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"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."
J.R.R. Tolkien[2]

Andúril, also called the Flame of the West and the Sword Reforged, was the sword which was reforged from the shards of Narsil in Rivendell.

It was the sword of Aragorn II Elessar, heir of Isildur.

History

Third Age

War of the Ring

Narsil

Narsil, before it was reforged as Andúril

After the Council of Elrond, the Elves of Rivendell reforged Narsil into a new sword, which Aragorn named Andúril. He carried it throughout the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring. In Lothlórien, Galadriel and Celeborn gave Aragorn a sheath for Andúril. It was made by the Galadhrim, and was overlaid with a tracery of flowers and leaves and elven runes spelling out the name of the sword and its lineage. There was an enchantment upon the scabbard so that the blade that was drawn from it would not be stained or broken, even in defeat.[3]

In Rohan, Aragorn used it as evidence of his heritage when he, Legolas, and Gimli first met Éomer. He reluctantly set it aside before meeting Théoden, telling Háma that death would come to any man except himself who drew it from its scabbard.[1]

Telchar forged the original sword, Narsil. Telchar also forged Angrist, the knife that pried a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth, and the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin.

Etymology

The name Andúril means "Flame of the West", from the Quenya andúnë ("west, sunset") and ril ("brilliance").[4]

In adaptations

Anduril

Aragorn holding Andúril, the blade Narsil reforged, as depicted in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy by Peter Jackson

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

The sword's first appearance, as Narsil, is in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring in the possession of Elendil during the Battle of Dagorlad, holding it high to rally his men to him. Sauron emerges and kills both Gil-galad and Elendil. Isildur rushes to Elendil's aid, but Elendil is already dead. Isildur picks up the sword to fight Sauron himself, but Sauron knocks aside Isildur's attacks and stomps on the blade, shattering it into several pieces. Sensing victory, Sauron reaches for Isildur to finish him off, but the Man, unbowed, manages to use the hilt of Narsil and what remained of its broken blade to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. It is not seen again until Aragorn and the Hobbits arrive at Rivendell under the guard and care of Elrond and his Elves.

After Aragorn and the Hobbits safely arrive in Rivendell, Aragorn takes time to rest and is reading a book when he is disturbed by Boromir's intrusion. Boromir, seemingly in awe of the mythical sword grabs the hilt, runs his finger along the blade and cuts himself — surprised that the blade is still sharp after 3,000 years, then accidentally drops the hilt on the ground when he catches Aragorn staring at him. Aragorn, out of respect, picks the hilt up and returns it to its rightful spot.

The sword is not seen again until The Return of the King when Aragorn and the Rohirrim are camped at Dunharrow. Arwen pleads with her father Elrond to reforge the sword, convinced that the enemy could be defeated. Reluctantly, Elrond agrees and has the shards of Narsil reforged into Andúril by the smiths of Rivendell. The sword is then engraved with runes saying "Anar. Nányë Andúril I né Narsil i macil Elendilo. Lercuvantan i móli Mordórëo. Isil." in Quenya, which translates as "Sun. I am Andúril who was once Narsil, sword of Elendil. The slaves of Mordor shall flee from me. Moon".[5]

The sword is presented to Aragorn at Dunharrow by Elrond, who, along with Andúril, brought grave news. Elrond's daughter, Arwen, is dying and her fate is now tied to that of the One Ring. His other news is equally grim: while Sauron's armies march to Minas Tirith, the Dark Lord has sent a fleet of Corsairs sailing for Gondor from the south that will arrive in two days. Elrond has one piece of advice to temper the ill news; If Aragorn takes the Paths of the Dead, with the power of Andúril he will be able to call forth an army greater than any living army, and with that army he will have a chance to stop the Corsairs and save Arwen. It is this sword that manages to stop the King of the Dead, unlike Legolas' arrow or Gimli's axe. Aragorn uses the sword as his primary weapon for the rest of the film. In an extended scene, just before the Battle of the Black Gate, Aragorn confronts Sauron through Saruman's palantír, and goads him by showing him "the sword of Elendil" that defeated Sauron during the Second Age. Sauron, however, responds with a vision of a dying Arwen, shaking Aragorn's confidence and making him drop and shatter the Evenstar. At The Battle of the Black Gate Aragorn beheads the Mouth of Sauron with Anduril.

A prop is currently owned by Stephen Colbert,[6] and Queen Noor knighted him with that same sword.[7]

The Hobbit film trilogy

In the extended edition of Jackson's An Unexpected Journey, the shards of Narsil appear as Bilbo Baggins explores Rivendell, after he, Gandalf, and Thorin Oakenshield's company of Dwarves take refuge there during their quest to reclaim Erebor. Bilbo passes by the shards of Narsil and the altar they were laid upon, and takes a brief moment to examine the fresco that shows Isildur raising the hilt of the broken sword against Sauron, of which Bilbo's attention is drawn towards the One Ring on Sauron's hand.

Translations

Foreign Language Translated name
Amharic ዓንዱሪል
Armenian Անդուրիլը
Belarusian Cyrillic Андуріл
Bengali আন্দ্রিল
Bulgarian Cyrillic Андурил
Chinese (Cantonese) 安督利爾聖劍
Chinese (Mandarin) 安督利尔
Greek Αντούριλ
Hebrew אנדוריל
Hindi आन्दुरिल
Japanese アンドゥーリル
Kazakh Андрюль (Cyrillic) Andryul (Latin)
Kannada ಆಂಡ್ರುರಿಲ್
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Андурил
Macedonian Cyrillic Андурил
Mongolian Cyrillic Андурил
Nepalese आन्दुरिल
Persian اندوریل
Russian Анду́риль
Sanskrit आन्दुरिल्
Serbian Андурил (Cyrillic) Anduril (Latin)
Sinhalese ආඳුරිල්
Tajik Cyrillic Андурил
Tamil அந்தூரில்
Telugu అందురిల్
Thai อันดูริล
Ukrainian Cyrillic Андуріл
Urdu اندرال
Uzbek Андурил (Cyrillic) Anduril (Latin)
Yiddish ײַנדוריל


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter VI: "The King of the Golden Hall"
  2. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter III: "The Ring goes South"
  3. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter VIII: "Farewell to Lórien"
  4. Parma Eldalamberon, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare, "Aragorn", pg. 206
  6. The blurred reality of Stephen Colbert’s world. (2008, June 12). Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  7. Stephen Colbert Knighted by Queen Noor of Jordan. (2009, April 7). Retrieved April 18, 2015.
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