The Encyclopedia of Arda - Sword Reforged (original) (raw)
High King Elendil bore a sword of ancient lineage, forged by the famed Dwarf Telchar in the smithies of Nogrod. It shone with the light of the Sun and the Moon, and it was therefore named Narsil (which combined the Elvish names of those two lights). It was already at least three thousand years old when Elendil bore it to the War of the Last Alliance, but in his final battle with Sauron on Mount Doom, the sword was broken. With the broken shard at its hilt, Elendil's heir Isildur cut the One Ring from the defeated Sauron's hand.
The Shards of Narsil were carried northward by Isildur, and they survived the Disaster of the Gladden Fields to come into the hands of Isildur's son Valandil. From him, the shards were held as an heirloom by Elendil's descendants through the long Third Age, until the War of the Ring loomed at that Age's end.
As the Fellowship of the Ring prepared to set out on their desperate quest, the Elves of Rivendell took the Shards of Narsil and forged them into a new sword. This Sword Reforged blazed red in the light of the Sun, and shone white in moonlight. Isildur's Heir at that time, Aragorn, took up the sword and gave it a new name: Andúril, Flame of the West.
Aragorn carried the Sword Reforged through all the hardships that followed, using it often in battle. When he confronted Sauron through a palantír, he showed the remade sword to the Dark Lord, who recognised and feared the blade of his ancient enemy. At last Aragorn came before the gates of Minas Tirith and was accepted by the people as their new King, and his possession of the Sword Reforged is given as one of many reasons that he was able to reclaim the Kingship of the Dúnedain.
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- Updated 9 February 2024
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