Male Centaurs

Many descriptions here, especially of the tunic, could be attributed to the female costume as well, as the designs are similar.

The male centaur's hair is very long, almost longer than the females! They are placed in two battle positions based on their physique; the heavy-bodied ones are lancemen, and the light-bodied ones are swordsmen.

This is from Tehanu's Set Report from TheOneRing.net.

"Being centaurs, they have two breastplates - one to cover the human chest, the other to protect the horse's chest. Weta's usual work is in evidence - the metal (or a realistic light plastic substitute) is beautifully decorated with lion emblems, sunburst patterns and slightly art deco papyrus motifs. The leather caparisons worn on the horse bodies are also tooled and worked with details. Many leather straps and belts bind the armor and war harness onto their bodies, and each is decorated with ornate golden buckles. Each centaur also wears a kind of short cloak fastened over the shoulders, in a coarsely woven cloth colored in rich ochre and reddish brown.

"You can't see the join between the human and horse parts because of the armor and the cloak, but parts of the horsehide are visible, and they reveal another cunning piece of work. The hair is not real hair, but it does look realistic - most of all because the hair lies in the direction of the limbs, just as on a real animal, instead of pointing all the same way as it would with cheap fake fur. The centaurs seemed to have on their winter coats, which were rather rough."

...

"One centaur had a long scabbard strapped to each flank, and two very long swords. He could draw them both and flash them about in a very dramatic way, but it was tricky to avoid hitting the horse body strapped behind him. The others carried long Norman-type shields with a lion emblem."

Basic Armor, Weapons

All male centaurs wear sleeveless wool tunics and horse armor, and carry a shield and a two-handed great sword.

Horse Armor

The peytral normally covers the front of the horse chest. On the centaur it's where the human thigh would be, buckled at the sides behind the human waist to the leather caparison.

The brown leather caparison is made up of several pieces on each side covering the rump, belly, and flanks. They are buckled to each other across the back and under belly. Everything is connected with an intricate web of brown straps and buckles. Some males wear chain mail under the caparison and brown leather guards on their front forelegs.

Swords

According to Richard Taylor, a centaur could have a 6-7 foot range with his two-handed sword. Centaurs carry both one-handed and two-handed swords, depending on their position in battle. Their other weapons are described below. The swords are broad-bladed with a wide fuller own the middle; the variation beteen the two designs is primarily in the hilt.

One has a slightly curved steel crossguard and langet (crosspiece parallel to the blade). The grip is one piece of medium-varnished wood, and the pommel is fan shaped and edged with steel. The scabbard has a steel chape and locket, and looks like plain wood with red leather sewn around the mouth. The female centaurs and lancemen primarily use this sword design.

The second design is mostly found on the swordsmen. The steel crossguard is arched away from the hand (useful for catching an opponent's blade during swordplay), a light wood grip seperated by a gold ring (on the large sword it's wood with wire binding near the pommel), and a triangular steel pommel with gold accents. The White Witch uses the one-handed version of this sword during the battle. Later, she also uses one of Orieus' swords. The scabbard is hard to see, but may be covered with yellow leather.

Shields

The teardrop shields are wood edged in steel with a steel boss at the heart point. A sun and lion's face is etched in relief on the boss. The red and gold covering may be leather or canvas. There are two designs: a red field with a gold fess and flanges (stripe across the middle and on either side), and a red field with gold at the chief (top) and base (bottom).

Coronation Outfits

The coronation regalia is made up of full armor, swords, tunics, and sashes that wrap either across the shoulders - bound on the right - or from the left shoulder to the waist. The sashes are held in place by gold fan-shaped buckles. Some serve in the honor guard; others act as heralds, carrying crescent-shaped horns bound with silver and tooled wood or leather.

Trailers, Video Clips

screencap of the horn used by the centaurs

Props

Lancemen

In the Middle Ages, mounted men would make up the front lines of battle. Their spears or lances allowed them to weaken the enemy lines while avoiding hand-to-hand combat. Centaurs are clearly well suited to this task!

Peter's centaurs carry wooden lances. The lance has a silver point and a carved-out "gripping area" for the hand and elbow. The gripping area is covered in red leather and protected by a round steel handguard. There is a 3-foot extension of the pole behind the grip that flares out at the very end; this extension provides some weight balance to the lance. Attached to the lances are red and gold pennants bearing crossed swords.

The average lanceman's armor can be described as follows:

Fitted, slightly bunched tunic that ends at the waist
Human hauberk under tunic. Chain mail under caparison goes to horse knees
Two-lame breastplate protects neck to midrib connected by a large rivet on either side.
Two-lame backplate covers the shoulderblades/upper back; the lower lame is attached to breastplate at sides, upper lame with leather buckles at shoulders
Peytral is three plate lames held in place by brown belts
Full-circle plate vambraces with brown leather padding
Leather gloves
Fitted silver helm with a small crest. The eyemask and cheek guards look to be riveted to the basinet. On either side is an ear opening that fans out slightly to fit to their horse-like ears. There is also a small cut-out from the back of the helm at the nape of the neck. The helm buckles under the chin with a brown leather strap.

All pieces are heavily etched and can be seen below.

The lancemen make up the honor guard at the coronation.

Lancemen Gallery*

Swordsmen

The lighter male centaurs are directly behind the lancemen. They carry at least two swords, two-handed and one-handed. Those with only one sword may also wear a long quiver on their right flank with what looks like short throwing spears. Or perhaps these swordsmen double as archers in a pinch; however, no bow is visible.

The swordsmen's armor is similar to the lancemen's, but lighter and more varied.

Some wear full-body mail while others have only a human mail shirt. Some have no mail at all.
Tunic extends down below the peytral
Breastplate and backplate as above
Two-lame, dark leather peytral
Leather vambraces wrap completely around the forearm with plate covering the outer forearm
Helms are identical in shape, but may or may not have the eyemask

The swordsmen act as heralds at the coronation.

Swordsmen Gallery*

*Note: The differences between the armor and weapons of lancemen and swordsmen may not always be distinct in released images due to design and CG changes before the film's release.

General Oreius

Orieus gets a lot of screen time in LWW. Click here for NarniaWeb's interview with Orieus, actor Patrick Kake.

Oreius has brown flanks and black hair. The top hairs are usually pulled back and the rest falls down behind his ears. He also sports sideburns and a small black beard.

Orieus' wool tunic is dark scarlet with brown leather binding. The tunic stretches over half of his horse body in the back.

Orieus's armor is highly decorative. He wears a 2-lame breastplate, backplate, and peytral; 4-piece plate pauldrons; and a heavily etched, high-crested helm with cheekpieces and noseguard. His vambraces are leather with steel edging. All the pieces are cut and etched in fanning, pointed shapes and designs. In the middle of his breastplate, each pauldron, and helm is a lion's face.

His mail shirt is sleeveless and only covers the front of his horse body, down to the knees. The rest of his horse body is protected by a caparison that is slighter and more decorative than the other centaurs'.

Orieus is notorious for carrying three swords, and is seen brandishing them frequently in the film! On his left flank, he carries a huge two-handed great sword. The blade is broad at the hilt and tapers to a sharp point. The pommel looks like two intersecting pieces of fan-shaped steel. The crossguard and langet are also steel. The grip and scabbard are both wrapped in dark leather. The scabbard is also decorated with red leather and steel trappings.

His one-handed swords (one on each flank) are nearly identical in design but on a smaller scale. As an aside, the White Witch picks up one of Oreius' one-handed swords during her battle with Peter. Edmund's sword is also comparable to Oreius's one-handed swords.

Video Clips, Promotional Images

Oreius in the honor guard at the coronation

Behind the Scenes

Oreius Figurine

Super Hi-res Images ~ Courtesy of the Photobox

High-Res MGM Studios Exhibit: Oreius' Swords ~ taken by Lady Éowyn