In the books, there are numerous mention of Anduril slicing through enemies. This was usually armor and all. I would and did rate it a +5 Sharpness Sword. It seems to have glowed in sunlight and glinted a lot. Not so impressive but at Helm’s deep, The Glow of the sword was enough to slow done the orc advance.
Side note: As LotR was written by JRRT to be England great myth on parallel with Beowulf, I decided Narsil/Anduril went on to be Excalibur. Again in the hands of the True King. Just my speculation.
In the book, Narsil is reforged before they set out from Rivendell, and Aragorn carries it for the rest of the trilogy.
In the movies, Aragorn continues to carry his regular old sword until mid-way through The Return of the King. Meanwhile, back in Rivendell, Arwen convinces Elrond to reforge the sword. Then Elrond takes it to the encampment at Dunharrow. He presents Anduril to Aragorn, who then takes the Paths of the Dead.
When considering magical weapons and objects in Middle Earth, it’s probably a good idea to bear in mind the nature of elvish magic. Elves don’t really do magic, for the most part. It’s more as if they simply are magic. If you ask an elf if something he’s made is magical, he’ll generally tell you no…shortly before the item in question demonstrates extraordinary properties.
The reason is that elves don’t generally have to do anything special to make something special. Over and above their remarkable skills (you make rope or forge swords for 10,000 years, and you’ll probably pick up a few tricks, too), they put a bit of themselves in the things they make. Their handiwork often has a nebulous sort of life. Glamdring and Orcrist didn’t have a spell on them to make them glow when orcs were about–the swords themselves simply hated orcs, and glowed with anger when any were around. Similarly, Sam’s rope wasn’t enchanted to untie itself on mental command–it knew it was wanted, and let go. Here’s a passage from The Hobbit to illustrate what I mean:
“He took out his sword, and again it flashed in the dark by itself. It burned with a rage that made it gleam if goblins were about; now it was bright as blue flame for delight in the killing of the great lord of the cave. It made no trouble whatever of cutting through the goblin-chains and setting all the prisoners free as quickly as possible.”
What does all this have to do with Narsil/Anduril? Narsil was originally forged by the greatest dwarven smith of the First Age, Telchar. The dwarves were known to use magic, often in conjunction with runes. The eastern gates of Khazad-dûm bore protective spells written in a runic script and language used exclusively by dwarves, for example. The Dragon Helm bore runes of victory and possessed great protective virtues. It’s not mentioned whether or not Narsil was engraved with runes, but it seems likely; regardless, it is nowhere established that runes are necessary for dwarven magic. I think we may be certain Narsil held a fair share of the power Telchar could forge into a weapon. At the very least, it would surely have been preternaturally sharp and tough, and would strike harder than any ordinary blade. Presumably, those virtues remained even after it was broken–remember, Isildur used the hilt-shard to cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand.
Moreover, when it was reforged, it would have acquired an elven virtue of sorts to go with that magic. By its nature, it would want to help its wielder against the enemies of elvenkind (above and beyond being incredibly sharp and tough). When the books mention it flashing or glowing, I picture it as looking like sunlight reflecting off the River Bruinen.
This sums it up pretty well. Most of the magic items in Tokiens world were inherently magical rather than enchanted to be magic. The whole good vs evil theme extends to the items and objects created and used by the two sides. Gollum was hurt by the mere touch of Elven rope and Lembas was nasty tasting to him simply because it was made by the elves (in their little tree).
All of this extends to Anduril/Narsil. It was the sword of the king and therefore it was inherently better than “common” swords in the same way that the King is inherently better than his subjects. This wasn’t expressed in a scientific way. It was simply that the sword seemed to be sharper, faster, lighter and better balanced than other blades. It was a Kingly Sword. All this is in addition to the symbolic power it had as the signifier of the heir to the throne of Gondor.
Yup. It’s interesting that JRRT never specifically describes it that way. It’s simply *understood * that the sword of a king is better than other blades.
Damn. When explained that way, it adds to the beauty of the entire saga. A simple assumption, virtually taken for granted, explains what 7000 words of debate couldn’t. Thanks for the insight/reminder. (I knew there was reason JRRT is the only Fant I really care about.)
I quite agree–JRRT liked the idea of “subcreatorship”–creatures using their Eru-given talents to make something that, on a smaller scale, was qualitatively like the creation of Eru. Their creations live on long after they do, and their original makers would have been pleased to know that they continue to do their maker’s wills. Applying this idea to our real world, one might get a similiar result from an author who put all of his soul, talent and creativity into making a book about a world that is a really excellent thing and speaks to a whole lot of people, even a long time after he is dead.
I personally think it a wise decision that Anduril did not speak–look at the psychosis Mormegil (Turin’s sword) displayed when it communicated.
First off, “the Mormegil” was a nickname of Turin himself. You’re thinking of Gurthang, the weapon formerly known as Anglachel. And it only piped up in a kind of swansong when Turin asked the sword if it help him commit suicide, whereupon the sword expressed a willingness to oblige in order to wash out the stain of its former master, killed by accident, and another man, killed unjustly, by Turin. The rest of the time it kept shtum.
:smack: Damn, you’re right–it only means the black sword. The sword itself, alas, was originally subcreated by Eol, and I personally wouldn’t care to rely on an object that had a bit of his soul in it. It would speak up in the context of despair and suicide.
