Anglachel

Anglachel was a sword of great worth, carved by Eol, the Dark Elf.

The name Anglachel was formed out of two Sindarin words - “anga” which means iron and “lachel” which means “leaping flame”. This would give the meaning “The Flaming Iron” or the “Iron of the Leaping Flame”. The last element “el” could mean “star”.

The sword was said to be made out of iron that fell from heaven in the form of a blazing star or a meteorite. It was black in color, but it was able to glow. The sword was so tough that it could cut through iron. According to Melian, the sword had imbibed Eol’s malice. Apparently, it also had a certain level of sense of awareness that was infused into it from Eol for the sword was bloodthirsty and fierce. [1]

Anglachel was one of the two swords that Eol created out of a meteorite, the other one was named Anguirel which he took for himself.[2] Though unwillingly, Eol gave Anglachel to King Thingol of Doriath as payment for dwelling in his forest, the Nan Elmoth. However, Thingol did not keep the sword as Melian had warned him that the sword contained malice. So it was kept in Menegroth’s armory. In the First Age 487, Thingol asked Beleg Strongbow to pick up any weapon he wanted in his search for Turin. Beleg chose the Anglachel and it is said that when he removed the sword out of its sheath, it sang in happiness. Beleg hunted the Orcs who had held Turin into captivity and tormented him. In the dead of the night, he tried to free an unconscious Turin in secrecy.

When he was untying one of his bonds, the sword slipped and pricked Turin’s body. This awoke Turin who thought the Orcs had returned to torture him and unknowingly he slewed Beleg with Anglachel before even knowing who it was. Post that fight, the edges of Anglachel became dull and turned pitch black in color. For a brief moment, the sword glowed like a “pale fire”. This was seen as its sense of feeling where Anglachel went into a state of deep mourning for Beleg. [3] Later, Turin got the sword re-carved by the blacksmiths in Nargothrond. The color of the sword remained the same, black. However, it got a new name. Turin renamed the sword Gurthang which meant “Iron of Death”. Turin used the same sword to kill Glaurung.

1. ^Most powerful weapons: Tolkien fans - Reddit.
2. ^Tolkien's Magic Sword: Anglachel – Black Gate.
3. ^Why did Anglachel mourn Beleg Strongbow? : Tolkien fans - Reddit.