From the reforged steel of Andúril to the cursed iron of the Morgul Blade, the swords of Middle-earth are among the most iconic weapons in the history of fantasy fiction. This is the complete guide to every named blade in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium — their lore, their wielders, and what makes them extraordinary.
Why the Swords of Middle-earth Matter
Tolkien was not a man who named things carelessly. Every sword in his legendarium carries a history stretching back centuries — sometimes millennia — before the events of The Lord of the Rings. The blades carried by Aragorn, Frodo and Gandalf are not props. They are artefacts, each embedded in the deep history of Middle-earth, forged by specific peoples in specific ages for specific purposes. Understanding the swords of Middle-earth is, in many ways, understanding Middle-earth itself.
Peter Jackson’s trilogy brought those blades to life with extraordinary fidelity, creating some of the most recognisable weapons in cinematic history. This guide covers every significant named sword across the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, as well as The Rings of Power.
Andúril — Flame of the West
Of all the swords in Middle-earth, none carries more narrative weight than Andúril.
Its story begins in the Second Age, when the great king Elendil carried the sword Narsil into battle against Sauron at the foot of Mount Doom. Narsil was shattered when Sauron crushed Elendil beneath his feet — and it was the broken hilt, taken up by Elendil’s son Isildur, that cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand, ending the War of the Last Alliance.
For nearly three thousand years, the shards of Narsil were kept in Rivendell: a relic of a broken lineage, waiting for the heir of Isildur to reclaim his destiny. That heir was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, last of the Dúnedain Rangers of the North.
In Jackson’s films, the reforging of Narsil into Andúril is one of the trilogy’s most significant symbolic moments. The sword reforged is the king reborn. When Aragorn carries Andúril to the Black Gate and challenges Sauron’s armies in the name of Gondor and Arnor, he does so with three thousand years of history in his hand.
The blade itself is remarkable — a full-length longsword with elvish runes reading “Sun. I am Andúril who was Narsil, the sword of Elendil. The slaves of Mordor shall flee from me.” The crossguard bears the seven stars of Elendil’s house; the pommel, the radiant sun of the House of Anárion. By any measure, it is the supreme sword of Middle-earth.
Shop our Andúril replica sword — supplied with a wooden display plaque, free UK delivery.
Sting — The Elvish Blade of the Shire
Sting is perhaps the most beloved sword in all of Tolkien’s work — not for its power, but for what it represents.
A short Elvish blade, forged in the lost city of Gondolin during the First Age by craftsmen whose civilisation had already been destroyed for thousands of years by the time Bilbo found it in a troll hoard. Sting survived the ruin of an entire age and found its way into the hands of the most unlikely of heroes.
Bilbo named it after using it to escape the giant spiders of Mirkwood — and the name stuck, because Sting did what no hero’s greatsword could have done: it suited its wielder perfectly. Small, quick, deadly. The right blade for a hobbit.
When Bilbo passed it to Frodo at the outset of the War of the Ring, Sting became one of the most important weapons in Middle-earth — carried into Mordor itself, and used to fight off Shelob in the passes of Cirith Ungol.
Its most famous property is its glow: cold blue in the presence of Orcs and Goblins, a characteristic of all Gondolin-forged blades, reflecting their purpose as weapons made specifically against Morgoth’s armies. Its elegant, understated design makes it one of the most popular display pieces among collectors.
Shop our Sting replica sword — supplied with a wooden display plaque, free UK delivery.
Glamdring — Foe-hammer, the Sword of Gandalf
Glamdring shares its origin with Sting. Both were forged in Gondolin during the First Age, and both were found in the same troll hoard by Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves. Where Sting is compact and nimble, Glamdring is a full-length Elvish longsword — the blade of a lord rather than a scout.
Its name in Sindarin means Foe-hammer, and it was originally carried by Turgon, King of Gondolin himself. By the time Gandalf finds it, Gondolin has been destroyed for over six thousand years — yet the blade is as sharp and true as the day it was forged. A testament to the craftsmanship of the smiths of the hidden city.
Gandalf carries Glamdring throughout both trilogies, most memorably on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, facing the Balrog. Its white and gold design, elegant crossguard and distinctive Elvish aesthetic make it one of the most visually striking blades in the films — and its association with Gandalf makes it a standout collector’s piece.
Shop our Glamdring replica sword — supplied with a wooden display plaque, free UK delivery.
Herugrim — The Sword of King Théoden
Herugrim is the ancient sword of the Kings of Rohan, passed down through the line of Eorl and carrying the full weight of Rohirric heritage.
When Gríma Wormtongue took possession of Herugrim during Théoden’s enchanted decline, it was a symbol of the king’s helplessness as much as a practical disarmament. The sword locked away was the king locked away.
When Gandalf broke Saruman’s hold on Théoden in the golden hall of Meduseld, the return of Herugrim to the king’s hand was the return of Théoden to himself. He carried it at Helm’s Deep, and again at the Pelennor Fields — the greatest cavalry charge in the history of Middle-earth — where he rode to his death with Herugrim in hand, the last of the great Rohirric kings dying as a warrior should.
Its design reflects its origins: horse-motif crossguard, weathered steel, and the practical, unadorned aesthetic of a people who valued function over ornament. A working king’s sword, not a ceremonial one — and that is what makes it one of the most characterful blades in the trilogy.
Shop our Herugrim replica sword — supplied with a wooden display plaque, free UK delivery.
The Witch-King of Angmar’s Sword
The most menacing blade in the trilogy — a weapon that carries the full terror of the Nazgûl in its design.
The Witch-King is chief of Sauron’s nine Ringwraiths and commander of the armies of Mordor. His sword reflects his nature: dark, angular, deliberately terrifying, forged to inspire dread as much as to inflict death.
In the lore, the Witch-King was once a great human king of the Second Age — one of nine men who accepted Sauron’s rings and were gradually corrupted. By the War of the Ring he has become something beyond human, a creature of shadow and will sustained entirely by Sauron’s power. His sword is an extension of that corruption.
His most famous moment is the confrontation with Éowyn on the Pelennor Fields, where the shieldmaiden of Rohan — aided by Merry’s Barrow-blade — fulfils the prophecy that no living man could kill him. As a display piece, it is the definitive choice for collectors drawn to the darker side of Middle-earth.
Shop our Witch-King of Angmar replica sword — supplied with sheath, free UK delivery.
The Morgul Blade — The Cursed Dagger of the Nazgûl
The Morgul Blade is not a sword in the conventional sense. It is something far more sinister.
A long, thin dagger forged in the dark realm of Morgul, designed not to kill outright but to leave a splinter of its blade in the wound — slowly transforming the victim into a wraith, a shadow creature bound to Sauron’s will, destined to become another Ringwraith.
It is the Morgul Blade that the Witch-King drives into Frodo’s shoulder on Weathertop, the wound that nearly costs Frodo his life and his soul, and that drives the Fellowship’s desperate race to Rivendell. The blade itself is extraordinary in design — slender, asymmetric, deeply unsettling, its very appearance suggesting something wrong with the world.
Shop our Morgul Blade replica — supplied with a display plaque, free UK delivery.
The Twin Knives of Legolas Greenleaf
Legolas is primarily known as an archer, but his twin long knives are every bit as much a part of his fighting style as his bow. In Jackson’s films he uses them in fluid, acrobatic close-quarters combat that reflects the warrior tradition of the Woodland Realm — light, fast, devastatingly precise.
The knives are distinctively Elvish: long enough to function as short swords, with elegant curves and the organic, nature-inspired aesthetic of Woodland Elf craftsmanship. Where the swords of Gondolin reflect the high, courtly Elvish culture of the First Age, Legolas’s blades reflect the wilder Elves of Mirkwood, who kept their connection to the natural world rather than retreating into the refined splendour of Rivendell.
As a display piece, they are among the most visually striking options in the collection — particularly mounted together as a matching pair.
Shop our Legolas twin knives replica — supplied with a display plaque, free UK delivery.
Thranduil’s Sword — The Elven King of Mirkwood
Thranduil, Elven King of Mirkwood and father of Legolas, wields one of the most distinctive swords in the Hobbit trilogy — a long, elegant blade that reflects its wielder exactly: ancient, imperious, and formidably dangerous beneath a surface of cold refinement.
Thranduil has ruled Mirkwood for thousands of years. He fought in the War of the Last Alliance and watched his father Oropher die against Sauron’s armies. His sword carries that weight of history — a blade that has seen more of Middle-earth’s story than almost any other weapon in the trilogies. His fighting style in the films is as extraordinary as the sword: fluid, almost balletic, the style of an Elf who has been perfecting his craft for millennia.
The design is unmistakably Woodland Elf — longer and more slender than the swords of Gondor, with the organic elegance that characterises Mirkwood craftsmanship.
Shop our Thranduil’s sword replica — supplied with a display plaque, free UK delivery.
The Broken Sword of Sauron
The only blade in our collection drawn from Amazon’s The Rings of Power rather than Jackson’s trilogies — and one that connects directly to the deepest history of the Second Age.
In The Rings of Power, the broken sword hilt is discovered in the Southlands: an ancient relic of Sauron’s presence in the region, long before the events of The Lord of the Rings. It is a blade associated with the origins of Mordor itself, physical evidence of Sauron’s corruption of the lands and peoples of Middle-earth before his defeat at the hands of the Last Alliance.
Its fractured, dark design sets it apart from every other blade in the collection. It is the choice for serious collectors who want to represent not just the Third Age story, but the full sweep of Tolkien’s legendarium.
Shop our Broken Sword of Sauron replica — supplied with a display plaque, free UK delivery.
The Swords of Middle-earth as Collector’s Pieces
What makes these swords extraordinary as collector’s pieces is precisely what makes them extraordinary in Tolkien’s writing: every one has a story that goes far deeper than the moment it appears on screen.
Andúril carries three thousand years of history. Sting survived the destruction of an entire civilisation. Glamdring was the sword of a king whose city fell before recorded history. These are not merely replica swords. They are physical connections to one of the richest fictional universes ever created.
Our Lord of the Rings collection is crafted in stainless steel, with a wooden display plaque included as standard — ready to mount straight out of the box. Free UK delivery on all orders.
Browse the full Lord of the Rings replica sword collection →
