3 Talk

Orcrist

Thorin Oakenshield wielding Orcrist from Peter Jackson's The Hobbit movies.

Orcrist was the weapon of the Dwarf Lord Thorin Oakenshield from Tolkien's novel, The Hobbit.

In Sindarin Orcrist is said to mean "Goblin Cleaver", (Goblin being a synonym for Orc used mainly in The Hobbit). In The Hobbit, the goblins called it Biter. Many of the famed weapons in Tolkien's stories had names, such as Glamdring, Narsil and Sting. It was crafted by the Elves, which not only made it a valuable weapon, but a feared one as well, particularly amongst the traditional enemies of the Elves, being Orcs and other evil creatures of Middle-earth. Like Glamdring and Sting, the blade could detect the presence of Orcs and Goblins, and warn its bearer by glowing blue.

HistoryEdit

As the "mate" to King Turgon's sword, Glamdring, Orcrist was likely borne by a high ranking lord in the King's entourage. Only four possibilities for wielders present themselves: Maeglin, Tuor, Ecthelion of the Fountain, and Glorfindel. Since Maeglin presumably still had his father's sword, Anguirel, it was likely not his. Tuor seems to have come to Gondolin after Glamdring had been forged (see Unfinished Tales), and since Orcrist was its mate, it should have been forged before his arrival as well. In any case, Tuor bore an axe, not a sword. This leaves only Ecthelion and Glorfindel as possible bearers. Of the two, Glorfindel died outside of the city, slaying a Balrog. Thus, the most probable assumption is that Orcrist belonged to Ecthelion, but this is never stated explicitly in any of Tolkien's writings. It is interesting that if Orcrist did belong to Ecthelion, the two swords were both used to fight the two most famous balrogs, Orcrist to fight Gothmog and Glamdring to fight Durin's Bane.

The only way to explain the sword's survival through the War of Wrath is that the sword somehow was taken out of Beleriand within the 43 years after Gondolin's fall and before the end of the First Age. This was most likely accomplished by one of the flightless dragons involved in Gondolin's fall, most probably the dragon later to be known as Scatha the Worm. After fleeing east with the spoils of Gondolin, including Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting, Scatha likely established a lair on the southern slopes of Ered Mithrin (Mountains of Shadow). Roughly, around TA 2000, Rohirrim leader Fram killed Scatha, but the hoard was disputed by the dwarves (it undoubtedly did contain many dwarven treasures as well, like the horn gifted to Meriadoc by Eowyn). The dwarves killed Fram and made off with some of the hoard, most likely including the swords of Gondolin. The swords would have been used 700 years later in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, revenging the death of Thror and culminating in the Battle of Azanulbizar or Nanduhirion (where young Thorin Oakenshield earned his name). Thus, the orcs would have a fresh fear of Biter and Beater (as demonstrated by their reactions when they captured Bilbo and company). Years after the battle, the dwarven wielders of the Elvish swords were most likely relocating to Lindon during the Fell Winter of TA 2911, when they were waylaid unsuspectingly by trolls in the Ettenmoors. Thus the swords ultimately fell into the hands of the three trolls (Bill, Bert, and Tom) from The Hobbit by the end of the Third Age.

In The Hobbit, Thorin Oakenshield and his company of dwarves found Orcrist and Glamdring in the cave of the three trolls, and Thorin claimed it as his own, while Gandalf claimed Glamdring. Thorin bore Orcrist throughout most of The Quest of Erebor. It, and Glamdring, was used against the goblins of the Misty Mountains, when they captured the group, yet again renewing their hatred of the elvish weapons. It was eventually taken from Thorin during his captivity in the Woodland Realm by Thranduil the Elfking. It was returned to Thorin only after his death at the Battle of the Five Armies. Orcrist was then placed upon Thorin's tomb alongside the Arkenstone, and it is said that the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) could never be taken by surprise thereafter, as the blade "gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached".

In The Hobbit movies (2012) it is more similar in shape and overall appearance to Sting. This is strange, because, in theory, it should be similar to Glamdring, seeing as how it is the mate of Orcrist. However, Sting may have been forged as a matching knife for Orcrist which may explain the similarities between the two.

Weapons of Middle-earth