Research

[huinare]

Trying to get clearer on the geography of Eriador, particularly Arthedain, was not something I thought I'd be doing with a chunk of my morning.

And ships.  I can't just say they were on a ship*, dammit, I have to figure out which kind of ship and how it worked.  Today I learnt that there's no good reason to put them on a lateen rigged ship, pretty as that would be.
*And yes, this was originally typoed rather hilariously in my mania.

Comments

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

Today I learnt that there's no good reason to put them on a lateen rigged ship...

Why not? I mean, I have not (yet) gone so far as to use fully-rigged Yankee clippers in Middle-earth, but bear in mind that this is an imaginary history, so go for it! Cogs inhabit my version of Middle-earth, and I am currently researching Basque whale hunting. So there you go.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not to do with the likelihood of a particular thing having/having not existed--your point there is well-taken on that front and I agree. Its to do with the practicality of the characters using that thing under certain circumstances.

Evidently (according to my amateur findings anyway, though I'm glad to defer to nautical experts if such are in the ranks) lateen-rigged sails were used in situations where the wind would shift or where they might have to go against the wind; whereas square-rigged sails were most efficient for open sea situations with the wind behind the ship, which is exactly what's up with the ship under consideration here.

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

Oooooooh, I see! You're correct about the use of lateen-rigged sails. Mea culpa for the misinterpretation. That said, square-rigged sailing vessels for the open sea often had fore and aft lateen-rigged sails ("mizzens"). So you could still have your lateen-rigged sails! ;^)

[huinare.livejournal.com]

The internet is a fertile breeding-ground for misinterpretation, no worries.

Ah yes technically I could, cool! It's...not actually that important though as I only mention the sails once. You'd think this ship was actually a big deal from the time I put into figuring it out, but that's just me being anal retentive. And finding a good reason to spend time looking up ships, which is something I ought to have done ages ago.