What's a legendary hero without a legendary weapon? In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the lore runs so deep that seemingly every bystander, tree, stream, and squirrel has a name and a storied past. Few figures in Middle-earth stand taller, literally and figuratively, than Gandalf the Grey and his wizard's staff. But Gandalf wasn't all spells and incantations.
Whenever he wasn't smoking his pipe, wizard dueling, or whispering to moths, Gandalf was cleaving heads from shoulders with his trusty blade. But what was his sword's name, and where did it come from?
What Was Gandalf's Sword Called?
Glamdring, which means "Foe-Hammer" in the Elvish language Sindarin, was first worn by Turgon, the king of the Elvish city of Gondolin, during Middle-earth's First Age. For context, both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place during the Third Age. This means that Glamdring was at least 6,500 years old when Gandalf first picked it up.
During the First Age, King Turgon founded the hidden city of Gondolin as a safe place for his people, the Noldor, after Morgoth, the first dark lord of Middle-earth, had made it his business to wipe them from existence. Known as the "Hidden City," Gondolin was concealed from enemies and friends alike by a vast mountain chain, and its borders were policed by the Eagles of Thorondor, ancestors of the famous Giant Eagles that have sparked so many debates in the LOTR fanbase. By the time Turgon and his people were betrayed, their location revealed to Morgoth, Gondolin had gone undiscovered for four hundred years and was the last Elven realm standing.
When Morgoth's forces besieged the city of Gondolin, Turgon wielded Glamdring in battle, slaying untold scores of orcs before falling himself. The Elven King killed so many of the vile creatures that the blade became the stuff of Orcish legend, earning the nickname "Beater" among the Orcs in later retellings of the battle. It was so famous that nearly seven thousand years later, orcs still feared it enough to flee from the very sight of it. When Gandalf wielded Glamdring against him, the Great Goblin, king of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, was able to recognize the blade by sight even though he was nowhere near old enough to have witnessed it in action.
After the Fall of Gondolin, Glamdring falls out of the historical record, reappearing two Ages later. Over thousands of years, it likely changed hands several times before ending up in a troll's den at the feet of the Misty Mountains, waiting to be discovered by a famous wizard and his miniature companions.
How did Gandalf Get His Sword?
In The Hobbit, three trolls, William, Bert, and Tom, capture Bilbo and the party of Dwarves and plan to eat them. Bound and unable to fight the dwarves off, Bilbo tries to stall the inevitable as long as possible. He manages to keep the trolls talking until the sun rises, and they are all turned to stone.
Afterward, Gandalf and the others find the trolls' den, where they uncover gold and several ancient valuable objects. Among them are the Elven blades Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting. Though he does not recognize the blades by name, he knows they are of Elven make due to their perfect state despite several thousand years of neglect and the runes along their sides. He explains that, like all Elven blades, Glamdring, and the others will glow when Orcs are nearby, making them extremely valuable for the party's quest.
After some initial resistance due to a general distrust of Elves, Thorin heeds Gandalf's advice and takes Orcrist as his own. Bilbo took Sting, which he would later gift to Frodo, and Gandalf took Glamdring for himself. Despite using them to fight their way out of the Misty Mountains, it isn't until the party reaches Rivendell, the house of Elrond, that they learn the true names and histories of Orcrist and Glamdring. Sting, being little more than an oversized dagger with no known history, was named by Bilbo himself.
Gandalf would keep Glamdring by his side for many years to come, famously wielding it against the Balrog in the Mines of Moria. So pure was its metal that Glamdring was able to hold its own against the demon's attacks, piercing its skin and serving the fall into the unfathomable depths beneath the ruined city. Somehow, when Gandalf was resurrected as Gandalf the White during the events of The Two Towers, he still had the blade.
Presumably, Gandalf had it at the Battle of the Black Gate, where Sauron's forces were felled once and for all. Glamdring's whereabouts after the War of the Ring, when Gandalf, Bilbo, and Frodo left Middle-earth for eternal reward in the Undying Lands, are unknown. What is certain is that Glamdring's legend was told for many ages to come, the great deeds of its wielders punctuated by sharp Elven metal and the cries of wretched foes.