List of weapons and armour in Middle-earth

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The weapons and armour of Middle-earth are all those mentioned J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, such as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.[1][2]

Tolkien modelled his fictional warfare on the

Orcs.[2]

As in his sources, Tolkien's characters often

runic inscriptions to show they are magical and have their own history and power.[1]

Terminology

Tolkien devised

several constructed languages
with terms for types of weapons.

Types

Swords

Uruk-hai of Isengard used short, broad blades. Tolkien often mentions the use of shields together with one-handed swords.[2]

Knives

Knives are mentioned in Tolkien's works, sometimes as backup weapons—such as the unnamed long knife of

Wormtongue.[T 9]

For The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Legolas possessed twin fighting knives carried in sheaths near his quiver.[7]

Special types of knife

There are some special types of knife in Tolkien's fiction which do not have formal names, but nevertheless play important roles in the plot.

Morgul-blades

The

elf-shot" found in Old English medical texts and charms, where it denotes illnesses of presumed supernatural origin.[8]

Barrow-blades

Witch-king.[T 12]

The daggers had varying fates. The Witch-king broke Frodo's blade at the Ford of Bruinen.

Troll.[T 13] Merry's blade is destroyed during his attack on the Witch-king.[T 12]

Axes

Battle axes are especially favoured by Dwarves in Tolkien's writings;[2] Gimli uses the battle cry: Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you! (Khuzdul: Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!).[T 14] For The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Gimli the Dwarf was assigned various axes of different makes during the course of the films.[9]

The Sindarin Elves of

Easterlings among the besiegers of Minas Tirith.[citation needed
]

Bows and arrows

Orcs of Mordor used smaller ones. These bows are said to be made of wood, horn and even steel.[2][10]

The most famous bowman in Tolkien's stories of the First Age of Middle-earth is the Elf

Beren attempts to intercept the second shot, and is wounded.[T 15]

In The Lord of the Rings, set in the late

Anduin and bring down an airborne Nazgûl.[11]

Númenoreans in their lost homeland of Númenor.[T 16]

Sometimes individual

Beacons of Gondor.[14]

The Shire sent archers to the battles of the Fall of Arnor.[T 20]

Armour

Tolkien stated that the styles of the Bayeux Tapestry fitted the Rohirrim "well enough".[T 21]

mail or scale shirts, in keeping with Ancient and Early Medieval periods of history.[2] In contrast, the Lord of the Rings film trilogy features later medieval plate armour suits.[15] These kinds of plate armour are not found in Tolkien's writings, but plate does appear in the form of individual pieces such as vambraces (forearm guards) or greaves (leg and shin guards). As with other items of war, Elves and Dwarves produced the best armour. The mail shirt forged by Dwarves from the fictional metal mithril appears in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, worn in turn by the protagonists Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.[2][16]

In Letter 211 of

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author compared the war-gear of the Rohirrim to the Bayeux Tapestry, made during the Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England.[T 21]

Helmets

elaborate helmets; Éomer's helmet had a long white horse-tail panache that trailed in the wind.[17] The Crown of Gondor was a jewelled battle-helmet; Aragorn received it at his coronation. Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee use Orc-helmets as part of their disguise in Mordor.[citation needed
]

In the First Age, Dwarves made dragon-helms, which were said to protect against

Dragons. The most famous of these was the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.[citation needed
]

The

Second Age was dominated by Númenor. The Númenórean helmet, the karma, reached particularly elaborate forms. Those of the Uinendili, a guild of mariners, were "made of overlapping plates of metal, the 'fish-crest' of leather embossed and coloured".[T 22] Tolkien's coloured drawing of the karma of a Uinendili captain features on the cover of Unfinished Tales.[citation needed
]

Named items

Main article: Naming of weapons in Middle-earth

Tolkien emulated his Northern European mythological and literary sources in having his characters

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.[1]

Named swords and knives

Anglachel

Anglachel (

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.[1][18]

Angrist

Angrist (Sindarin: Iron-cleaver

Silmaril jewel out of Morgoth's Iron Crown; as Beren attempted to remove another, the knife snapped.[1][T 26] 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.[T 27]

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.[1][T 28]

Aranrúth

Aranrúth (Sindarin: King's Ire[T 29]) is the sword wielded by King Thingol of Doriath in The Silmarillion.[1][T 30] Later the sword of the Kings of Númenor.

Glamdring

An artistic representation of the sword Glamdring based on its description in The Lord of the Rings

Glamdring (Sindarin: Foe-hammer

Misty Mountains.[1][T 32][T 31][T 33][T 34][T 35][T 36]

Gurthang

See Anglachel

Gúthwinë

Further information: Beowulf and Middle-earth

Gúthwinë (

Riddermark in The Lord of the Rings.[1][T 37] 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.[20]

Hadhafang

Hadhafang is the sword invented for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, where it was wielded by

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.[T 38]

Herugrim

Herugrim (Old English: Fierce Sword[19]) is the sword that belonged to Théoden.[1][T 39]

Narsil / Andúril

Artist's impression of the re-forged Andúril, with runic inscription, crescent Moon and rayed Sun. A single star is shown rather than Tolkien's "seven stars".

Narsil (

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).[T 42][T 33] The reforged Andúril is described as very bright, shining red and white with the light of the sun and moon.[T 33][T 34][T 44] The Silmarillion further states that the original Narsil already shone in such a manner, but its light was extinguished when it was broken.[T 45] 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".[T 33]

Orcrist

Sword "Orcrist" as seen in "The Hobbit"

Orcrist (Sindarin: Goblin-cleaver

Elves; it was laid on his tomb after his death in the Battle of Five Armies. It is the mate of Glamdring.[1][T 31]

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.[1] This was the sword with which Fingolfin wounded Morgoth seven times, causing the first dark lord to limp forever afterward.[T 46][T 47]

In Tolkien's early writings, Ringil was the name of one of the two pillars supporting the Two Lamps of primeval Middle-earth.[T 48]

Sting

Elijah Wood 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.

Moria.[25] 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.[26][b]

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".[T 50] The film version of Sting is 23 inches (580 mm) long (24 while in scabbard) and 3 inches (76 mm) wide at the hilt. Its scabbard is made of brown leather and reinforced with metal.[27]

Named bows and arrows

Belthronding

Belthronding (Sindarin/Ilkorin: Intractable Bow[T 51]) is the bow wielded by Beleg Cúthalion (Strongbow) in The Silmarillion and The Lays of Beleriand.[1][T 52]

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

Long Lake.[T 17]

Dailir

Dailir is the arrow favoured by Beleg, the great bowman of the First Age of Middle-earth. Beleg was always able to retrieve this arrow for reuse.[T 53]

Red Arrow

The Red Arrow is a black-feathered arrow barbed with steel; its tip was painted red.

Elene in which Constantine the Great summoned an army of mounted Visigoths to his aid against the Huns by sending an arrow as a "token of war".[28]

Other named weapons and armour

Aeglos

Aeglos (Sindarin: Snow Point, i.e. icicle;[T 55] 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."[1][T 56][c]

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

Maedhros, who gave it to Fingon. Fingon then gave it to Hador, along with the lordship of Dor-lómin.[T 58]

Axe of Tuor

The Axe of Tuor, called Dramborleg (Gnomish: Thudder-Sharp)[30] in The Book of Lost Tales, is the great axe belonging to Tuor, son of Huor in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth[1] that left wounds like "both a heavy dint as of a club and cleft as a sword"[30]. It was later held by the Kings of Numenor, until lost in the downfall.[T 59]

Durin's Axe

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.[T 34]

Grond

Grond (Sindarin: Club) is the mace of Morgoth used against Fingolfin in The Silmarillion[T 60] as well as a battering ram in The Lord of the Rings,[1][T 61] 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."[T 62]

Film prop construction

Further information: Production of The Lord of the Rings film series

In

urethane grips. "Extras" swords were cast entirely from urethane, in one piece. Bows were made of urethane with an inner armature of spring steel. Legolas's arrows were all-digital, so the actor simply mimed shooting each arrow.[31]

Notes

  1. ^ Hooker notes the similarity of the Latin pīlum [javelin, throwing spear], with cognates in the Old High German [pfīl, meaning arrow], Modern German [Pfeil], Old English [pīl], late Old Norse [píla], and the Dutch [pijl].[6]
  2. OED than that the character was given the name with the idea of his becoming a sword-wielder already in mind. However, as there was a Count Frodo and a Bishop Bilbo in the Frankish Kingdom of the middle ages as well as another noble named Fredegar it is more likely that these Hobbit names were mined from Frankish history."[26]
  3. Tolkienist semiannual almanac published by the Polish Silesian Science-Fiction Club, parent organisation of the Polish Tolkien Society, is named Aeglos.[29]

References

Primary

  1. ^ a b Tolkien 1987, p. 371
  2. ^ a b Tolkien 1994, p. 234.
  3. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 365
  4. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 367
  5. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 385
  6. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 355
  7. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 366
  8. The Etymologies
    under the root PÍLIM-.
  9. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 6 ch. 8 "The Scouring of the Shire"
  10. ^ Tolkien 1954a, pp. 208, 210; Tolkien 1955, p. 333
  11. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 8 "Fog on the Barrow-downs"
  12. ^ a b Tolkien 1955, book 5, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields", p. 117: "No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will."
  13. ^ a b Tolkien 1955, book 5, ch. 10 "The Black Gate Opens"
  14. ^ Tolkien 1954, "The Battle of Helm's Deep"
  15. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 19 "Of Beren and Luthien"
  16. ^ Tolkien 2021, ch. 13 "Of the Land and Beasts of Númenor"
  17. ^ a b Tolkien 1937, ch. 14 "Fire and Water"
  18. ^ Tolkien 1955, p. 72; Tolkien 1980, p. 364, 411
  19. ^ Tolkien 1954a, Prologue §1
  20. ^ Tolkien 1955, appendix A part I(iii)
  21. ^ a b Carpenter 2023, #211 "The Rohirrim were not 'mediaeval', in our sense. The styles of the Bayeux Tapestry (made in England) fit them well enough, if one remembers that the kind of tennis-nets [the] soldiers seem to have on are only a clumsy conventional sign for chainmail of small rings"
  22. ^ Tolkien 1980, inside rear dust-jacket
  23. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of Turin Turambar", Index "Anglachel"; Tolkien 1980, p. 148, 419
  24. ^ Tolkien 1980, p. 443
  25. ^ Tolkien 1977, Index "Angrist"
  26. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of Beren and Luthien"
  27. ^ Tolkien 1984b, "The Tale of Tinúviel
  28. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of Turin Turambar"
  29. ^ Tolkien 1977, Index "Aranruth"
  30. Akallabeth; Tolkien 1980
    , p. 171
  31. ^ a b c d Tolkien 1937, ch. 3, "A Short Rest"; ch. 18, "The Return Journey"
  32. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch 2 "Roast Mutton"
  33. ^ a b c d Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 3, "The Ring Goes South"
  34. ^ a b c Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 5, "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"
  35. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 5, "The White Rider"
  36. ^ Tolkien 1980, p. 54
  37. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. 139
  38. ^ Tolkien 1987
  39. ^ Tolkien 1954, p. 123
  40. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix A "The Númenorean Kings", "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur", "The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain", entry for Chieftain Aranarth; Carpenter 2023
  41. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", Index "Narsil"; Tolkien 1980, pp. 272, 275
  42. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 2, "The Council of Elrond"
  43. ^ a b Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 6 "The King of the Golden Hall"
  44. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 7, "Helm's Deep"
  45. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  46. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of the Ruin of Beleriand", Index "Ringil"
  47. ^ Tolkien 1985, "The Lay of Leithian", Canto XII
  48. ^ Tolkien 1984 (Part I) pp. 69–70
  49. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 2, "Roast Mutton"; Tolkien 1954a, pp. 23, 290; Tolkien 1954, p. 221, Tolkien 1955, p. 173, 204
  50. ^ Tolkien 1977, Appendix "Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names", maeg
  51. ^ Tolkien 1987, p. 388
  52. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of Turin Turambar", Index "Belthronding"; Tolkien 1985, p. 26, 117, 127
  53. ^ Tolkien 1985
  54. ^ a b Tolkien 1955, book 5, ch. 3 "The Muster of Rohan"
  55. ^ Tolkien 1977, Index "Aeglos"
  56. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 2: "The Council of Elrond"; Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"; Tolkien 1980, p. 148, 417
  57. The Lay of the Children of Húrin
    ", second version ch. 2, p. 115, line 678
  58. ^ Tolkien 1980, part 1 ch. II p. 75
  59. ^ Tolkien 1980, p. 172; Tolkien 1984b (vol. 2), "The Fall of Gondolin"
  60. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Of the Ruin of Beleriand", Index "Grond"
  61. ^ Tolkien 1955, p. 112
  62. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 5, ch. 4 "The Siege of Gondor".

Secondary

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Burdge & Burke 2013, pp. 703–705
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Piela 2013, pp. 26–27.
  3. ^ Hooker 2014, p. 235.
  4. ^ Parma Eldalamberon 17, p. 85.
  5. ^ Vinyar Tengwar 49, p. 14.
  6. ^ Hooker 2014, p. 180.
  7. ^ Smith 2003, p. 114.
  8. ^ Donovan 2013, pp. 148–149
  9. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 52–57.
  10. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 142–144.
  11. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 112–115.
  12. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 202–207.
  13. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 122–131.
  14. ^ Timmons 2013, pp. 303–309
  15. ^ Smith 2003, pp. 16 (2nd Age Elves), 104 (Rohan half-plate armour).
  16. ^ Burke 2013, pp. 432–433
  17. ISBN 978-0261102750
    .
  18. ^ Petty 2013, pp. 205–207
  19. ^ a b Tolkien Dictionary
  20. ^ Beowulf, line 1810
  21. ^ Smith 2003, p. 22.
  22. JSTOR 45320521
    .
  23. JSTOR 26814563
    .
  24. ISBN 978-0-3804-6904-8
    .
  25. ISBN 978-1-59360-023-5
    .
  26. ^
    S2CID 171003460
    .
  27. ^ Smith 2003, p. 43.
  28. Elene
    , lines 43–45
  29. ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0
    .
  30. ^ a b Tolkien 1984b Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part II", entry "Dramborleg"
  31. ^ Woosnam-Savage 2011, pp. 139–167

Sources
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