Glamdring

"This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore."

― Elrond, A Short Rest

	Glamdring.mp3
	By Ardamir. (Help; more articles)

Glamdring by John Howe.

Glamdring was a sword, said to have belonged to Turgon, but best known as the sword of Gandalf during the War of the Ring.

History

According to Elrond, Glamdring was worn by the King of Gondolin¹. Though he did not directly identify this king as Turgon, there was no other King of Gondolin. As the Orcs of the Misty Mountains dreaded this weapon enough to call it Beater², Turgon must have wielded it with great success in either of his two battles against Morgoth - the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or the Fall of Gondolin. It somehow survived the latter event, and by unexplained means it ended up in a cave in the Trollshaws. There, in T.A. 2941, it was found by Gandalf and a group of dwarves, along with Sting and Orcrist³. Gandalf claimed the weapon as his own, not knowing what the runes read. Elrond, who knew all runes, translated the runes, and called it "Foe-hammer"⁴.

Gandalf continued to use the weapon during the War of the Ring; first, against Durin's Bane, and later in the Battle of the Morannon. Whether or not he took it with him to the Undying Lands in T.A. 3021 is not mentioned.

Appearance

Glamdring and Orcrist are described in The Hobbit as having "beautiful scabbards and jewelled hilts"⁵. They would glow blue in the presence of Orcs. The sword of Turgon (whether or not this is Glamdring remains open to debate) is described as "a white and gold sword in a ruel-bone (ivory) sheath"⁶. Tolkien made one scetch of Glamdring. The sword has a short, diamond shaped blade⁷. Whether this was the actual appearance of the sword, or only served to show the inscription (see below, remains to be seen. The sword as drawn would require a very broad scabbard.

Rune inscription

When he took the sword, Gandalf said he could not read the runes. Elrond did, however. This could be considered strange, because in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is portrayed as a person of at least equal wisdom and knowledge to Elrond.

Troubled by this problem, Tolkien devised the "Runes of Gondolin", first published in Mythlore 69⁸. The inscription is also shown; nine runes written on the blade of the sword. These runes say, with the Runes of Gondolin, "GLAMDRING". However, if they were to be read with Angerthas Moria in mind, they would read "MZ(unknown)ŪNRI(unknown)M".

Etymology

Glamdring is comprised of two elements. The first element is glam, literally meaning "noisy ", but poetically used as "Orc". The second element is dring, said to mean "hammer"⁹. Its Westron name was Foe-hammer¹⁰.

Portrayal in adaptations

File:Bakshi-lotr.jpg

Glamdring in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings.

In Rankin/Bass' The Hobbit, Gandalf acquires Glamdring in the trolls' cave. Gandalf can not read the runes. Elrond states he can; but appears to recognize it at first glance. After leaving Rivendell, Glamdring does not appear again.

In Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, Glamdring is portrayed as an ordinary longsword, with no inscription visible. It is featured as the centerpiece of most posters, allthough it does not feature so prominently in the movie.

In Rankin/Bass' The Return of the King, Gandalf does not use a sword, only his staff.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, Glamdring is a longsword that does not glow blue in the presence of Orcs. The Noble Collection replica states the sword is 47 inches (approximately 120 centimeters) in length¹¹.

The rune inscription is engraved in the cross-guard, and adds power to the sword. With this extra power he was able to defeat Durin's Bane¹². "Turgon aran Gondolin tortha gar a matha i vegil Glamdring gûd daedheloth, dam an Glamhoth". This translates to "Turgon, king of Gondolin, wields, has, and holds the sword Glamdring, Foe of Morgoth's realm, Hammer of the Orcs"¹³. The language is Sindarin, which causes a problem: in an essay¹⁴ written late in Tolkien's life, he explicitly states that Turgon had re-established Quenya as the language of his household in Gondolin.

References

1. The Hobbit, A Short Rest.
2. The Hobbit, Over Hill and Under Hill.
3. The Hobbit, Roast Mutton.
4. The Hobbit, A Short Rest.
5. The Hobbit, Roast Mutton.
6. Unfinished Tales, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin, note 31.
7. "Runes of Gondolin" by Lisa Star.
8. ibid.
9. The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Etymologies, roots GLAM- and DRING-.
10. The Hobbit, A Short Rest.
11. The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare by Chris Smith.
12. "Sword Inscriptions" by Ryszard Derdzinski, Gwaith i-Phethdain.
13. The Peoples of Middle-earth, The Shibboleth of Fëanor.