Narsil was a longsword wielded by King Elendil during the War of the Last Alliance, and used by his son, Isildur, to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand during the final battle of that war, being shattered in the process. It consequently was known as the Sword that was Broken.
It was later reforged into Andúril, and would become the sword of Aragorn II Elessar.
History
The sword was forged during the First Age by the famed Dwarven-smith Telchar of Nogrod; its knife mate was Angrist.
Second Age
The sword was presumably taken to Númenor, where it eventually became the property of the Lords of Andúnië. Nothing is known of Narsil's owners in this time, save that the sword eventually passed to Elendil of Andúnië.
War of the Last Alliance
During the final battle between the Last Alliance and Mordor, Narsil broke into two pieces when Elendil and Gil-galad fought Sauron themselves and were slain. Taking up the handle-shard of Narsil after his father's defeat, Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, defeating him.
Isildur took the shards home with him. Shortly before he was killed in the second year of the Third Age in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Isildur gave the shards to his squire Ohtar and commanded him to escape if he could. Ohtar did so and took the shards to Rivendell, where they passed to the next king, Isildur's son, Valandil.[2]
Third Age
The shards of Narsil were passed down as an heirloom by the heirs of Isildur among the Dúnedain of the North. The sword's last owner was Aragorn, son of Arathorn.[3]
War of the Ring
Before the Fellowship of the Ring departed Rivendell on the Quest of the Ring, the shards of Narsil were re-forged by the Elves into Andúril, which Aragorn carried into the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of the Black Gate.
Etymology
In Quenya, Narsil means "Red and white flame", from nár ("fire") and thil ("white flame").[4] It symbolizes the Sun and Moon, the "chief heavenly lights, as enemies of darkness".[5]
In other versions
In other writings, Narsil was named Branding, after it was reforged into Andúril.[6]
In adaptations
In Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
In the The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) by Ralph Bakshi, Aragorn uses the sword, which still has the longer part of the blade attached to the hilt, as his primary weapon, before it is reforged.
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, Narsil was not broken in two but into several parts (which were kept at Rivendell), and is not reforged into Andúril until the third film. Aragorn uses an ordinary sword during the first two films. Prior to the third film, his attitude towards the sword is a mix of reverence and reluctance. On the one hand, he carefully replaces the hilt on its pedestal after Boromir carelessly lets it drop to the floor, but he is reluctant to claim possession of it, as it represents the kingship of Gondor. It is not until the third film that Arwen persuades Elrond to have the sword re-forged by the Elves, and Elrond in turn persuades Aragorn to accept it, as the symbol of kingship with which he can command obedience from the Army of the Dead.
In a scene from the extended version (which also appears in the book), Aragorn challenges Sauron by contacting him via the palantír of Orthanc and showing him "the sword of Elendil" re-forged.
Comedian Stephen Colbert owns the sword model used for Andúril as seen used by Aragorn.
In The Hobbit film trilogy
Narsil briefly appears in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition.
Series
All the Followers of Númenor are accused of treachery by Ar-Pharazôn and are then arrested by the king's guards. Elendil goes to the queen, asking her to flee with him to the west of the island. She refuses to leave her people, but offers them the Narsil sword and asks them to leave the city.
Translations
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Amharic | ኛርሲል |
Arabic | نارسيل |
Armenian | Նարսիլ |
Belarusian Cyrillic | Нарсіль |
Bengali | নারশীল |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | Нарсил |
Catalan | Nàrsil |
Chinese (Hong Kong) | 納希爾聖劍 |
Chinese (Mandarin) | 纳熙尔 |
Georgian | ნარსილი |
Greek | Ναρσιλ |
Gujarati | નરસીલ |
Hebrew | נארסיל |
Hindi | णर्सिल |
Japanese | ナルシール |
Kazakh | Нарсіл (Cyrillic) ? |
Korean | 나르실 |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Нарсил |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Нарсил |
Marathi | नरसील |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Нарсил |
Nepalese | नार्सिल |
Persian | نارسیل |
Punjabi | ਨਅਰਸਿਲ |
Russian | Нарсил |
Serbian | Нарсил (Cyrillic) Narsil (Latin) |
Sinhalese | නර්සිල් |
Tajik Cyrillic | Нарсил |
Tamil | நர்ஸில் |
Telugu | నర్సిల్ |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Нарсіл |
Urdu | نآرسال |
Uzbek | Нарсил (Cyrillic) Narsil (Latin) |
Yiddish | נאַרסיל |
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 Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter VI: "The King of the Golden Hall"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter II: "The Council of Elrond"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
- ↑ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 347 To Richard Jeffery
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VIII: The War of the Ring, Part Three: Minas Tirith, IX: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields", Notes