Tolkien emulated his Northern European mythological and literary sources in having his characters
give names to their weapons, marking these out as important aspects of character and sometimes as ancient heirlooms. Named weapons in
Medieval literature include
Hrunting and
Nægling in
Beowulf,
Tyrfing in the
Elder Edda and
Gram in the
Völsunga saga. The items illustrate the passage of time and the transfer of power or fate to their future bearers. Anglachel was reforged and renamed
Gurthang (Sindarin:
Iron of Death). Túrin used Gurthang to kill Glaurung, the Father of
Dragons, and later used the sword to take his own life in recompense for the accidental slaying of Beleg and the unjust slaying of Brandir. The stories endow the sword with a personality; Melian the
Maia perceived malice in it as it was given to Beleg Cúthalion, and the elf Gwindor observed that Anglachel (so named then) seemed to mourn the death of Beleg at the hand of his friend Túrin by Anglachel itself. Túrin asked the sword whether it would slay him swiftly if he cast himself on its point, and it responded at length (the only instance of Gurthang speaking with voice). The depiction of the sword was influenced by that of the sword of the Finnish character
Kullervo in the
Kalevala.
Angrist Angrist (Sindarin:
Iron-cleaver) was a knife made by the great weaponsmith
Telchar of Nogrod, and borne by Curufin. Beren, who had taken it from Curufin, used it to cut a magical
Silmaril jewel out of
Morgoth's Iron Crown; as Beren attempted to remove another, the knife snapped. In the earliest version of Beren's story in
The Book of Lost Tales, he uses an ordinary household knife; the element of Curufin's involvement in Beren's affairs came later.
Anguirel Anguirel (Sindarin:
Iron of Eternity) is the sword forged by Eöl the Dark Elf, similar to Anglachel which was given to Thingol of Doriath in
The Silmarillion. It was the mate of Anglachel, was made of the same meteoritic iron, and had the same physical properties and capabilities as Anglachel, but there is no evidence of sentience in Anguirel. Anguirel was kept by Eöl until it was stolen by his son, Maeglin.
Aranrúth Aranrúth (Sindarin: ''King's Ire
) is the sword wielded by King Thingol of Doriath in The Silmarillion''. Later the sword of the Kings of Númenor.
Glamdring Glamdring (Sindarin:
Foe-hammer Gurthang See Anglachel Gúthwinë Gúthwinë (
Old English:
gúð-wine Battle Friend) is the sword wielded by Éomer, third marshal of the
Riddermark in
The Lord of the Rings. The name is found in the
Old English poem
Beowulf, where the hero uses the word as an epithet for the sword Hrunting, lent to him by
Hrothgar's thane Unferth for the fight with
Grendel's mother.
Hadhafang Hadhafang is the sword invented for Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, where it was wielded by
Arwen, although she is never actually seen using it in combat, as the blade's design was for main use on horseback, and footage of Arwen at
Helm's Deep was ultimately cut. The name is derived from Tolkien's
etymological word list written in the 1930s; here Tolkien provides the word
hadhathang (dissimilated:
havathang, hadhafang), which he translates as "throng-cleaver", though he never used this name in his writings.
Herugrim Herugrim (Old English:
Fierce Sword Narsil / Andúril Narsil (
Quenya: roughly,
Red and White Flame) is a sword in
The Lord of the Rings and
The Silmarillion, influenced by the legendary Arthurian sword
Excalibur and by
Sigurd's sword Gram, as described in the
Old Norse Völsunga saga. The sword was forged during the First Age by the Dwarf Telchar of Nogrod, a famous weaponsmith and artificer who also made the knife Angrist (which cut a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth) and the
Helm of Hador (later used by
Túrin Turambar). By the end of the Second Age Narsil was borne by
Elendil; during the
Last Alliance of Elves and Men it was broken in two pieces in the war against
Sauron.
Isildur used the hilt-shard to cut the
One Ring from Sauron's hand. The two shards, acquiring the additional name
the Sword that was Broken, remained an heirloom of Isildur's heirs throughout the Third Age, and were thus inherited by Aragorn. Elvish smiths re-forged the sword for Aragorn before the Fellowship of the Ring began their quest; Aragorn renamed it
Andúril (Quenya:
Flame of the West). The reforged Andúril is described as very bright, shining red and white with the light of the sun and moon.
The Silmarillion further states that the original Narsil already shone in such a manner, but its light was extinguished when it was broken. The reforged blade had "a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes".
Ringil Ringil (Sindarin:
Cold-Star / Cold-Spark) is a sword wielded by
Fingolfin in
The Silmarillion and
The Lays of Beleriand. It bit with chilling cold, and glittered like ice with a pale light. In Tolkien's early writings, Ringil was the name of
one of the two pillars supporting the Two Lamps of primeval Middle-earth.
Sting as Frodo, holding Sting, in
Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy Sting is a large Elvish dagger in
The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings. It functioned well as a sword for the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Bilbo named the weapon after using it to fend off the giant spiders in Mirkwood forest, then later passed it on to Frodo to use in his quest to destroy the One Ring. Sting glows blue when orcs are nearby, as in
Moria. In Europe,
bilbo blades were exceptionally fine swords, named after the city of
Bilbao which made them. It is possible that Tolkien connected Bilbo's name with his acquisition of this weapon. In
Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit film adaptations, Sting is depicted as leaf-shaped, with gentle curving edges. Engraved on the
blade and
cross-guard are letters in Sindarin that read phonetically,
Maegnas aen estar nin dagnir in yngyl im. Translated into English, they read, "
Maegnas is my name, I am the spider's bane." According to the Appendix of
The Silmarillion, the element
maeg in Sindarin means "sharp" or "piercing". The film version of Sting is long (24 while in
scabbard) and wide at the hilt. Its scabbard is made of brown leather and reinforced with metal.
Named bows and arrows Belthronding Belthronding (Sindarin/Ilkorin:
Intractable Bow) is the bow wielded by Beleg Cúthalion (Strongbow) in
The Silmarillion and
The Lays of Beleriand.
Black arrow The black arrow was used in Esgaroth by Bard the Bowman; he mentions that it has been used many times, always successfully, and always recovered. An heirloom from many generations of Bard's family, that he believed had been made in the forges of the
King under the Mountain; Bard recites its history, urges it to "go now and speed well", and shoots Smaug. It was lost with the Dragon's corpse in the
Long Lake.
Red Arrow The Red Arrow is a black-feathered arrow barbed with steel; its tip was painted red. It was a token used by Gondor to summon
Rohan in time of dire need. In
The Return of the King, the Red Arrow was presented to Théoden by Hirgon with the message: "...the Lord
Denethor asks for all your strength and all your speed, lest Gondor should fall at last."
Other named weapons and armour Aeglos Aeglos (Sindarin:
Snow Point, i.e. icicle; also spelt
Aiglos) is the spear wielded by the Elf-King
Gil-galad. It was said that "the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand."
Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin The Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, also called the
Helm of Hador, is the fabulous helmet of the lords of the House of Hador, including
Húrin and Túrin. Azaghâl ruled the neighbouring city of Belegost; he gave it to
Maedhros, who gave it to Fingon. Fingon then gave it to Hador, along with the lordship of Dor-lómin.
Axe of Tuor The Axe of Tuor, called
Dramborleg (Gnomish:
Thudder-Sharp) in
The Book of Lost Tales, is the great axe belonging to Tuor, son of Huor in
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth Durin's Axe Durin's Axe was part of the regalia and weaponry of the Dwarf-kings of
Khazad-dûm. Some years before the War of the Ring,
Balin attempted to
recolonize Khazad-dûm (by then called Moria), and the early records of the colony mention Durin's Axe, indicating it was sought for or even found. as well as a battering ram in
The Lord of the Rings, used to assault the Great Gate of Minas Tirith. Grond the battering ram was in-universe named after Morgoth's mace: "Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the Underworld of old." == Film prop construction ==