Every story about heroes and adventurers is going to have some epic gear involved, and there are plenty of powerful weapons in the realm of Arda that Tolkien included in his stories. A few famous names come to mind, with plenty of them appearing in the various TV and film adaptations of The Lord of The Rings.
Some of the most powerful weapons in The Lord of the Rings are swords, but not all of them. It's interesting to see the whole spectrum of various armaments that are covered throughout the history of Middle-Earth, Numenor, and even Valinor.
8 Black Arrow
The live-action version left it out, opting instead to fire a series of lances at Smaugh, but the animated version of The Hobbit from 1978 featured it prominently in the scene in which Bard slays the dragon. Bard even has to chance to give the audience some exposition before firing it through the missing scale.
The arrow was an heirloom of the House of Gorion, the historic lords of Dale, a city-state that was destroyed by Smaug when he first arrived and eventually rebuilt as Lake Town. Whether or not it was recovered after killing Smaug is never resolved.
7 Glamdring, The Foe Hammer
This sword was part of a stolen hoard that was accidentally found and recovered by Bilbo Baggins. The trolls that picked up these weapons didn't know what they had, and although Gandalf had his suspicions, it took a trip to Rivendell and a consultation with Elrond to confirm that these were ancient swords with a value beyond price.
Gandalf laid waste with this sword for the rest of The Hobbit and throughout The Lord of the Rings, slaying goblins, wargs, Balrogs, and Uruk-hai left and right. Its sister-sword, Orchrist The Goblin Cleaver, is buried in the tomb of Thorin Oakensheild.
6 Sting
Bilbo gives this glowing blade a name after he uses it to survive the spiders of Mirkwood, and the sword serves him well. Later on, it would also be a valuable and powerful weapon for Frodo and even Sam, and these weren't even the first heroes to wield the blade.
The dagger was forged in Gondolin by Elves in the First Age. According to some legends, the original owner of the sword eventually known as Sting was none other than Glorfindel, a famous hero who was returned to Middle-earth by the Valar after dying in the First Age. He was slain by a Balrog, but not before dealing it a mortal blow, possibly with Sting.
5 The Daggers of Westernesse
The adventure in the Barrow-downs is often left out of on-screen adaptations, but this detail is important in the books because this is where the Hobbits get their first weapons. Tom Bombadil saves the Hobbits from a wraith, and they take its daggers as loot. Frodo's is destroyed in the fight with the Witch King, but the other Hobbits keep theirs for the rest of the adventure.
Merry's sword was able to hurt the Witch King because it was made by the Dunedain in ancient times to fight the Angmar. These swords remain unnamed, and only one was ever really tested, but the fact that it mortally wounded a Nazgul goes to show how powerful it must have been.
4 Anglachel, Iron Of The Flaming Star
A cursed sword from the time of Melian and King Thingol, this ancient sword only appears in The Silmarillion, and it's deeply connected to many of the tragedies that befell during the reign of King Thingol. Anglachel was made from the ore reclaimed from a meteorite, which is where it got its name.
The sword was forged by an elf named Eöl, and he had a reputation in the court of King Thingol for being a brilliant craftsman but a bitter, isolated person. The sword had a tragic history and when it was reforged, it was renamed Gurthang, Iron of Death.
3 The Bow of Bregor
An heirloom of the House of Boer that was lost when Numenor sank, the Bow of Bregor was once kept next to other famous treasures like the Ring of Barahir and the Ax of Tuor. Only the ring survived the catastrophe, and it would pass down through the ages until Aragorn, son of Arathorn, gave it to Arwen Evenstar as her engagement ring.
The Bow of Bregor was used by its namesake, an early leader of Men and an ancestor of Aragorn, in the Battle of the Sudden Flame where he also fell. This battle is also known as The Dagor Bragollach, the fourth of five great battles to take the Silmarils back from Morgoth.
2 Andúril, Flame Of The West
Formerly Narsil, the blade that was broken, both the fans of the movies and books know the story of Anduril. Although Narsil had already been broken, it was still powerful enough to cut the One Ring from Sauron's armored hand, and this sword would be remade as Anduril.
Aragorn knew that the reforged version of the sword would strike fear into the empty heart of Sauron, so he used it politically as well as in battle. In the movie, he wasn't given Anduril until much later, just before traveling under the mountain to the Paths of the Dead. In the books, however, he has it as soon as the Fellowship leaves Rivendell.
1 Grond
Swords, daggers, and arrows are all well and good, but how about something on a much bigger and more intimidating scale? Grond was a name that was also given to Morgoth's deadly mace. In the era of the War of the Ring, however, Grond was a massive battering ram with the head of a wolf.
The union of wolf and weapon isn't just a nice combination, it's a reference to a beloved pet and caring master. The animal shape is a reference to the werewolf Carcharoth, who bit off Beren's hand and swallowed a Silmaril.