The series spans from The Book of Lost Tales (early writings from the 1910s) to The Peoples of Middle-earth (late writings of the 1960s, including the first pages of an abandoned sequel to Lord of the Rings).īombur Firebeard? Bofur and Bifur Broadbeam? In the 12-volume History of Middle-earth series, Christopher Tolkien attempts to chart the creative development of his father’s legendarium through an extensive collection of the Professor’s notes and writings. As it turns out, the name ‘Ironfist’ is lifted straight from the pages of Tolkien’s writings. Now that we see where Brok came from, what about Ironfist? Surely that is a bootlegged version of King Dáin’s designation. Will we be seeing new Dwarf allies named Austri and Vestri or Skirfir and Virfir coming in the future? Only time will tell! There are over 100 Dwarf names cataloged in the Völuspá and so the well of inspiration is deep should the designers ever choose to create another new Dwarf for us. Decipher’s LOTR TCG named one of their Dwarf-lords from Peter Jackson’s films Sindri, printing a rare companion card for him in their Reflections set. In fact, this isn’t the first time that a Lord of the Rings card game designer has pulled a new Dwarven name out of one of Tolkien’s favorite myths. Far from being a knock-off, the name Brok now seems like a wonderfully thematic choice for a new character named Ironfist in Tolkien’s world! These brothers were famous craftsmen who made a number of magical artifacts for the gods including but not limited to Thor’s hammer and Odin’s magical ring. In the Poetic Edda, the same tale from which Tolkien lifted the Dwarf names Gimli, Glóin and others, we learn of two dwarves named Sindri and Brok. Like many of the names Tolkien gave to his Dwarves, it appears to have been carefully chosen from ancient Norse mythology. To begin with, the name Brok wasn’t just pulled out of a hat of random names. Clearly, someone clever just switched the body part combined with ‘Iron-‘ and grabbed a random first name from the guy named Brock in the next cubicle (dropping the ‘c’ to make it look more Tolkieny). Initially I assumed that the name ‘Brok Ironfist’ was a cheap knock-off of Dáin Ironfoot, in the same way Thalin appeared to be a poor man’s Balin or Dwalin. After shuffling through the heroes and finding the likes of Beravor, Eleanor, and Thalin, I realized that our game designers were going to be introducing some of their own original characters to Middle-earth. My deprecating amusement with Brok Ironfist began the first time I opened the core set. Join us as we explore his legend, showcase the artwork, and discuss the most overcosted card ever created for our game!Ĭlick for a high resolution scan of this entry’s featured card. With just a little bit of imagination, Brok Ironfist actually has something of a canonical place in Tolkien’s world and he is actually a pretty cool unique character. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard that right. It turns out that our beloved below average ally is not as much of an FFG creation as I originally assumed. It is because I recently made an interesting discovery while flipping through the pages of The Peoples of Middle-earth. The clinching reason for my sudden interest in this disused dwarf at Master of Lore however is not just because it’s funny how bad he is. My mock poster for the Brok Ironfist spin-off movie is just a small sampling of actual comments made about him in the forums over the past four years. What elevates Brok above the rest is that he has been so bad for so long that it has almost become endearing. There are plenty of cards to fit that bill. Like the other cards in this club, it is not simply the fact that Brok is practically unplayable that makes him special. It is in that cheerful spirit of supreme mediocrity that I would like to submit my own humble nomination to LOTR LCG League of Lackluster Legends - Brok Ironfist.
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