#túrin turambar

April Tolkien Challenge; Day 8

Gurthang

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Anglachel was the earlier name of the blade, before it got reforged into Gurthang; the sword Túrin Turumbar would hold for the rest of his life. It was made by the dark elf Ëor, and remade by the smiths of Nargothrond. Beleg Cúthalion, chief warden of the elven king Thingol, held Anglachel before he was killed by Túrin, who was unaware the elf had been his friend. Gwindor, another friend, kept the sword with him until Túrin came back to his senses.

As the sword got reforged, Túrin named it Gurthang, which roughly translates to “Iron of Death”. After the naming of the blade, Túrin became known as Mormegil; the “Black Sword”.

The next big moment of the blade, was when Túrin used it to slay the dragon Glaurung. Upon discovering that his wife, Nienor Níniel, was also his sister, and that she had killed herself, the man fell into a state of panic and despair. In his pain, he used Gurthang to slay himself. With the death of his master, Gurthang shattered to the floor, the shards to be buried with Túrin and Nienor underneath the Stone of Hapless.

“Hail Gurthang! No lord or loyalty dost thou know, save the hand that wieldeth thee. From no blood wilt thou shrink. Wilt thou therefore take Túrin Turambar, wilt thou slay me swiftly?” Túrin had asked his blade, to which it responded with “Yea, I will drink thy blood gladly, that so I may forget the blood of Beleg my master, and the blood of Brandir slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly.”

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Sources:
-One Wiki To Rule Them All, Gurthang
-One Wiki To Rule Them All, Beleg Cúthalion
-The Encyclopedia of Arda, Gurthang
-Children of Húrin, JRR Tolkien
-The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien

Quenta Endor on Twitter

Quenta Endor on Twitter

I post lots of Tolkien content on Twitter. If you have an account on there and want more Tolkien in your life, I seriously suggest checking my page out!

Let’s play a game!

Reply who’s your favourite Hero from the First Age of Middle-earth: Beren Erchamion, Túrin Turambar, Tuor Ulmondil, or Eärendil the Mariner?

Artwork by 89ravenclaw

ȶɦɛ ֆɨʟʍǟʀɨʟʟɨօռʍɛʍɛs

thegreymoon:

elena-kukanova:

The story of “The Children of Hurin” has made the strongest impression on me since my first encounter with the Silmarillion, it was the story that was the first thing I began to illustrate in Tolkien’s Legendarium .

Perhaps by now I can already discern a pattern to what captures my attention and makes me create around the theme: - a terrible injustice in the face of which the characters show firmness and fortitude…
As one of my artist friends said, “an impression is like a wound and you try to heal it with a painting”. The Children of Hurin is along with Atrabeth another such non-healing wound, I hope to return to this subject in the near future)

1. Bekeg and young Turin (2012)
2. Strongbow and Dragonhelm (2013)
3. The Deth of Beleg (2017)

Beautiful beyond words