I've begun the long and daunting task of reorganising my painted miniatures and making an attempt to repair and restore them. Initially, things seemed really positive but donning my visor for a closer look revealed intensive damage to nearly all of the figures. This was mostly scratches and scrapes on the arms and legs as well as damage to bases and weapons. I spent yesterday painstakingly repairing each and all of these figures as well as a few others. The faces of many of these figures took the most damage. Noses, eyes and lips seeming to bear the brunt of the abuse. I am hoping these figures look as coherent as when I first painted them. Let me know if they don't.
These models are a mix of Citadel originals and Foundry versions. The units are made up from models released in the CO1 Barbarians range, the F3 Barbarians and the F6 Barbarian Raiders, though different figures from all these ranges were later sold as Norse from 1989 to 1992. The models themselves are a mix of historical looking celts, Conan types and the traditional fantasy barbarians. I painted many of these figures quickly to act as the rank and file of a McDeath game many years ago and I'm pleased to note that my old speed-painting technique still seems to hold up, if the camera doesn't get too close that is!
Originally, these models seemed fairly generic in their character however researching this blog post has unearthed a few factoids that I didn't know before. So I will share them here as I expect a few other enthusiasts will be just as interested and probably not sad enough to trawl the depths of the internet for obscure facts.
As I said, I am hoping you cannot spot any flaws or damage that I have missed in the paint jobs. I have two units of twelve barbarians, one with a McDeath inspired banner, and a ten strong unit of female warriors. I find it hilarious to find GW fanboys waxing lyrical about there being too many girls in Warhammer these days knowing for a fact that Citadel put out plenty of lady figures back in the day.
And here are the ladies in question. In truth, I have eleven ladies but I have two versions for some reason of the chubby lady. I cannot recall why I painted two of them. I am pretty sure there are a fair few more barbarian ladies in my recently returned collection that are unfinished. So it may be possible to increase this unit in future. What do I plan to do with them? Create a Norse style army of course using Warhammer Armies as a guide. I have several packs of the F Series Vikings too that would easily add to this force.
Anyway, lets delve deep into the background of several of these barbarian lads and lasses shall we? I will be naming each figure from left to right across the photograph and discussing variants and so one underneath. I'm not sure why I love writing about this stuff.
Brunhilda
An iconic Citadel Miniature and one that is still available from Foundry. She was also released as Brunhilde or the slightly worrying Big Momma in the past. Originally available in 1987 and I'm pretty sure she is a Perry sculpt. The late Tim Pollard named many of the '80s figures around this time and he drew deeply from many sources. Brunhilda connects closely with the Valkyrie character and her obese appearance makes me think of Wagner's operas. In fact, Brunnhilde is a major character in the Ring Cycle of operas and her death at the end of the cycle helped coin the phrase 'it ain't over until the fact lady sings'. Her song concerns her deliberate immolation to save the world and carried on for about 20 minutes. '80s kids will also recall the Bugs Bunny short called 'What's Opera Doc?' which makes fun of this dramatic event, complete with a suitably fat lady. This trope has a real life root. Amalie Materna was the originator of the Brunnhilde role in the opera the the 19th Century and she was famously a larger lady. It seems this figure has elements inspired from a wealth of pop culture and imagery as well as an '80s Citadel twist.
Ulwen Sword-Mistress of Wonger and Helena the Swift
Ulwen is a Mistress of Wonger is she? Anyone who lived in England in the '80s would know that was a humorous word used for money, especially in cash form. So I guess she could be viewed as a sword for hire. Some Northern types I've known have also used the world to describe a man's private appendage, and there may well be a naughty link there that slipped through the censor's net at Citadel. The figure on the left was also released as part of the Dungeonquest line in 1987 for the second edition of the game. Like Brunhilda, there is a clear Valkyrie, operatic feel to these two models. In fact, the helmets closely resemble those in the Sword and Sorcery artist Boris Vallejo's painting, Valkyrie, published in 1987. It could well have been an inspiration for these models, or specifically the head swap and winged helm.
From left to right: Sky, Rhora, Guernica Strongsword and Sky again!
These figures are heavily influenced by Frank Frazetta's work of the heroic savage. Much of his work depicts near nude male and female warriors endowed with huge physical strength and the mighty barbarian presented in this way was a '70s and '80s trope. Just think of He-Man or the Barbarian Game for the 8-bits. Sadly, now Maria Whittaker. Sky is sometimes referred to as 'Huntress' online though I've never seen a mention in White Dwarf. Bizarrely, Sky is occasionally listed as Big Momma and this may come from the fact that many of these female fighters were released in blister packs in the US and elsewhere with this name. Warrior Maidens was another short-lived collectors range they were sold in. But I digress...
Denar, Fatima Shieldmaiden and Gelda/Thring
These ladies are less of the naked savage and more of the serious warrior. Denar is much more of a classic '80s female warrior with her scanty chainmail vest and heroic '70s fantasy fighter boots. She seems far more capable that the other figures and is notable as she has a shield.
Fatima (which is an Arabic name) and Shieldmaiden (Anglo-Saxon/Norse mythology) don't initially appear to go together that well. That is until we delve into the depths of '80s pop culture and mention Fatima Whitbread the 1987 Sportswoman of the Year. She was a very well known athlete of the time and grew up in the Essex area where old Orlygg doth dwell. Fatima overcame a truly appalling childhood and an cruel and abusive mother to become a gold medal winning javelin thrower. An apt name for this powerful looking woman with the great sword.
Finally, reminding us of the chaotic nature of 1980s Citadel cataloguing we have a girl with two names. Gelda or Thring depending were you look. Gelda on the surface could simply mean 'gold' in Old English but it also has a darker meaning... castration, especially that of horses or men! Hence the modern equestrian term 'gelding'. Thring is an ancient English word from Anglo-Saxon battle, meaning to push your way through the enemy. Either way, she doesn't seem the sort of lady you'd want to argue with!
Khan Ah'Beyns of the Eastern Wastes, Beorn and the Talisman Barbarian
A Khan, as in Genghis Khan, meant a great war leader and the Ah'Beyns seemed to be a fantasy inspired Arabic or central Asian name. Though his massive shield blocks a lot of the figure's detail his link with nomadic steppe cultures is more than obvious. For me, he resembles Subotai, Conan's friend in Conan the Barbarian the 1982 film, who was played by surfer, Gerry Lopez. The model even has a bow strapped to his back like the character in the film. I find it hard to imagine that the Perry Twins hadn't seen the motion picture.
Beorn is easier. It means many things in Old English but can generally be explained as a hero or warrior. Of course, there is an obvious connection with the character of the same name in J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit too.
The Talisman Barbarian looks like a true Conan inspiration to me what with the scarred face and that haircut. The atypical animal skin, sword hewing hero.
Theodor, Siegfried Goldenhair, Moosehead Skullcrusher and Lulthan, Tyrant of the Badlands.
Theodor is an odd choice for a barbarian, don't you think? He sounds more like a chipmunk or Byzantine emperor rather than a muscular chap with a big axe. Perhaps that is the point, though a link to the Riders of Rohan is also possible. He was also Karn the Mighty Barbarian Champion in the Fighters Combat Card deck. He won't be the last of our figures to moonlight there, either.
Siegfried seems another Ring Cycle link as such a character is involved in the 19th Century opera, though he is also a character in the Swedish fantasy game, Dungeonquest. Siegfried is also interesting from a collection point of view as there are several variants of this figure out there. The tab says Barbarian Prince but he is also known as Slade the Leveller and bizarrely the Knight of Law!!? '80s pop culture reference incoming because Slade the Leveller was the stage name of Justin Sullivan from New Model Army, an '80s rock band that is still touring today. This figure also appears as Harald the Swift Barbarian warlord in the 1980s Fighters Combat Card Set. He certainly got around back in the day!
Moosehead Skullcrusher has a very long name which is perhaps why Ox is printed on his tab. There could be a cheeky nod to Moosehead lager here, a Canadian beer popular in England in the 1980s. Having met and interviewed so many ex-Citadel staff from the '80s I know very well what an anarchic and boozy place the environment could be. I wouldn't be surprised if some in-jokes of their favourite ales were snuck in from time to time, particularly a powerful brew that resulted in skullcrushing hangovers! Like Siegfried, he appears in the Fighters set of Combat Cards as Kumrak the Savage Barbarian Warrior. He obviously got about too!
Finally, Lulthan, a generic fantasy name that may reference future Warhammer background as the Badlands were a location described in both WFB3 but also WHFRP.
Before we leave the Combat Cards, the eagle eyed of you may have noticed Magnus Baresark in the first photograph with the banner.
Sighvat, Arslan, Knight of Law (Barbarian Prince) and Thrull.
A so we arrive at the final batch of figures for this post. It has been an intriguing journey scoping out the history behind this array of figures. I've said it before, but I am amazed about how much stuff can still be learnt from these figures, some of which are four decades old. Anyway, I digress again... Sighvat means victory in old Norse and there was a famous poetic in Early Medieval times called Sighvat Thordarson who would be a suitable reference for such a mighty warrior. Arslan is lion in Ancient Turkish. The Knight of Law I mentioned earlier is next and finally we have Thrull, who sounds a little like Krull the famous fantasy film. Thrall too will fit perhaps, though its usually used to describe a slave rather than a brave fighter. Perhaps we are looking at a combination of the two words?
Right, that's another post done. I'm typing these words as I look down on the floor. I've arranged hundreds of figures into 'armies' of linked models to work through in the coming months. I chose these barbarians as they were one of the smaller collections. Undead will be next, and they are already arranged for repainting and repair. I've added my more recent skeleton project to them too, so they look nice and deadly... pardon the pun.
Speak soon,
Orlygg
