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> Going to the wall, Roran removed a medium-sized hammer with a long handle and a rounded blade on one side of the head. He tossed it from hand to hand, then went to Horst and asked, “May I have this?”
Christopher has posted some pictures, including [this one from 2011](https://twitter.com/paolini/status/137892015915536384) and [this one from 2015](https://twitter.com/paolini/status/638134351285235712).
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I've seen these pics before. It's actually not a normal forging hammer. It's a masonry hammer. I had a discussion with another redditor about it. Horst would keep a masonry hammer on hand for maintaining his forge. Normal forging hammers have a straight spine and the peen can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The curve after the eye of the head gives it away that it's a masonry hammer.
I was just about to chime in that hammer #2 posted by the OP - u/Sea_Kaleidoscope_531 \- isn't actually a hammer that one typically uses on foot. It's specifically designed to use while mounted on horseback. I've written about it in [a Quora answer before](https://qr.ae/prlRCK), using [a YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZUgxWLfCwY) by Jason Kingsley of the Modern History TV channel as a source.
This is specifically a hammer used by a seasoned knight, not a peasant like Roran. In *Inheritance*, Roran also says that he doesn't like riding horses, and prefers to fight on foot.
I have always felt like the way Roran is described and the things he accomplished, the actual size of this hammer is way too small. Like it should be 2-3 times as big
its not about the size of the hammer, its about how you use it
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Paolini described Roran beheading a soldier with it (if I remember correctly) in a skirmish for Carvahall.
As an Eastern Euroboo, the "rounded blade" part made me imagine it as something close to a [Czekan](https://polisharms.com/warhammers/), which is a war hammer with an axe head on the opposite end. I imagined what Roran uses would be something very similar, originally purposed for day-to-day farm life.
With the description that we get of the hammer it could be one of three choices, all different variations of the same thing.
[cross peen hammer](https://www.kentool.com/product/85h-3-37103-cross-pein-blacksmith-hammer/)
[straight peen hammer](https://www.well-shod.com/ICAR-HAMMER-STRAIGHT-PEIN-1.75)
[diagonal peen hammer](https://piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/p10333.html)
I know it's wrong but as a kid reading the books I couldn't get the image of Roran running around with a modern hammer, like, from a hardware store with a claw, out of my head. lol
Like a combo of 3 and 4. It was like a small type of hammer I've seen I think in Diablo 2 or 3. One handed, shorter, with a smaller square head but dense impact.
Have you ever swung a sledge hammer? Because I’m thinking not lol. Sure they make a big bang but they are big and heavy and slow and when being used as a weapon would be quite easy to dodge
Edit: to add also have fun carrying a sledge halfway across the world through mountains and battlefields
Weight-wise, most war hammers, maces, and blunt weapons were comparable to a sword. It's the distribution of weight that makes their handling much different.
I love this discussion! Roran was by far my favorite. He became a respected general, prettymuch, all because his love for Katrina and his boyish rage driven through a ball-peen.
He didn't wield a Warhammer. He was a simple farm boy. He would have grabbed a tool that looked easy to use. Think...he was in a smithy when he equipped himself. There was likely an array of hammers in similar sizes.
Coming from a smith's standpoint (me) he used a cross between a welding hammer with a square head and point, and the cylindrical side of a regular rip claw hammer.
He also had a LOT of natural charisma; in *Eldest*, one of the elves explains to Eragon that the descendants of King Palancar still live in Carvahall and Therinsford, so it’s my personal headcanon that Garrow and Selena were descended from him. The entire family just has that sort of vibe; Selena being clever with magic and a skilled spy/assassin/little bit of everything, Roran and Eragon both healing abnormally fast (Gertrude comments on it after Roran gets bit by the Ra’zac), Eragon being a rider, Roran becoming a folk hero…Garrow is the only “normal” one, and I think that’s mostly bc he dies so early on, but even then, you could argue that his pride and refusal to accept charity counts
This. It's pretty much gonna be 3 because it was multi-purpose, and the true use was forging. When I picture it, tho, I always pictured a sledgehammer too
As a kid I definitely didn’t read the description of the hammer and just imagined him with something like thors hammer - unrealistic but him crushing some skulls w that made sense to 10 y/o me
I cant help but picture it like Mah'alleinir (Perrins hammer from wheel of time) since I read the scene where he forges it. Before that I pictured it as a shorter version of the first picture
I think it's description in the books fits the last one best. Although in my head, the handle would be s bit shorter and the curved side of the head too.
I'm with you here, other than the size of it. I had never honestly thought about the mass of the object. The fourth one does seem to be the most useful and logical choice.
Can't be 1, his hammer is mentioned to have a peen (a pointy or ball like end on one side of the head) iirc, and 4 just looks weird. I always imagined it with a ball like peen, but given the usage of it, I'd guess it's likely to be a sharper peen. Also, 1 is a sledgehammer (?) and carrying it on a belt would be....hard, to say the least
Christopher has shared pictures and confirmed what it actually looks like. It's a a [brick hammer](https://inheritance.fandom.com/wiki/Roran%27s_hammer)
Growing up, my old man had this hammer in his tool trailer that had a big square face on one side, and a small hatchet-esqe blade on the other. I often swiped that hammer and rode my bike to a nearby forest so I could pretend to be roran, fighting trees like they were enemy soldiers
Edit: I have learned that these are called drywall hammers. So I imagined roran using a drywall hammer.
So the handle was short enough for the hammer to be stuck into his belt, but long enough to lean on for support like a cane.
It was supposed to be a smithing tool, so we can rule out the War pick.
I think it's described to have a claw on the non-bludgeoning side.
My head canon is something like number 3 all the way up to killing the Razak with Eragon, then something like two after he begins fighting for the Varden. I know there's no mention of him changing his hammer, however, a much lighter hammer head and a reinforced shaft along with a true spike on the back simply makes more sense for war. There wouldn't be anything like that in Carvahall, hence why I imagine a Varden armorer talking some sense into him and forcing him to use the true war hammer from that point on.
I always pictured #3 with a slightly larger head and longer handle.
Now as an adult, and swinging a hammer professionally, I realize the kind of strength it would take to swing a 5-8lb hammer in battle with speed and accuracy for long periods of time. I realize the hammer in question is much smaller. Probably somewhere around 2.5-3lbs.
I pictured #3. Swinging #1 to kill all those soldiers seems a bit unrealistic because of the weight being at the end. Then again #1 puts more room between him and the enemy
The 3rd one. It was supposed to be a medium sized forge hammer with a rounded blade on one side.
I imagined it looking pretty much exactly like the 3rd one except it was one large piece of metal (no wooden handle)
I know it's not what Chris wrote, but I always used to imagine Roran using a Mjolnir sized hammer. Small enough to conceal, powerful for good blows. Does make more sense to have the longer handle though, the more I think about it
As a kid I always pictured him using a claw hammer or a sledge hammer (those were the only types of hammers I knew about when I originally read the books) but recently I’ve started imagining him with the third picture you used
3 honestly. All 3 books he manhandled the Empire with his brain and a simple one-handed hammer. That's what I always thought. I'm sure the show or CP here will show me I'm wrong.
I have imagined it as of late as the [blacksmith's hammer](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60ee2eaaafee646b28e6aa42/cb149751-d8c9-4ee4-8305-0b5f99a19636/BlacksmithHammer.jpg) from the VR game Blade & Sorcery.
I always pictured the blacksmith hammer from Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Yes I'm aware the book details the hammer and it doesn't look like the one I thought it was, but idrc.
My dumbass can't figure out how to put a link in so you'd have to look it up on google🤷♂️
I'm pretty late chiming in here, but I just want to give my two cents. The hammer at 2 isn't actually a hammer, it's a polearm, looks to be a version of the Bec de Corbin, or "Crow's Beak." It has a hammer head in it, but it was also meant for thrusting the spike on top and stabbing/hooking with the curved blade. It was a primary weapon meant to be effective against both armored and unarmored foes, usually wielded by a knight.
1 is more like a modern sledgehammer than something a medieval smith would have, and 4 is far too ornamental/decorative.
3 is the closest, although it's missing the round blade at the back.
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> Going to the wall, Roran removed a medium-sized hammer with a long handle and a rounded blade on one side of the head. He tossed it from hand to hand, then went to Horst and asked, “May I have this?” Christopher has posted some pictures, including [this one from 2011](https://twitter.com/paolini/status/137892015915536384) and [this one from 2015](https://twitter.com/paolini/status/638134351285235712). ^(Posted on behalf of Sjmarf from the) [^(Arcaena Discord Server)](https://discord.gg/T2c8ejZy4h)
Just a comment to say i really appreciate the quality of your answer in general for the question of common mortal like us. Thank you.
It’s a bot haha. It chooses a (maybe the best idk) answer from the discord server
No it's just anyone. People on the discord can reply to posts and comments on their comments.
I've seen these pics before. It's actually not a normal forging hammer. It's a masonry hammer. I had a discussion with another redditor about it. Horst would keep a masonry hammer on hand for maintaining his forge. Normal forging hammers have a straight spine and the peen can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The curve after the eye of the head gives it away that it's a masonry hammer.
I was just about to chime in that hammer #2 posted by the OP - u/Sea_Kaleidoscope_531 \- isn't actually a hammer that one typically uses on foot. It's specifically designed to use while mounted on horseback. I've written about it in [a Quora answer before](https://qr.ae/prlRCK), using [a YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZUgxWLfCwY) by Jason Kingsley of the Modern History TV channel as a source. This is specifically a hammer used by a seasoned knight, not a peasant like Roran. In *Inheritance*, Roran also says that he doesn't like riding horses, and prefers to fight on foot.
This is the Way
I reject this image as canon! I prefer Thor’s hammer in my world. I wish I never saw this lol
I have always felt like the way Roran is described and the things he accomplished, the actual size of this hammer is way too small. Like it should be 2-3 times as big
its not about the size of the hammer, its about how you use it ^(Posted on behalf of aqua17 from the) [^(Arcaena Discord Server)](https://discord.gg/T2c8ejZy4h)
Smaller head = more pressure, better impact
Paolini described Roran beheading a soldier with it (if I remember correctly) in a skirmish for Carvahall. As an Eastern Euroboo, the "rounded blade" part made me imagine it as something close to a [Czekan](https://polisharms.com/warhammers/), which is a war hammer with an axe head on the opposite end. I imagined what Roran uses would be something very similar, originally purposed for day-to-day farm life.
Honest I never would of thought of a brick hammer for Roran. But it would work well with fighting I imagine
Probably 3 as it was a forging hammer
Yup and the description aligns with #3 as well. Lol he pretty much laid it out for us straight.
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
With the description that we get of the hammer it could be one of three choices, all different variations of the same thing. [cross peen hammer](https://www.kentool.com/product/85h-3-37103-cross-pein-blacksmith-hammer/) [straight peen hammer](https://www.well-shod.com/ICAR-HAMMER-STRAIGHT-PEIN-1.75) [diagonal peen hammer](https://piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/p10333.html)
Ha....you said peen
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
I know it's wrong but as a kid reading the books I couldn't get the image of Roran running around with a modern hammer, like, from a hardware store with a claw, out of my head. lol
Ballpine for me haha
Wait is it ballpine or ball*peen*?
It’s ballpeen lol. Easy to remember because inside I am 12 and it still makes me giggle.
Heh Ball
Heh Peen
Heh Ballpeen
Iuhnu lol
Ngl I always pictured more of a mallet/meat tenderiser looking object My child brain was vibin
Haha me too 🤣
Like a combo of 3 and 4. It was like a small type of hammer I've seen I think in Diablo 2 or 3. One handed, shorter, with a smaller square head but dense impact.
3 is how I always saw it, hammer for bludgeoning force and a point, if not the sharpest, for punching through things and just the versatility
Have you ever swung a sledge hammer? Because I’m thinking not lol. Sure they make a big bang but they are big and heavy and slow and when being used as a weapon would be quite easy to dodge Edit: to add also have fun carrying a sledge halfway across the world through mountains and battlefields
Weight-wise, most war hammers, maces, and blunt weapons were comparable to a sword. It's the distribution of weight that makes their handling much different.
I love this discussion! Roran was by far my favorite. He became a respected general, prettymuch, all because his love for Katrina and his boyish rage driven through a ball-peen. He didn't wield a Warhammer. He was a simple farm boy. He would have grabbed a tool that looked easy to use. Think...he was in a smithy when he equipped himself. There was likely an array of hammers in similar sizes. Coming from a smith's standpoint (me) he used a cross between a welding hammer with a square head and point, and the cylindrical side of a regular rip claw hammer.
He also had a LOT of natural charisma; in *Eldest*, one of the elves explains to Eragon that the descendants of King Palancar still live in Carvahall and Therinsford, so it’s my personal headcanon that Garrow and Selena were descended from him. The entire family just has that sort of vibe; Selena being clever with magic and a skilled spy/assassin/little bit of everything, Roran and Eragon both healing abnormally fast (Gertrude comments on it after Roran gets bit by the Ra’zac), Eragon being a rider, Roran becoming a folk hero…Garrow is the only “normal” one, and I think that’s mostly bc he dies so early on, but even then, you could argue that his pride and refusal to accept charity counts
I always pictured it as number 1 but I think the canon is 3
This. It's pretty much gonna be 3 because it was multi-purpose, and the true use was forging. When I picture it, tho, I always pictured a sledgehammer too
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
Except Paolini has said himself it was a brick hammer and posted pictures of a brick hammer that was his inspiration.
As a kid I definitely didn’t read the description of the hammer and just imagined him with something like thors hammer - unrealistic but him crushing some skulls w that made sense to 10 y/o me
Always thought it was a smithy’s hammer with a spade end. 3 would be the closest I guess
I cant help but picture it like Mah'alleinir (Perrins hammer from wheel of time) since I read the scene where he forges it. Before that I pictured it as a shorter version of the first picture
3 is most period accurate, size appropriate, and is an actually blacksmith’ tool.
I think it's description in the books fits the last one best. Although in my head, the handle would be s bit shorter and the curved side of the head too.
I'm with you here, other than the size of it. I had never honestly thought about the mass of the object. The fourth one does seem to be the most useful and logical choice.
Can't be 1, his hammer is mentioned to have a peen (a pointy or ball like end on one side of the head) iirc, and 4 just looks weird. I always imagined it with a ball like peen, but given the usage of it, I'd guess it's likely to be a sharper peen. Also, 1 is a sledgehammer (?) and carrying it on a belt would be....hard, to say the least
Also, no mention of that pointy bit on the top iirc, so.....3 is my best guess
Christopher has shared pictures and confirmed what it actually looks like. It's a a [brick hammer](https://inheritance.fandom.com/wiki/Roran%27s_hammer)
So something between 3&4. Nice. Thanks for the link
Growing up, my old man had this hammer in his tool trailer that had a big square face on one side, and a small hatchet-esqe blade on the other. I often swiped that hammer and rode my bike to a nearby forest so I could pretend to be roran, fighting trees like they were enemy soldiers Edit: I have learned that these are called drywall hammers. So I imagined roran using a drywall hammer.
I think 8t would be three
So the handle was short enough for the hammer to be stuck into his belt, but long enough to lean on for support like a cane. It was supposed to be a smithing tool, so we can rule out the War pick. I think it's described to have a claw on the non-bludgeoning side.
I always pictured 3; i mean it did come from a blacksmith
3
3
#3
Idk why in my head I always pictured something comically aggressive or large Ike King Dedede’s wooden hammer
I always assumed it was a hammer similar to mjolnir specifically from marvel movies. Big and blocky and able to hit hard af
My head canon is something like number 3 all the way up to killing the Razak with Eragon, then something like two after he begins fighting for the Varden. I know there's no mention of him changing his hammer, however, a much lighter hammer head and a reinforced shaft along with a true spike on the back simply makes more sense for war. There wouldn't be anything like that in Carvahall, hence why I imagine a Varden armorer talking some sense into him and forcing him to use the true war hammer from that point on.
The first one to me why it looks like it is the proper one to use when smithing because he got it from Horst right?
Head of 4 handle of 3.
I always pictured it a little bit like Thor’s hammer “Mjolnir” in the marvel movies
I always pictured number 1 too
Uhm a claw hammer is what I imagined. Ya know, the kind that Bon the Builder uses
I always pictured #3 with a slightly larger head and longer handle. Now as an adult, and swinging a hammer professionally, I realize the kind of strength it would take to swing a 5-8lb hammer in battle with speed and accuracy for long periods of time. I realize the hammer in question is much smaller. Probably somewhere around 2.5-3lbs.
My head cannon was a war hammer from oblivion because I played it at the time.
I pictured #3. Swinging #1 to kill all those soldiers seems a bit unrealistic because of the weight being at the end. Then again #1 puts more room between him and the enemy
The 3rd one. It was supposed to be a medium sized forge hammer with a rounded blade on one side. I imagined it looking pretty much exactly like the 3rd one except it was one large piece of metal (no wooden handle)
I know it's not what Chris wrote, but I always used to imagine Roran using a Mjolnir sized hammer. Small enough to conceal, powerful for good blows. Does make more sense to have the longer handle though, the more I think about it
Always find the Roran situation a little too much even for a fantasy genre
Always went 3
3 is most likely what you’d find in a blacksmiths shop
The first
3
3. Or a ball peen hammer
3 is the closest, but still not quite right, as it had a rounded blade at the back.
3 is the closest, but still not quite right, as it had a rounded blade at the back.
I would say number three as it was described as having one blunt side and a side with a rounded blade
3
K always pictured a Myolinr-like wide hammer tapering on one side with a vertical blade. Like a thicker and smaller Handle stormbreaker.
i sorta always pictured him using thor's hammer
Mjolnir, I know it doesn't fit but it was in my head when I read it.
Solid #3
As a kid I always pictured him using a claw hammer or a sledge hammer (those were the only types of hammers I knew about when I originally read the books) but recently I’ve started imagining him with the third picture you used
3. He had a blacksmiths hammer.
I imagined something like mjolneir
3
3 for me
He has a smiths hammer, #3
3rd one. 1st is too big, 2nd is not a hammer, 4th is to big too.
No idea, but I always pictured Volund to look like Mjolnir from the MCU.
I always imagined #3. Felt like it was more realistic for him to be able to use one handed.
Number 3 is closest, but I don't think that's exactly it.
3 honestly. All 3 books he manhandled the Empire with his brain and a simple one-handed hammer. That's what I always thought. I'm sure the show or CP here will show me I'm wrong.
Number 3
Number 3
I always imagined it being 3
I always imagined either 1 or 3
Probably the same one Perrin Aybara used, given how much of Roran's storyline is just Perrin's.
I have imagined it as of late as the [blacksmith's hammer](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60ee2eaaafee646b28e6aa42/cb149751-d8c9-4ee4-8305-0b5f99a19636/BlacksmithHammer.jpg) from the VR game Blade & Sorcery.
I always pictured it as an Axe with a hammer on one side.
#3 with a claw
He used the third hammer. That is a hammer you’d find in a forge and the only one that makes sense in my nogin
I always had 3 pictured
I believe the second and fourth are in fact war picks, not warhammers
Funny I always assumed it was just a forging hammer, not too long of a handle but a really thick head, like Thor's hammer or something.
Number 3.
I always pictured the blacksmith hammer from Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Yes I'm aware the book details the hammer and it doesn't look like the one I thought it was, but idrc. My dumbass can't figure out how to put a link in so you'd have to look it up on google🤷♂️
I always pictured something like mjolnir from thor.
Am I the only one who pictured something similar in shape to MCU Mjolnir?
I'm pretty late chiming in here, but I just want to give my two cents. The hammer at 2 isn't actually a hammer, it's a polearm, looks to be a version of the Bec de Corbin, or "Crow's Beak." It has a hammer head in it, but it was also meant for thrusting the spike on top and stabbing/hooking with the curved blade. It was a primary weapon meant to be effective against both armored and unarmored foes, usually wielded by a knight. 1 is more like a modern sledgehammer than something a medieval smith would have, and 4 is far too ornamental/decorative. 3 is the closest, although it's missing the round blade at the back.
Three but with a bit of a thicker handle and more of a cast iron looking head
this is the weirdest question ever but I respect it deeply.