Warfare experts rate 13 ‘Lord of the Rings’ battles for realism

Warfare experts rate 14 scenes from "Lord of the Rings" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and judge how real they are.

Archer Jim Kent ("Grizzly Jim") analyzes the archery by Legolas in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Blacksmith Neil Kamimura rates forging scenes from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." Jousting world champion Shane Adams rates the horseback fight scene from Helm's Deep for accuracy. Medieval fortification expert Michael Fulton looks at the Minas Tirith fortress defense scenes from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Ancient warfare historian Roel Konijnendijk analyzes the battle tactics depicted in the Siege of Gondor and "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power."

Archery expert Grizzly Jim has been practicing archery for over 20 years and has traveled across Europe for archery events and demonstrations.

Shane Adams has 20 jousting world championships. He hosted the History Channel show "Full Metal Jousting" and the jousting reality show "Tilt."

Tobias Capwell is the curator of arms and armor at The Wallace Collection in London.

Michael Fulton is an assistant professor of medieval history at Western University in Ontario, Canada.

Neil Kamimura owns and operates the forge T Kamimura Blacksmith in Hawaii.

Roel Konijnendijk is a historian of ancient warfare at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. He specializes in classical Greek warfare.

You can find Follow Grizzly Jim on Instagram here.

You can find Roel Konijnendijk on Bluesky here.

You can find Neil Kamimura on Instagram here.

For more information about Tobias Capwell and The Wallace Collection, you can visit the Wallace Collection website.

You can find more information about Shane Adams and Extreme Jousting here.

Michael Fulton's medieval warfare books can be found here.