Swords have great importance in the LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY! But there is one that outshines all others and it is not Glamdring, the mighty sword which Gandalf The Grey himself wielded. The sword is Anduril, previously known as Narsil during the First Age!
Although the all-powerful Anduril and its wielder is well known, the sword and its history go way back to the first age. Let us take a brief look at the history of the sword and all of its wielders! Probably, most of the things about the sword are not well-known!
Background:
Aragorn, The last remaining heir to a dying race of royalty! While everyone is aware of Aragorn being a great leader, a ranger (in the beginning), The King of Men, and by several other titles, it is interesting to know that all the qualities that Aragorn possesses go way back to his lineage!
Long ago, in the very beginning, three races walked on Middle-Earth.
- The fairest, immortal and the wisest, The Elves.
- The small humanoids, miners by profession, The Dwarves.
- The ones who craved power above all, The Men.
In order to make peace and harmony ascertain among all three of them, The Mighty Rings were made. Three of them were given to the Elves, Seven to the Dwarves, and ten to the Men!
But one of them wanted power above all and wanted to dominate the whole of the Middle-Earth, Sauron! He was filled with hatred and cruelty and his barbarism knew no bounds. Through the fires of MORDOR, he made himself a ring, unlike any other, to rule them all! He filled it with all of his hatred, cruelty and his never-ending craving for power, in the ring. As well as, he desolated every and anyone who dared stand in his way. He was called the Dark Lord! While most of the people feared him, some were there to oppose him.
Forging:
The Anduril Sword, previously known as Narsil, was forged by the legendary swordsmith, Telchar, in the First age! Telchar was a dwarf of Nogrod, in the Blue Mountains, and he was considered to be one of the greatest smiths ever to walk Middle-Earth!
Besides Narsil, his forgings also included other mighty weapons,
- Angrist, the fabled knife that freed the Silmaril from the Iron Crown!
- Dragon-helm of Dor Lomin!
Narsil at War:
When the Dark Lord, Sauron, was desolating the whole of middle-earth, the alliance between the elves and the men tried to stop him. At that time, the Narsil went to war, wielded by none other than the King, ELENDIR. The exact story, however, as to how the sword came to be in the hands of Elendil is never discussed. The sword was fascinating and sent dozens of Sauron’s followers to Hell, for, at the time, the sword was feared by all, it was believed to strike fear into the hearts of men and the wielder`s enemies alike.
As the Dark Lord himself came into the warzone and, wearing the one ring, faced the King! The king fell, and during the final ultimatum, the sword was crushed into pieces by Sauron, Isildur, Elendil’s son took the broken shard of his father’s sword, NARSIL, and cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. Thus, defeating Sauron, that is, for the time-being! After this, Isildur became the king of all north and south.
The broken shards of the legendary sword, Narsil, were kept as a historical relic by the Elves!
Sauron’s Defeat:
After the fall of the Dark lord, the last Alliance invaded Mordor and besieged Sauron`s main fortress, BARAD-DUR! This is the main boulevard of the evil lord`s doers. At this point, Sauron`s spirit goes away temporarily, and all of his armies fall, for their source of power is the Dark Lord and his One Ring!
When Isildur cut the finger of Sauron, along with the ring, the spirit of Sauron is maimed and a large part of his power was cut off! Thus, the world is saved, the Last Alliance wins the war, all thanks to the mighty Narsil! Which, of course, is now broken!
Narsil in Rivendell:
After the Narsil broke into pieces, thanks to the dark lord, it was brought back to Rivendell. It was so because, after its battle with Sauron, the sword was considered legendary and Isildur decided to collect the broken pieces. He keeps them as an heirloom to the family. But he was soon killed after returning from the war by ORCS, thus leading to the ring being lost in a river, which, of course, was found by SMEAGOL, centuries later!
Reforging of Narsil:
The shards of the sword were kept in Elven stronghold for more than three thousand years, into the Third Age!
When Aragorn turns 20, Elrond thinks that now is the time that the sword be returned to its rightful owner, thus Aragorn takes the shards of the sword and keeps it to his side, waiting for the right time for its reforging, with Elrond`s words in mind “one may yet do great deeds with this weapon”! With the sword in Aragorn’s possession, Narsil, now called, Anduril, gains new meaning and Aragorn develops great intimacy with the sword!
The Prophecy:
When Elrond gave the sword to Aragorn, he also put forward a prophecy, that he is destined to do great things with this, that is, if he does not die before the said destiny is attained!
The bond between the Ranger and the sword grew to be so strong that when he was asked to leave the sword outside of the THEODEN’S HALL, he discreetly said no, and when he finally agreed to leave it outside, he leans it against the wall, saying, “Here I set it, Death shall befall any man who tries to draw Elendil’s sword!”
Summon the Dead:
Anduril, wielded by Aragorn, helps him on many occasions, partly when he tries to deal with the Army of the dead, claiming to be the rightful King of Gondor. The sword helps him to summon and lead the Army of the Dead in their efforts to breach The Black Gate.