Talk:Narsil

This article was nominated for deletion on 5 August 2012 (UTC). The result of the discussion was merge to List of Middle-earth weapons and armour.

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Untitled

Another change made for the movie was to make it a longsword, i.e. a two-handed (or one-and-a-half-handed) weapon. There is no evidence it was intended as such, all the more since these are weapons from the late high and late middle ages and the Renaissance. Tolkien describes in the HoME that the Numenoreans fought using shields. A weapon this long is not really practical in such a fighting style -besides, Narsil was forged by Dwarves.

In the hands of a strong person, there is no reason why a one-and-a-half-handed sword could not be used with a shield. The name itself derives from the fact that the swordsman can use it with one hand, or use half of his other hand for extra force, the sword being made light enough to use in one hand. ---

"The blade presumably was given to one of the Sons of Fëanor, possibly Curufin, to whom Angrist was given. It eventually came to Maglor, who would have given it to Elros."

Although well-informed and reasonable speculation, this statement is still just that -- speculation. To my knowledge Tolkien never revealed anything about Narsil's history prior to Elendil's time except that it was forged by Telchar, leaving a gap of about 3500 years in the sword's history. Gildir 20:11, 9 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology

Does anybody know anything on the etymology of the syllable 'nar'? --Alif 02:34, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Derivates of the root 'nar', meaning fire, can be seen in 'Narsil', 'Narya', 'Sammath Naur', et cetera. Also, the form 'anar', meaning Sun, derived from it appears in 'Minas Anor', 'Anarion', et cetera. The Sindarin and Quenya forms of this root are very similar, but I don't recall any information on the form of the common root in 'Primitive Quendian'. --CBDunkerson 08:41, 9 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Light emitting?

There are several mentions of the sword having light (and being extinguished when it was broken), but this is not mentioned in the article. Strikes me as a significant identifier as far as swords go (in the same way that sting's glow when orcs are near makes it special). Any chance of somebody with a login adding something?

Andúril vs Durendal

Is the similarity in names between these two famed fictional swords a coincidence? Undoubtedly Tolkien knew Roland's Durendal, a fragment of which "indestructable" sword is allegedly stuck in a wall at Rocamadour.Afasmit 00:28, 22 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Removed text

Unnecessary in my opinion:

Elendil the Tall was supposedly 7'11" (241 cm), so a sword especially made for him would be oversized for a man such as Aragorn; however, Narsil was forged by a Dwarf in the First Age, long before Elendil was born in the Second — it was unquestionably not especially made for him.

Uthanc 09:16, 30 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Anduril.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 19:06, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Age

Is there any reasonable guess for how old Narsil was by the time of the War of the Ring? JonnyLightning (talk) 01:12, 8 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Since the sword existed throughout the 2nd Age and up to the War of the Ring, we can just add that part up. The 2nd Age lasted 3441 years, and the Council of Elrond (when Narsil was reforged into Anduril) occured in year 3018 of the 3rd Age. That's a total of 6459 years.

The hard part is narrowing down when Telchar made Narsil in the first age. We know he made the Dragon-Helm sometime after Glaurung appeared in year 260 of the 1st Age. Glaurung was killed by Turin in year 499. From this, we can speculate that Telchar was around and making quality products somewhere during that 189 year span of time (between years 260 and 499). Dwarves only live for approximately 250 years so there's a good chance that Narsil was made sometime during the lifetime of Glaurung considering the Dragon-Helm was made around the same time (specifically to be used against Glaurung). The midway point of Glaurung's age occurs in year 380 of the 1st Age. The 1st Age ended in year 590, so I would estimate that the sword was around for approximately 210 years during the first age (plus or minus a century to account for Telchar possibly being very young or very old when he made it). Add that to the total we had from the 2nd and 3rd Ages and we get... 6670 +/- 100 years.

My basic assumptions are:

1) that Telchar made the Dragon-Helm sometime around the midpoint of Glaurung's life (long enough for the dragon to build a reputation, creating the desire/necessity to create the Dragon-Helm).

2) that Telchar made Narsil around the same time he made the Dragon-Helm, plur or minus 100 years to account for the possibility that Telchar made one of the items when he was either relatively young or relatively old and the other item during the middle of his life.

Hope that answers your question. I know I was wondering about it. =) Elnauron (talk) 20:13, 4 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that was very helpful, thank you! I was having difficulty narrowing down when Telchar was active in the First Age, I had no clue where to look for dates for him. JonnyLightning (talk) 15:50, 10 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]