# Why Doesn't Gandalf's Sword Glow in The Mines of Moria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900 "2009-03-01T19:06:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/21 "2009-03-01T23:25:19Z")
Thanks, everyone! Particularly to those who had logical reasons for why they might have excluded it and to those who listened to the commentary. Mystery solved! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/22 "2009-03-01T23:50:58Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Uh . . . a thread discussing consistency of fantasy elements has no room in it for . . . a discussion on the consistency of fantasy elements? Noted, added to my mental CS sticky. If you want to dispute this, take it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/23 "2009-03-01T23:57:35Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > And I did. Answer almost as expected. I believe it’s Phillipa Boyen (but I can’t tell the women apart :)): > > \*\*PB: \*\*Somebody asked me why Glamdring wasn’t glowing. I must admit I didn’t know why. > \*\*PJ: \*\*Probably due to budgetary cuts. > > So the sword’s Glamdring, they knew it should be glowing, and they didn’t do it for a reason none of them really remember anymore. You could interpret that as either: We knew it was supposed to glow, but someone screwed up and it didn’t glow. We forgot (or didn’t know until after the fact) that it was supposed to glow, and therefore didn’t tell the fx guys to make it glow. Either way, they acknowledged that it was supposed to glow, but didn’t, so someone dropped the ball. Not that big of a deal IMO. I agree that non book reading audiences might’ve been a bit confused to see it glowing, since there was no explanatory bit in the movie about why Glamdring glowing when orcs were near. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/24 "2009-03-02T01:05:02Z")
How about… As a wizard, Gandalf exercises a greater degree of control over magic items than non-wizards. The glowing of swords near orcs is like an early warning system. Once Gandalf knew there were orcs around, there was no point in having his sword glow other than to attract unwanted attention, so he turned it off. It’s like if you wake up before your alarm clock goes off and turn it off. Clearly Gandalf did this off frame. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/25 "2009-03-02T01:08:12Z")
Maybe Gandalf with all his power could control the glow? I think the “someone forgot it” explanation is better but I’ll throw that one out there too. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/26 "2009-03-02T01:10:34Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Is it wrong that I think that would have been awesome? Well, it would have been visually distracting. (Not as distracting as Aragorn not getting Anduril until the 3rd movie under the circumstances he did, but still, it would be distracting.) It’s one of those things that works great in a book but not so well in a visual medium. I agree that it sounds cool but I think it would have to be very carefully done to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/27 "2009-03-02T08:19:21Z")
For what it’s worth, Tolkien appears to indicate that Glamdring glows even more strongly than Sting in the presence of Orcs. When the company is attacked at the Chamber of Mazarbul, “Glamdring shone with a pale light, and Sting glinted at the edges.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/28 "2009-03-02T16:53:04Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > The movies aren’t canon obviously, and they got it wrong. Their reasoning, if they did think about it, was probably that without a movie “The Hobbit”, there is no back story about Glamdring, and it would only confuse people. Which is silly, but likely the kind of thinking that would cause a decision like that to be made. I am, at best, ambivalent about the movies as a whole, and that makes perfect sense to me. I also think it was a mistake to have Aragorn yelling “Elendil” when he leaps to attack the Orcs at the end of the first movie. It’s distracting and contributes nothing to the overall movie-watching experience. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/29 "2009-03-02T17:00:08Z")
I thought not having Glamdring glow was a deliberate change from the book, in order to make Sting more unique. I can’t remember where I heard that, though. One of the DVD commentaries? An online interview? My own crazed imagination? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/30 "2009-03-02T17:14:03Z")
**lissener** , let me politely suggest that you missed the point of the thread. You’re talking about consistency on the part of Tolkien, the author of the book. The OP is in fact talking about the movie. The question is not “Why did Tolkien break his own rules and have Glamdring not glow?” which is the one you seem to be replying to. (I take your reply to mean: “Tolkien just made a mistake because he’s not perfect – it is not necessary to create a bogus in-universe explanation so we can pretend he is perfect.”) Rather, the question the OP is asking is “Why did the makers of the FOTR movie not have Glamdring glow, as we were told in the book that it should?” In other words, it’s a question about the movie makers’ choices in adapting the book, not an attempt to solicit a “fanwank” explanation (i.e. retroactive in-universe explanation) to explain a consistency error by the author. Hopefully I’m not out of line here . . . I’m taking **Marley** ’s above comments to mean “This is not the place to argue whether **lissener** ’s comments/tone are appropriate for the CS forum”, not “No further response to these comments is permitted in this thread”. I’m responding to the substance of **lissener** ’s comments (in a hopefully uncontentious way), not the tone or appropriateness. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/31 "2009-03-02T17:21:34Z")
My suspicion is that it didn’t further the plot to have Gandalf’s sword glow. It seems to me that, when we see Sting glowing in the movies, it’s doing so specifically because the characters need a warning of orcs in the area. We were watching The Two Towers on TNT on Saturday night. When Frodo and Sam are in Osgiliath, Frodo pulls out Sting, and threatens to stab Sam in the neck. Osgiliath’s lousy with orcs at that moment, and Sting should be glowing…but it isn’t. I theorize that, because the “spidey-sense” aspect of that glow didn’t further the plot in that scene, it wasn’t added. Taking that logic further…in scenes when Gandalf draws Glamdring, it’s usually already obvious that orcs are about. Thus, Glamdring glowing would add nothing, except for fanboy appreciation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/32 "2009-03-02T18:35:16Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > And actually, as many faults as I find with the movies, (and I do still love them anyways) the more I’m thinking about this, the more it probably makes sense to have Frodo’s sword be the only one that glows. Dramatic liberties simply have to be made when translating literature to the screen, and the impact of Frodo’s sword glowing would be diminished if Gandalf’s did as well, especially without explanation. It would make it seem more like ancient elven forged swords are a dime a dozen. This, really. They didn’t want to risk confusing the audience with more than one glowing sword. It was deliberate. I took definitely have the sense of having heard this somewhere, probably on the DVD commentary. Also, WRT to yelling “Elendil!” I disagree - it’s a fan nod and does no more harm to people who have no idea what he’s saying that having him yell “YAAAAAAA!”, “GERONIMO!” or “GRMFRBLMAAARG!” as he makes the jump. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/33 "2009-03-02T18:43:51Z")
I beleive that in the Book, Gandalf also has Frodo pull out Sting to check it for “Orc detection”?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/34 "2009-03-02T19:48:57Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Maybe Gandalf with all his power could control the glow? Think back on the whole series. Does Gandalf _have_ any power other than sometimes causing a glow? :dubious: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/35 "2009-03-02T19:55:04Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Think back on the whole series. Does Gandalf _have_ any power other than sometimes causing a glow? :dubious: 😛 He rarely displays his power, because doing them is contradictory with the overall mission of the Valar & Ainur at this point in Arda’s history. I mean, if the Valar thought it was best to remove Sauron by superior force, they could have sent Tulkas over to bitch-slap him and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/36 "2009-03-02T20:01:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > He rarely displays his power, because doing them is contradictory with the overall mission of the Valar & Ainur at this point in Arda’s history. Oh please. This is just the line that Gandalf uses when he’s trying to pick up women at the Prancing Pony. 😉 Come to think of it, the “Prancing Pony” doesn’t really sound like a place to pick up _women_, does it? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/37 "2009-03-02T20:06:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Oh please. This is just the line that Gandalf uses when he’s trying to pick up women at the Prancing Pony. 😉 > > Come to think of it, the “Prancing Pony” doesn’t really sound like a place to pick up _women_, does it? Ah yes. Bree. Where “the Men are Men, and the animals are a-skeer’d”. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/38 "2009-03-02T20:07:16Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Oh please. This is just the line that Gandalf uses when he’s trying to pick up women at the Prancing Pony. 😉 > > Come to think of it, the “Prancing Pony” doesn’t really sound like a place to pick up _women_, does it? Gandalf never states that he is an agent of the Valar. (Sorry, I left my sense of humor in my other suit.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/39 "2009-03-02T20:16:10Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Ah yes. Bree. > > Where “the Men are Men, and the animals are a-skeer’d”. I thought it was “Where men are men, and sheep are nervous.” ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900/40 "2009-03-02T20:28:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I thought it was “Where men are men, and sheep are nervous.” I t was, but the quote said “Prancing Pony” (notice lack of sheep). I tried changing the old saying to fit the quote better. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-gandalfs-sword-glow-in-the-mines-of-moria/487900.md?page=3)