The Black Arrow was an heirloom of the house of Girion, Lord of Dale, passed down to Bard, his descendant.
History
The Black Arrow was Bard the Bowman's last remaining arrow when Smaug attacked Laketown and, directed by a Thrush who had overheard a conversation between Bilbo Baggins and Smaug, he shot it with remarkable speed into a weak spot in the left part of the chest of the dragon's natural armour of scales, killing him, and thus freeing Lonely Mountain, Dale, and Lake town.
The Black Arrow was forged by Thrór, who was the King under the Mountain before its fall seated in the Lonely Mountain, according to The Hobbit. It is not known if it had any magical properties, but Bard said that he had successfully retrieved it every time he used it (like Beleg's arrow Dailir).[1]
Portrayal in adaptations
The Hobbit film trilogy
The Black Arrow, as seen in The Hobbit films
In The Hobbit film series, the Black Arrow is not a single regular-sized arrow, but rather one in a series of large metal quarrels, designed to be fired by windlance ballistae at attacking dragons. The arrows themselves are roughly 2 metres in length with heavy twisted steel heads, combining elements of both spears and harpoons. The Black Arrows are the only known weapons with enough power to pierce the armoured hide of dragons.
As seen in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey extended edition, and again in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, during Smaug's original assault on the Lonely Mountain , all but one of the Black Arrows were spent, as Girion, Lord of Dale attempted to shoot down Smaug in defence of the city. One of his shots managed to break off an armoured scale protecting the left side of the dragon’s chest. However Girion was himself killed by Smaug before taking a final shot. It is later revealed that the last Black Arrow was kept as an heirloom by Girion's descendants.
After Thorin and Company accidentally release Smaug upon Laketown, Bard the Bowman, a direct descendent of Girion, retrieves the arrow from his home and attempts to reach Laketown’s windlance ballista, intent on slaying Smaug. However he was arrested by the corrupt Master of Laketown before reaching the weapon, prompting his son Bain to instead hide the arrow in a boat, narrowly avoiding it being seized by the Master’s guards.
During The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Bain retrieves the arrow in the midst of Smaug’s assault upon Laketown, bringing it to Bard whilst he is attempting to shoot down the dragon with regular arrows fired from a longbow. During this exchange, Smaug attacks the belltower they are standing on, shattering the limbs of Bard’s bow. Improvising, Bard attaches his bowstring to the ruined tower’s posts and, using his son as a stand, fires the arrow into the weak spot on the dragon’s chest, puncturing his exposed skin and piercing his heart. Enraged, Smaug soars into the sky before succumbing to the arrow’s wound, his corpse falling onto the town’s burning ruins, crushing the Master and sinking his boat.
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Swart Pyl |
| Albanian | Shigjeta e Zezë |
| Amharic | ጥቁር ቀስት |
| Armenian | Բլածկ Արրու |
| Arabic | السهم الأسود |
| Azerbaijani | Ox Qara |
| Basque | Gezi Beltza |
| Belarusian | чорная стрэлка |
| Bengali | কাল তীর |
| Bosnian | Crna Strelica |
| Breton | Bir Du |
| Bulgarian | Черна стрела |
| Catalan | Fletxa negra |
| Chinese | 黑色箭頭 |
| Cornish | Seth Du |
| Croatian | Crna Strelica |
| Czech | Černá Šipka |
| Danish | Sort Pil |
| Dari | بلاچک ارروو |
| Dutch | Zwarte Pijl |
| Esperanto | Nigra Sago |
| Estonian | Must Nool |
| Finnish | Musta Nuoli |
| French | Flèche Noire |
| Georgian | შავი ისარი |
| German | Schwarzer Pfeil |
| Greek | Μαύρο βέλος |
| Gujarati | બ્લેક એરો |
| Haiti Creole | Nwa Flèch |
| Hebrew | חץ שחור |
| Hawaiian | ʻeleʻele Pua |
| Hindi | काले तीर |
| Hungarian | Fekete Nyíl |
| Icelandic | Svartur Ör |
| Italian | Freccia Nera |
| Indonesian | Panah Hitam |
| Irish Gaelic | Saighead Dubh |
| Japanese | 黒い矢印 |
| Kannada | ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಾಣದ |
| Kazakh | қара көрсеткі |
| Khmer (Cambodian) | ព្រួញខ្មៅ |
| Korean | 검은색 화살표 |
| Kurdish | بلاچک ئڕۆو ? (Cyrillic) Tîra Reş (Latinised) |
| Kyrgyz | кара жебе |
| Lao | ລູກສອນສີດໍາ |
| Latin | Nigrum Sagittam |
| Latvian | Melna Bulta |
| Lithuanian | Juodoji Strėlė |
| Luxembourgish | Schwaarz Pfeil |
| Macedonian | црна стрелка |
| Malay | Anak panah hitam |
| Maltese | Vleġġa Sewda |
| Manx | Side Doo |
| Maori | Pere Pango |
| Marathi | काळा बाण |
| Mongolian | хар сум |
| Navajo | Łizhin Kʼaaʼ ? |
| Nepali | कालो तीर |
| Norwegian | Svarte Pilen |
| Pashto | تور غشی |
| Persian | سیاه فلش ? |
| Polish | Czarna Strzała |
| Portuguese | Seta Preta |
| Punjabi | ਕਾਲਾ ਤੀਰ |
| Romanian | Săgeată Neagră |
| Romansh | Nair Frizza ? |
| Russian | Чёрная стрела |
| Samoan | Uliuli Aū |
| Scottish Gaelic | Dubh Saighead |
| Serbian | Црна стрелица (Cyrillic) Crna Strelica (Latinised) |
| Siamese (Thai) | ลูกศรสีดำ |
| Sindhi | ڪارو تير |
| Sinhala | කළු සරය |
| Slovak | Čierna Šípka |
| Slovenian | Črna Puščica |
| Somali | Falaar Madow |
| Spanish | Flecha Negra |
| Sudanese | Panah Hideung |
| Swahili | Mshale Mweusi |
| Swedish | Svart Pil |
| Tajik | тирчаи сиёҳ |
| Tamil | கருப்பு அம்புக்குறி |
| Telugu | నలుపు బాణం |
| Turkish | Siyah Oku |
| Turkmen | Gara Görkezgiç ? |
| Ukrainian | Чорну стрілку |
| Urdu | بلیک ایرو |
| Uyghur | بلاچك ارروۋ |
| Uzbek | Блачк Арроw ? (Cyrillic) Qora Kamon o'qi ? (Latinised) |
| Vietnamese | Mũi tên màu đen |
| Welsh | Saeth Ddu |
| Yiddish | שוואַרץ פייַל |
| Xhosa | Abamnyama Utolo |
| Yoruba | Dudu ọfà |
| Barrow-blades • Sting | |
| Durin's Axe • Orcrist | |
| Grond (battering ram) • Grond (hammer) • Morgul-knife | |
| Aeglos • Anglachel • Anguirel • Angrist • Aranrúth • Belthronding • Dailir • Glamdring • Orcrist • Ringil | |
| Andúril • Dramborleg • Black arrow • Dagmor • Gúthwinë • Gurthang • Herugrim • Narsil • Red Arrow | |
References
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter 10: "A Warm Welcome"