Balor of the Evil Eye WIP thread

[gilius]

For the february hoard, I decided to try to make a Balor of the Evil Eye figure. Looking up in wikipedia, and from there to other sources, Balor is described as a giant with an eye in the forehead... an eye with powers to kill or paralyze. Based on this, I started making some sketches:

flic.kr/s/aHsktbJuns

I will probably go with the more human look. If someone knows of other references / descriptions I would be thankful.

Or maybe someone has another suggestion of figure fitting the february hoard.

[Vermin King]

I think that it would be a very interesting addition. I would lean towards the human-looking giant, which I think fits better with the Irish mythos. The demonic Balor fits into the D&D side of things, which would work for the January Hoard.

[wyvern]

I think my favourite, and maybe most detailed, description of Balor is from the translated tale of the "Second Battle of Maige Tuired" (pronounced something like "Moy Tura" for anyone unfamiliar):

Lug and Balor of the piercing eye met in the battle. The latter had a destructive eye which was never opened except on a battlefield. Four men would raise the lid of the eye by a polished ring in its lid. The host which looked at that eye, even if they were many thousands in number, would offer no resistance to warriors. It had that poisonous power for this reason: once his father's druids were brewing magic. He came and looked over the window, and the fumes of the concoction affected the eye and the venomous power of the brew settled in it. Then he and Lug met.

(Gap: meaning of text unclear)

‘Lift up my eyelid, lad,’ said Balor, ‘so I may see the talkative fellow who is conversing with me.’

The lid was raised from Balor's eye. Then Lug cast a sling stone at him which carried the eye through his head, and it was his own host that looked at it. He fell on top of the Fomorian host so that twenty-seven of them died under his side; and the crown of his head struck against the breast of Indech mac Dé Domnann so that a gush of blood spouted over his lips.

Here cited from The Corpus of Electronic Texts' Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired webpage (scroll down almost to the end of the page - you're looking for the quotations from page 61 of the original translated book version; alternatively, just look for sections 133-135 inclusive in the scroll-window panel on the left of the screen).

Can't see this quite working as a "miniature" under most circumstances - a "really large" perhaps!

For illustrations, I think the most striking one I've come across is by Miranda Gray from 1995, showing the fight between Lug and Balor. You can find it in various places online; this version is from the Timeless Myths Book of Invasions webpage (about halfway down).



Here, Balor may have been conflated with another great Fomorian king, Cichol Gricenchos, whose surname may mean something like "Clapperleg", and which has been interpreted as meaning he had only a single leg. Alternative Armies do a rather nice casting of a similar figure in their 28mm Erin mini range - front and back views of the painted model on this page. They called their version Chicol the One Legged.

[gilius]

Hm, I have to agree... I was thinking 2x, maybe 2.5x the size of a normal figure.... but he would have to be huge!

Ok, change of plans, I'll think of something else. Maybe some fomorian warriors, so as not to change completely the theme.

[gilius]

Maybe this can solve the size problem: a small set of miniatures at 15mm scale, to use with games like Hordes of the Things. In this sketch, the small miniatures are 15mm to eye level, while Balor stands 45mm to his "normal" eyes.

[cowboyleland]

I am all for re-scaling when the scenario demands. It is an advantage that paper has over plastic or metal that I don't think we take advantage of often enough.

[gilius]

Update: I think this will be the final version.