Glamdring
Glamdring is a sword in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe of Middle-earth. It was forged for the Elf Turgon in the First Age. For several thousand years it went missing, until Gandalf (and company) found it in the trolls' cave in The Hobbit and claimed it for himself. He continued to use Glamdring through the events of The Lord of the Rings.Glamdring, along with Orcrist, its mate, are described in The Hobbit as having "...beautiful scabbards and jeweled hilts" while in "Unfinished Tales" one of the footnotes to the story "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" mentions that the sword of Turgon was "...white and gold...in a ruel-bone (ivory) sheath,..." While Glamdring is not mentioned by name, it is reasonable to assume that the same sword is described.
Glamdring is inscribed with runes in the Elven language. In the movies released by New Line Cinema and directed by Peter Jackson, the runes say "Turgon Aran Gondolin, Tortha gar a matha Glamdring, Vegil Glamdring gud daelo. Dam an Glamhoth." which translates to "Turgon, king of Gondolin, wields, has, and holds the sword Glamdring, Foe of Morgoth's realm, Hammer of the Orcs." This inscription, however, is apochryphal, and was not mentioned in any of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. All Tolkien says in the Hobbit is that the names of the swords were given in the runes, but nothing else is mentioned. The invented inscription for the movie sword, however, does sound appropriate.
Glamdring is supposed to glow blue when orcs are near, like Frodo's sword Sting. However this was left out of the movies by New Line Cinema.
In addition to the licensed reproduction sword mentioned below, Del Tin Antiche of Italy made unlicensed interpretations of both Glamdring and Orcrist, which were sold through Museum Replicas, Ltd. back in the mid to late 1980's. These were very high quality steel, and well constructed (if quite plain).
