Glamdring

During the First Age, a sword was forged for the Elven of Gondolin, King Turgon. It was commonly known as Glamdring. It can be used with two hands, and it can also be wielded with only one hand. Beater and the Foe-hammer were its other names. It was under Gandalf, the wizard's possession later on.​

During the Age of First, he wielded it on two separate occasions, Gondolin's fall and commonly known as the Battle of the Unnumbered Tears. [1] Glamdring withstood the Wrath War, but it disappeared for almost six thousand years. In TA 2941, Gandalf located it in the cave of the trolls in Eriador. The discoverer claimed it as his. There, he also found the mate of Glamdring, Orcrist, but was later on called Sting. Gandalf and the Mountain King directed their subordinates. Soon after that, in the town of the goblins, Gandalf was able to slaughter the Great Goblin with the Glamdring. Throughout the wars because of the ring events, Gandalf's choice of weaponry remained as the Glamdring. The Glamdring was known to the Orcs from the mountain of Mist as the Beater. The Mountain King's sword was the Orcrist; on the other hand, it was known to them as the Biter.​

In the Hobbit, Glamdring and its mate, Orcist, were depicted as having elegant scabbards and bejeweled grips. Elrond was the one who described it as a hammer suited for a foe since it resembles what the Gondolin King once used before. It was mentioned in the literature when Tour was coming straight to Gondolin of Unfinished Tales, as golden and white in an ivory sheath. It was only a reasonable assumption that it was referring to Glamdring, but it was not explicitly stated. Glamdring was described similarly as all distinguished Elven swords were, such as Orcrist. In the Elder Days, Elven smiths were the forger, and the swords would shine a sharp light if Orcs would come near the bearer. The bearer of the sword receives a warning if evil is near imminent. Glamdring glowed resembling the brightness of a blue flame when it was used to slay the Goblin the Great. But, according to Tolkien's original writings, it was always described that Glamdring glows pure white. The blue light may have been due to the light condition in that specific situation only.​

Aside from Gandalf's staff, his chief weapon was always the Glamdring in both the works of Peter Jackson. [2] In the Cirth script, the engravings appeared as runes. Richard Taylor was known as one of the creators of the Weta Workshop. He explained that the reason behind Glamring's presentation was that the blade increased in power because the Elves embedded magical engravings on the sword itself. He had the same idea with the weapon Andúril and replicated the concept to various weapons too. Elrond only knows it by its name, but Gandalf can identify it as the blade belonging to Gondolin in a heartbeat. Glamdring's design was prominent and distinct from the typical curved Elven swords because its origin was when sword designs were a lot different then.

In the movies, Glamdring doesn't have its signature light in it. Its significance is shown in Gandalf and Balrog's duel. It was effortless when it pierced through Balrog's body. With its use, Gandalf can summon lightning attacks, which eventually led to the defeat of the Balrog. The inscriptions of Glamdring were in Elven language runes. The runes appear in the films, which directly translates to King Turgon of the Gondolin that Glamdring belongs to, known as the enemy of Morgoth and the Orc's Hammer. These inscriptions were not included in Tolkien's writings. He only says that the runes contain the swords' names. (There is inconsistency with these writings because it is written in Sindarin. Tolkien stated that he restored his home's language in Gondolin to be Quenya later in life.​

In the mid to late 1980s, Antiche, Del Tin successfully replicated the unlicensed versions of Foe-hammer and Sting. He then sold them through the Replicas Museum. Despite its plainness, they were both made from a high caliber of steel and expertly built. The United Cutlery is one of the official manufacturers of movie props that are licensed replicas.​