Andúril: Reforged Sword of the First Age

[oldbadgerbrock]

The Sword that was Broken

At the inn of The Prancing Pony we are introduced to a mysterious ranger called ‘Strider’ and to his almost equally mysterious sword:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

‘…But I am Aragorn, and those verses go with that name.’ He drew out his sword, and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt. ‘Not much use is it, Sam?’ said Strider. ‘But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.’

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘Strider’, The Fellowship of the Ring, volume 1 of The Lord of the Rings.


The Breaking of the Sword

The Silmarillion, published four years after Tolkien’s death and more than twenty years after The Lord of the Rings first appeared, tells us more of this mysterious sword:

…the sword of Elendil filled Orcs and Men with fear, for it shone with the light of the sun and of the moon, and it was named Narsil.

…But at the last the siege was so strait that Sauron himself came forth; and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron was also thrown down, and with the hilt shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own.

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien (author), Christopher Tolkien (editor), ‘Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age’, The Silmarillion.


The Sword is Nearly Lost

[Isildur] marched north from Gondor by the way that Elendil had come; and he forsook the South Kingdom, for he purposed to take up his father’s realm in Eriador, far from the shadow of the Black Land.

But Isildur was overwhelmed by a host of Orcs that lay in wait in the Misty Mountains; and they descended upon him at unawares…Then the Orcs saw him as he laboured in the stream, and they shot him with many arrows, and that was his end. Only three of his people came ever back over the mountains after long wandering; and of these one was Ohtar his esquire, to whose keeping he had given the shards of the sword of Elendil.

Thus Narsil came in due time to the hand of Valandil, Isildur’s heir, in Imladris; but the blade was broken and its light extinguished, and it was not forged anew. And Master Elrond foretold that this would not be done until the Ruling Ring should be found again and Sauron should return; but the hope of Elves and Men was that these things might never come to pass.

Source: Ibid.

Unfinished Tales was published in 1980. This book contains background material of events depicted in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as provides more detailed versions of some of the legends that appear in The Silmarillion, including ‘The Disaster of the Gladden Fields’ where Isildur lost the Ruling Ring:

The Orcs were drawing near. Isildur turned to his esquire: “Ohtar,” he said, “I give this now into your keeping;” and he delivered to him the great sheath and the shards of Narsil, Elendil’s sword. “Save it from capture by all means that you can find, and at all costs; even at the cost of being held a coward who deserted me. Take your companion with you and flee! Go! I command you!” Then Ohtar knelt and kissed his hand, and the two young men fled down into the dark valley.

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Disaster of the Gladden Fields’ , Unfinished Tales.


The shards of Narsil on display in Elrond’s Library in The Last Homely House in Rivendell


The Sword is Reforged

The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and on its blade was traced a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andúril, Flame of the West.

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Rings Goes South’, The Fellowship of the Ring, volume 1 of The Lord of the Rings.


Aragorn holds aloft the sword reforged


Aragorn Unwillingly Lays Andúril Aside Before Entering Meduseld—and Reveals its Maker

Slowly Aragorn unbuckled his belt and himself set his sword upright against the wall. ‘Here I set it,’ he said; ‘but I command you not to touch it nor to permit any other to lay hand on it. In this elvish sheath dwells the Blade that was Broken and has been made again. Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time. Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil’s sword save Elendil’s heir.

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The King of the Golden Hall’, The Two Towers, volume 2 of The Lord of the Rings.


Additional Information

Tolkien does not provide the history of the sword from its forging in the First Age by the Dwarf-smith Telchar to its possession by Elendil at the end of the Second Age, but hypothetically it could have been created for Thingol's armouries--

Therefore Thingol took thought for arms, which before his people had not needed, and these at first the Naugrim smithied for him; for they were greatly skilled in such work, though none among them surpassed the craftsmen of Nogrod, of whom Telchar the smith was greatest in renown.

Source: J.R.R. Tolkien (author), Christopher Tolkien (editor), ‘Of the Sindar’, The Silmarillion.

--and eventually been passed to Elendil or his father, Amandil, through a succession of Elves, possibly even as a gift from Gil-galad. It is unlikely, however, that it could have been wielded by Thingol for we are told that his sword was named Aranrúth.

Tolkien tells us that the name Narsil is formed from the stems nar (‘fire’) and thil (‘white light’).

...It thus symbolised the chief heavenly lights, as enemies of darkness, Sun (Anar) and Moon (in Q.) Isil. Andúril means Flame of the West (as a region) not of the Sunset.

Source: Humphrey Carpenter (editor), ‘Letter 347’, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Arasilion]

How long have I played this game and never knew that the shards of Narsil were on display in Elrond's library?

[tuor66]

Additional Information

Tolkien does not provide the history of the sword from its forging in the First Age by the Dwarf-smith Telchar to its possession by Elendil at the end of the Second Age, but hypothetically it could have been created for Thingol's armouries--
Source: J.R.R. Tolkien (author), Christopher Tolkien (editor), ‘Of the Sindar’, The Silmarillion.

--and eventually been passed to Elendil or his father, Amandil, through a succession of Elves, possibly even as a gift from Gil-galad. It is unlikely, however, that it could have been wielded by Thingol for we are told that his sword was named Aranrúth.

Nice job of research, another possibility with the Thingol connection is that it belonged to or was given to Elros and passed from there into the line of Elendil along with the Ring of Barahir.

[sir-rinthian]

How long have I played this game and never knew that the shards of Narsil were on display in Elrond's library?

Almost as long as me, lol *goes off to look at them *

[oldbadgerbrock]

I don't think the shards of Narsil are on display anymore. I imagine that they would have removed them once the Fellowship left Rivendell, if not before. You may recall that they moved the Nine Walkers to various guest rooms last summer. That screenshot was taken in June 2007.

[BIGeyedBUG]

Very nice work.

Nice job of research, another possibility with the Thingol connection is that it belonged to or was given to Elros and passed from there into the line of Elendil along with the Ring of Barahir.

As was Thingol's sword Aranthruth, which became the sword of the Numenorean kings until it was presumably lost in the Downfall. It's also possible there's a Narsil connection through the Noldor, considering their greater affinity with the Dwarves. For instance, an interesting path with some plausibility in the legendarium would be from Telchar to Caranthir to Maglor to Elros. But I've always liked to imagine that it was originally wielded by Mablung, the chief captain of Thingol, not that this is any thing more than a hypothesis that pleases me. (---------- I had a much longer explanation with juicy references and so on, but the board is doing strange things to my posts...like removing all the paragraphing and formatting, gah. --------)

[Fawulf]

Yes, here indeed did lay the Shards of Narsil.

[Arasilion]

You would think it would be a better display. It just looks like Elrond threw it on his work table and forgot about it.

[oldbadgerbrock]

Yes, that is a rather understated display.

What would have been really cool is if they'd had the sword resting on a statue resembling Michelangelo's Pietà, except instead of the body of Christ she's holding a shield with a robe draped over it. In the background they could have had a large painting depicting Isildur with the hilt-shard in his hand attempting to ward off the advance of Sauron.





Oh, wait, somebody already did that.

[chompo78]

I thought Aragorn had the hilt of Narsil with him in Bree (in the books).....why is/was it on display in Rivendell?

Don't have the page/direct quote, but in Bree, he draws Narsil after Frodo reads Gandalfs letter, and something like "And his sword was broken off a foot or so from the hilt".....Just seems odd he would return from Bree, put it on display (meanwhile he left with Elronds son's) when he usually took it with him. The blade itself? Sure, but it seems like he always had the hilt with him.

As a bit of randomness, notice that the shards of Narsil in the game look like Striders "ranger sword" from the movie (used until Elrond delivers Anduril at the muster of the Rohhirim in the movies)? Green leather wrapping on the hilt, large pommel, pretty plain hilt and blade design. Wierd. Probably wouldn't have noticed this myself, but I have a few of the repo's from the movies and this is one of them. Only difference I see is a metal band 1 "hand" or so on the actual grip (I can't really tell if there is or isn't one there, the more I look I think I see one, wishful thinking?), and the Pommel may be a bit fancier in game, very plain kind of flattened ball shape on the repo/movie version.

[oldbadgerbrock]

Don't have the page/direct quote, but in Bree, he draws Narsil after Frodo reads Gandalfs letter, and something like "And his sword was broken off a foot or so from the hilt".

That quote appears in my original post.

I thought Aragorn had the hilt of Narsil with him in Bree (in the books). Why is/was it on display in Rivendell?

If you recall, at the time Narsil was displayed in the library Aragorn standing was in the courtyard. (Elrond's sons are at Thorenhad.) Why would Aragorn have set it down for display in Elrond's library? He probably wouldn't have, but this is likely one of those tweaks that the devs put in for the sake of players who are fans of the book and want to see some of iconic items from them.

[chompo78]

Great post all around. Loved the nugget about the roots/meaning of Nar and Thil, kudos!

[ppinkham]

How long have I played this game and never knew that the shards of Narsil were on display in Elrond's library?

Don't feel bad. I started playing over 2 years ago, have 7 toons, 6 of which leveled in the Shire, and it wasn't until a month ago I realized you could actually enter Bag End. D'oh!

[csteelatgburg]

I don't think the shards of Narsil are on display anymore. I imagine that they would have removed them once the Fellowship left Rivendell, if not before. You may recall that they moved the Nine Walkers to various guest rooms last summer. That screenshot was taken in June 2007.

The Library (like most rooms in the game) is instanced, so the contents will differ depending on where you are in the game. If you haven't completed the epic quests which lead to them leaving, then the shards are probably still there. At least that's how I would expect it to work.

[oldbadgerbrock]

The Library (like most rooms in the game) is instanced, so the contents will differ depending on where you are in the game. If you haven't completed the epic quests which lead to them leaving, then the shards are probably still there. At least that's how I would expect it to work.

No, that's not correct. There is only one Elrond's Library regardless of what quests you have or have not completed.

To prove it to myself I ran my level 20 Warden (he has not yet completed even Volume 1, Book 1 of the epic quest) all the way to Rivendell. Elrond stands beside an empty table. Not surprisingly, Gandalf is no longer standing on the opposite side of the table.

[csteelatgburg]

No, that's not correct. There is only one Elrond's Library regardless of what quests you have or have not completed.

To prove it to myself I ran my level 20 Warden (he has not yet completed even Volume 1, Book 1 of the epic quest) all the way to Rivendell. Elrond stands beside an empty table. Not surprisingly, Gandalf is no longer standing on the opposite side of the table.

But isn't that because for you Gandalf is still in his room at the Prancing Pony? No, I guess he doesn't appear until you complete the quests Aragorn gives you there. Either way, at that point in the story, he wouldn't be in Rivendell, either. We need someone that has completed Book 1, thereby making sure Aragorn has left Bree, but hasn't completed Book 4, when the sword should leave Rivendell.

[oldbadgerbrock]

But isn't that because for you Gandalf is still in his room at the Prancing Pony?

No, my Warden sees Gandalf is in Bilbo's room with Frodo, the same as he is for every other player.

[csteelatgburg]

I guess you're right and they did change things. I ran one of my characters that just completed book 3 over to Rivendell and sure enough, no Gandalf (in the Library) and no shards of Narsil. Oh well, at least I finally took the time to get one of my alts to Rivendell, which I should have done a while ago, anyway.

[tuor66]

But isn't that because for you Gandalf is still in his room at the Prancing Pony? No, I guess he doesn't appear until you complete the quests Aragorn gives you there. Either way, at that point in the story, he wouldn't be in Rivendell, either. We need someone that has completed Book 1, thereby making sure Aragorn has left Bree, but hasn't completed Book 4, when the sword should leave Rivendell.

A wizard is never late, he appears precisely when he means to

sorry...couldn't resist