs in the incident known to history as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. However, there is reason to think that it originated with the Elves, especially as the two main Elvish languages had quite separate names for the formation. Thangail is a Sindarin word, whereas in Quenya the same tactic was referred to as a sandastan. Notes 1 Assigning dates to the thangail formation is difficult, except to say that it was definitely used in III 2 as Isildur prepared to face an attacking band of Orcs. At that time it was well established as a military tactic, so it had evidently been developed in Númenor some time beforehand (and might even have been used by the Elves during the First Age). Lacking any other account of a thangail, it is hard to be sure how long it continued to be used, but it might plausibly have survived as a military tactic of the Dúnedain across the three millennia of the Third Age. See also... Sandastan, Shield-barrier Indexes: Alphabetical: T Others About this entry: Updated 20 March 2022 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2005, 2022. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Axiom Discovery aptitude and skill testing.Axiom Discovery gives you comprehensive online aptitude testing covering core skills across a wide range of disciplines.

The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien

ALPHABETICAL RACES PLACES MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCE INTERACTIVE

SHARE User guide Latest entries FAQ and e-mail Disclaimer and bibliography Awards Old and rare words Lexicon of names Excyclopedia of Arda Movie-goer's Guides: • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King The Hobbit Viewer's Companions: • An Unexpected Journey • The Desolation of Smaug • The Battle of the Five Armies Tolkien links Book news Latest Chronicle Calendar Old and rare words Lexicon of names Links Random

Dates Adopted by the Númenóreans after the foundation of their realm in II 321 Race Men (possibly also used by Elves) Division Dúnedain Cultures Númenóreans, and their descendants in Middle-earth Pronunciation tha'ngile (that is, the last syllable rhymes with English 'tile') Meaning 'Shield-fence' Other names Sandastan, Shield-barrier Indexes: Alphabetical: T Others About this entry: Updated 20 March 2022 This entry is complete The shield-wall of the Dúnedain

Years of the Trees First Age I Second Age II Third Age III Fourth Age IV A defensive tactic used by the soldiers of the Númenórean Realms. It was formed from two closely-pressed ranks of Men forming a barrier of shields, solidly enough to withstand the onslaught of their enemies. The thangail was designed to be flexible, and could bend at one or both of its ends to adapt to enemy tactics, even curling round to meet itself and so form an unbroken circle of shields. Our only record of the thangail in actual use is by Isildur, who ordered one drawn up when attacked by Orcs in the incident known to history as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. However, there is reason to think that it originated with the Elves, especially as the two main Elvish languages had quite separate names for the formation. Thangail is a Sindarin word, whereas in Quenya the same tactic was referred to as a sandastan. Notes 1 Assigning dates to the thangail formation is difficult, except to say that it was definitely used in III 2 as Isildur prepared to face an attacking band of Orcs. At that time it was well established as a military tactic, so it had evidently been developed in Númenor some time beforehand (and might even have been used by the Elves during the First Age). Lacking any other account of a thangail, it is hard to be sure how long it continued to be used, but it might plausibly have survived as a military tactic of the Dúnedain across the three millennia of the Third Age. See also... Sandastan, Shield-barrier Indexes: Alphabetical: T Others About this entry: Updated 20 March 2022 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2005, 2022. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Axiom Discovery aptitude and skill testing.Axiom Discovery gives you comprehensive online aptitude testing covering core skills across a wide range of disciplines.