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This article is about the sword. For the primordial tower that held aloft one of the Lamps of the Valar, see Ringil.
"But Fingolfin gleamed beneath it as a star; for his mail was overlaid with silver, and his blue shield was set with crystals; and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice."
The Silmarillion [1]

Ringil was the sword of Fingolfin, the High King of the Ñoldor.

History[]

Ringil was an Elvish sword that "bit" with a chilling cold, with a blade glittering "like ice" by the light of the stars. Fingolfin wielded it to great effect against Morgoth during their duel before the gates of Angband, wounding him seven times. However, he was slain by the Dark Lord, who broke Fingolfin's neck with his foot. With his last breath, Fingolfin hewed Morgoth's foot with Ringil, rendering him lame for the rest of his existence.[1] Ringil's ultimate fate is unknown, it may have been broken by Morgoth's foot, or it could have been stolen, and then experienced a similar fate to Glamdring and Orcrist. It is likely that neither Morgoth nor his subjects would wish to handle the blade, after the grievous injury it dealt to Morgoth.

Earlier versions of the legendarium[]

Before the tales in the Quenta Silmarillion evolved to their final versions, Ringil was a name of one of the lamp-pillars erected by Melko (Melkor) during the days of the coming of the Valar into Middle-earth - the name of the other pillar being Helkar. Melko (Melkor) made the two pillars, of ice, and from the light they melted, eventually forming seas and lakes.[2]

In the final account (the chapter "Of the Beginning of Days" of The Silmarillion), the two Lamps of the Valar themselves have names, and they are Illuin and Ormal - and it is Aulë, Yavanna, and Manwë who invent them. Ringil remained only the name of Fingolfin's sword, and bears the same meaning as it had before.

Etymology[]

The name Ringil may have come from the Quenya ringa ("damp, cold, chilly")[3] or ringi ("cold").[4]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Amharic ሪንጊል
Arabic رينجيل
Armenian Րինգիլ
Assamese ৰিংগিল
Belarusian Cyrillic Рынгіль
Bengali রিংইল
Bulgarian Cyrillic Рингил
Chinese 凛吉尔
Dari رینگل
Dogri रिंगिल
Georgian რინგილი
Greek Ρινγιλ
Gujarati રિંગિલ
Hebrew רינגיל
Japanese リンギル
Kannada ರಿಂಗಿಲ್
Kazakh Рінгіл (Cyrillic) Ringil (Latin)
Konkani रिंगिल
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Рингил
Macedonian Cyrillic Рингил
Marathi रिंगिल
Mongolian Cyrillic Рингил
Pashto رینګیل
Persian رینگیل
Punjabi ਰਿੰਗਿਲ
Russian Рингил
Sanskrit रिङिल्
Serbian Рингил (Cyrillic) Ringil (Latin)
Sinhalese රින්ගිල්
Tajik Cyrillic Рингил
Tamil ரிங்கில்
Tatar Рингил
Telugu రింగిల్
Ukrainian Cyrillic Рінґіл
Urdu رنگال
Uzbek Рингил (Cyrillic) Ringil (Latin)
Yiddish רינגיל


References[]

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