[Andreth]

Yep, Hadhafang is a movie invention, Elvenesse, and I'll behave and not comment on the beauty of Ereinion Gil-galad's spear.

Avert your eyes, Hannah - it's another long post.

Let me see if I can give a quick cliff notes version of BB's weapons list:

Glamdring - Gandalf's 'foe-hammer', found in the Hobbit when Bilbo was poking around in the trolls' booty ( ) Forged in Gondolin according to Elrond. It Kills Goblins Dead. It also glowed with a blue light, according to the descriptions of the sword.
Given the Elvish Mirdain stamp of approval, guaranteed to make goblins start screaming gibberish and piss their pants.

Orcrist (typo) - Another sword found in the trolls' cave stash - the Goblin cleaver and also forged in Gondolin. I think the goblins called this one Biter. Whatever unnamed Gondolin Elf carried it killed lots of goblins with it. Buried with Thorin Oakenshield in his tomb in the Lonely Mountain.

Anduril - I'm sure everybody knows this one. Flame of the West, Narsil reforged, Aragorn's sword...yada, yada, yada. I remember that it was forged by Telchar, that uber-handy Dwarf to have around for helms and swords, but I don't recall how it got from Telchar in the First Age to Elendil on Numenor. Anybody know off hand? Going to have to look through UT for that one.

Aiglos - Ereinion Gil-galad's spear, Snow-point, that he carried in the Battle of the Last Alliance - long, powerful and he sure knew how to use it...I'm sorry, where was I?

Sting - Bilbo's sword of course, (he sure enjoyed that troll booty) and it rounded out the triple threat tag team with Orcrist and Glamdring. Also made in Gondolin. Completely OT, but I'd once heard the speculation somewhere that Maeglin probably forged these while he was in Gondolin, since his father, Eol, was known for making strange and powerful swords. Very interesting theory.

Aranruth - This is one of Thingol's swords from the First Age. The only specifics I recall off hand are from Unfinished Tales where it says the sword was passed down by the Kings of Numenor as an heirloom and it was lost, I suppose when the island was destroyed.

Herugrim - King Theoden's sword. Hama found it packratted away in one of Grima Wormtongue's chests and brought it back to Theoden. I'm guessing he carried it into war afterward and kicked major ass with it.

Guthwine - This one's Eomer's sword and I really don't know much about it. Maybe somebody who's better acquainted with Eomer's sword can give more info.

Gurtholfin - This was a name used in the Book of Lost Tales, but in the Silm and everywhere else its called Gurthang.

This one was originally called Anglachel and forged by Eol out of some kind of meteor rock along with its mate, Anguirel. I believe both swords were black because of this super-strong meteor iron Eol used.

Eol had to give Anglachel to Thingol as payment for being allowed to live in Thingol's woods, then later Thingol gave the sword to Beleg Strongbow when he went to look for Turin at Thingol's request. After Turin kills Beleg with it in a blind fit of rage, it gets reforged and then gets dubbed Gurthang. Then Turin uses it later in a suicidal fit of rage to commit hari kari.

I don't think people were scrambling to have that sword as a heirloom of their house.


Anna

[nillaithial]

Question to anyone out there....did Legolas's long knives or sword have names?

I don't recall anything in the books, nor is there any reference in the movies. Through my own dementia, I gave one of Legolas's long knives a name and history in my own fanfic....but that's it.

Since I'm obviously partial to Legolas, I'd gladly choose one of his own weapons as my favorite. However, since they seem to be a nameless entity, my next awesome pick is Arwen's sword, Hadhafang (from the movie).....a truly beautiful weapon!

[Miluiwen]

I totally agree. Although I am trying to scrimp together enough money to get Hadhafang (I always waste it on rubbish) I have seen other swords which I am partial to. Glamdring is a lovely sword.

[Panneth]

Another one of my irritations with the film - in the book Legolas carries one long knife. In the film he carries those two little knives on his back which admittedly looked much better when killing things. Far more impressive... *ahem*

I don't think it had a name though...

[nillaithial]

[sindohte]

Which raises the question - Are Legolas' fighting knives something PJ decided to invent to make his Elven prince of Mirkwood look sexy and dangerous? Because I don't recall anything about the book version of Legolas using that particular type of weapon. Before I had seen the movie, I had always assumed book Legolas just used a sword like everyone else in ME.

[Miluiwen]

[sindohte]

[nillaithial]

Ooops....my bad. I didn't think Leg's long knives were THAT short...but hey, they look good on HIM. I guess that's the whole point isn't it? And who knows, perhaps a longer blade simply wasn't practical. I mean Orlando can't exactly hold down the scabbard while he pulls out both knives. I suppose they were necessarily short so that he could look stealthy AND graceful on camera....and not hopping around on one foot whilst trying to pull out a 30" sword fastened to his back!

[Miluiwen]

No problemo

Good point, nillaithial, about the whole back thing. But it's easy enough to pull out a sword attatched to your belt, I guess. Having those blades attatched to your back is more logical. Even if you had it in a suspension system around your waist, pulling the blades out would be difficult. Knowing me, I'd probably get wacked in the face mid-draw.

Backing up your point, those (somewhat magically travelling) Lothlorien elves that mystically appeared at Helms Deep had some seriously huge swords attatched to their backs along with their quiver. Five foot long.. but then it wouln't be clever to lug around a sword that is half handle, half blade on your belt. I was surprised at the size of those blades, width wise. In the TT EE, someone said (can't remember who) that the width was smaller, then they increased it. Hmmm.... I prefered that prototype which had the thinner blade.

I get yawned at by my friends for my obsession with weaponry
I tend to draw elvish swords. For no reason.

[MoonRaven]

[quote="BittenBuggy"]And what is up with Anduril winning?!?! You people have no imagination... [/quote]

Oh, maybe so. I'm not that familiar with some of the other weapons listed and besides that, I'm a sucker for the symbolism of "the flame of the west" being re-forged out of the shards of Narsil. Sort of a metaphor for rebirth/resurrection, especially when wielded by a man once known as "Hope". Gets me all sort of shivery.

'Sides, it's a keen-looking weapon with it's stars and runes and all.

[Saralitazie]

[inglor]

My favorite sword: not sword but still has a really cool name and killed 5, count them FIVE, Balrogs: Dramborleg, Tuor's Axe.

Did I read somewhere that it too made it to Numenor and was lost when it sank?

RE: the size of Legolas's KNIFE: I think the Prof used th term knife for a specific reason. Tolkien could have used "small sword" or even "sword" if that is what he meant. But he used the phrase LONG WHITE KNIFE. Knives are generally slender and have a SINGLE edge. A small slender two edged weapon is called a dagger, a longer (but not much longer than a man's forearm and hand) broader two edged weapon is called a short sword, the sword of "Gladiator" fame would be a short sword. While a "sword" of the type Tolkien was familiar with had dual edges, were 3-4 feet long. The Japanese Katana has a single edged and curved but I don't think they are part of Tolkien's world (except for maybe Eglamoth's sword which may have been what the Prof was refering to when he described it as curved in LT 2, the Fall of Gondolin)
I have always pictured his Long White Knife as being no more than 2-2.5 feet long, single edged and 3/4" to 1" wide. Think of a WWI bayonet (Google it if you have no idea what I am talking about). A cutting, thrusting weapon, not a hacking weapon as most "swords" of Tolkien's descripiton are. Since Legolas was primarily an woodland archer, a sword length/size weapon would have been bulky and cumbersome. It could also interfere in using his primary weapon. Slinking through underbrush, climbing trees and generally being stealthy would be hindered by a sword. Legolas could rely on speed and agility to overcome his foes and IMHO a Long knife as I have described would have served him well against any but the most skilled warrior.
I think the two knife movie thing was pretty cool and would have been a very lethal method of combat for him but a just wee bit Hollywood. To effectively use both, he would have to drop his most prized possession, his bow...

Sorry for the essay, but you Ladies finally hit on something I know a good deal about.

Inglor

[AranelMinyatur]

I gotta pop in for my quick vote for Herugrim but the movie sword. I thought it was cool how the horse heads hold the blade. Favorite book sword would have to be Sting as I love how it glows blue when Orcs are about!

[Miluiwen]