In fairness, I don’t think Tolkien ever got around to calling them anything else, other than “winged steeds,” which is not really an improvement. It’s an interesting exception, as he’s generally so fastidious about names, and I think it’s likely an intentional contrast: “These things were so messed up, nobody even knew what the hell they were. But they were really messed up, all right.”
FWIW, I always envisioned them as black, nasty-looking pteranodons. As a result, I had a hard time accepting the giant flying eels in Peter Jackson’s movies.
Hijack: does anyone know if there’s a currently available recording of Tolkien reading from his own works? I used to have a tape of him reciting “Riddles in the Dark,” but it has long since passed to Obsolete Audio Media Valinor.
It is purest supposition that Orcrist was wielded by Ecthelion. JRRT wrote nothing (that I’m aware of) tying the two of them together. Given Gondolin’s large population, I expect other heroic elvish figures went unmentioned, including many other Noldor in exile. They could well have wielded Orcrist in their day.
Agreed, but Ecthalion was the great Captain of Gondolin and Orcrist and Glamring appeared to be brothers of the forge. I just think he was the likeliest. I wondered why the Wiki editor came to the same reasoning?
Only the Orcs considered Glamdring and Orcrist to be a pair, but from anyone else’s point of view, Glamdring would be far superior. Glamdring is the Foe-hammer, while Orcrist is the Goblin-cleaver. In other words, Orcrist was a specialized weapon for slaying orcs, while Glamdring would be equally effective against all foes. And while Ecthelion was a great hero, he’s most famous for fighting not orcs, but a Balrog.
In D&D terms, Glamdring would be a Longsword +5, while Orcrist would probably be a Longsword +2, +5 vs. Goblinoids.
Against my argument is the fact that Elrond would probably have known who Orcrist was wielder by. He may not have bothered mentioning Ecthalion however as Thorin would not have a clue who he was.
Oh, and I found the reference to a Nazgul carrying an orc:
From The Two Towers, book III, chapter 3, “The Uruk-Hai”:
It’s not quite explicit, but the implication is that the Nazgul carried Grishnakh across the river, and would be able to fly back with Grishnakh and both prisoners (Merry and Pippin).
Well, he wouldn’t. They despised the very sight of the horrid things. Similarly when Merry and Pippin were picked up by the Uruk-hai, their Barrow-blades got tossed aside straight away, for the Orcs recognised them as Numenorean manufacture and jam-packed with anti-Darkness enchantments. That was reason enough to leave them lying.
Except for the special purpose: slay Morgul Lords; special purpose power: Dispel Morgul Lord’s “invulnerabillty to normal weapons” enchantment on a successful hit factor, the Barrow-blades were surely less in power than the weapons the Gondolindrim were knocking out. Good as the Numenoreans were, in Gondolin there were smiths who’d lived in the Blessed Realm and may even have personally taken lessons from Aule! If you’re a Goblin-King, you’d as soon stuff your throne cushion with plutonium as keep that kind of thing about the place.