One of the most important relics in the entire history of Middle-earth was introduced in The Rings of Power in the third episode. This weapon was wielded throughout all three ages of Middle-earth. In the most important battle against evil, when it had just been broken, it was used to cut the ring from Sauron’s finger and vanquish the Dark Lord from his physical form. The sword, which Elendil (Lloyd Owen) held for the first time in the latest episode, is later called Narsil.

Elendil’s Sword Has a Long History in Middle-earth

The origin of the sword is revealed to readers of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings when Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and his friends arrive in Rohan. The guards, hostile to their arrival, asked them to disarm before entering the hall. Aragorn warns the guards not to touch his sword or they’ll get hurt, revealing “Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time”. Telchar was the greatest Dwarven blacksmith from early in the First Age, dwelling in the Blue Mountains. He’s responsible for creating such legendary weapons such as Angrist, a famous knife from Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, and the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin which was a helmet that would protect the wearer from injury and strike fear into the heart of their enemies, found in Tolkien’s The Children of Húrin.

It would seem that Telchar had a gift to imbue the objects he created with the ability to protect its owner and cause fear in their enemy, because Narsil had this same effect, along with some added bonuses. The blade was given as a gift to one of the first Elven High Kings and, a few generations later, Narsil was inherited by Elrond’s brother Elros, the first King of Númenor. Many, many generations later in Númenor, Elendil was born as a direct descendant of Elros and that is how he inherited the sword in Tolkien Lore.

There’s no telling how many changes The Rings of Power will make to the lore behind Narsil to streamline this lengthy history behind the weapon, but it seems to have made it into Elendil’s possession nonetheless. Míriel, the Queen-regent of Númenor, seemed to not know who he was at first, but having discovered his lineage, she could be bestowing him with Narsil because she knows it’s rightfully his. The way that Míriel says to him, “Then I have a task you must fulfill”, though, might indicate she has ulterior motives for giving him Narsil. Regardless, the sword has found its true home for the next many hundreds of years, and the future of this sword is truly where the excitement lies.

Narsil’s Future Will Impact All the People of Middle-earth

Eventually, Elendil and the rest of the Númenorians faithful to the Valar and Elves were brought to Middle-earth. It was their first time there for many of them, and after the sophistication and technological advancements they were accustomed to in Númenor, the lands of Middle-earth seemed brutal. With their knowledge and long lifespans, though, Elendil and his sons create two large kingdoms over the centuries, with Elendil ruling in Arnor and his sons Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Anarion ruling in Gondor. These are generally times of peace, so Narsil was kept in its scabbard at Elendil’s side until it was time to forge The Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

In The Great War against Sauron, Elendil led the Last Alliance into battle wielding Narsil. Sauron by this time had amassed an enormous army of orcs, trolls, Easterlings, and wraiths that met the Last Alliance at the Black Gates that led into Mordor. There, Elendil displays Narsil to the Dark Lords Army and Tolkien tells us, “The sword of Elendil filled Orcs and Men with fear, for it shone with the light of the sun and of the moon, and it was named Narsil”. The Alliance is victorious against the forces of Sauron at the Black Gate, and they move onto the planes of Gorgoroth and laid a seven-year siege on Sauron’s tower of Barad-dûr. In the last battle, Sauron would emerge from his tower with his remaining forces and drive the Alliance back to the slopes of Mount Doom. This was one of Narsil’s most critical moments. While High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker) and Elendil put up a spectacular fight and wounded Sauron to the point he could no longer fight, Sauron’s grip burned the life out of Gil-galad, and the force of Sauron’s blow to Elendil sent him crashing down on top of Narsil, breaking it in half. It was in those moments when Sauron was still too weak to stand, that Isildur took the hilt half of Narsil and held down Sauron’s arm, cutting the ring off his finger and expelling the Dark Lord from his physical form.

Narsil Eventually Became the Sword Wielded By Aragorn

Even though Narsil was broken in two, the sword still retained much of its power as a symbol of the King. It was still a relic from the First Age and, despite being broken, was still sharp enough to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. In the books, Aragorn uses the hilt to prove his true identity to the hobbits when he meets them in the Prancing Pony. Boromir was prompted to leave Gondor and head for the meeting in Rivendell because of a dream he had that instructed him to “seek out the sword that is broken” and knew exactly where the shards of Narsil were kept. At the council of Elrond, the sword was reforged just before the Fellowship left Rivendell.

Tolkien describes the reforging of Narsil vividly, saying:

“On its blade was traced a device of seven stars set between a crescent moon and the rayed sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very Bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name, and called it Andúril, Flame of the West”.

The seven stars are the Symbol of Elendil, and the sun and moon are a symbol of the two heavenly sources of light channeled into the weapon to fight the ultimate darkness.

After leaving Rivendell with the Fellowship, they come to Lothlorian where they meet Galadriel. After their time spent here, Galadriel gives each of the members of the Fellowship a gift. To protect the reforged sword of Andúril, Galadriel gives Aragorn a new scabbard for it. It had gold and silver foliage inlaid with runes that protected the sword from ever being broken or stained. Now, not only has Narsil been reforged and renamed, but it has been given extra protection to make sure it can never be broken again.

This sword is one of the greatest metaphors for humanity that Tolkien included in his books. The potential power of the sword is unknown, and it’s used to do many great things, but it’s broken at one point and seemingly no more than an heirloom for many years. Later, it is reforged and goes on to do even greater deeds than anyone imagined before. This is how Tolkien viewed humanity in that he always saw the unlimited potential for greatness in all of us, and there were times when greatness was achieved, but humanity can also become broken and seemingly complacent. Despite breaking, however, there is always hope that humanity can be reforged into something greater than it ever was and achieve things we never thought were possible. Humanity needs a reminder sometimes when we are broken like Narsil was: if we can reconnect and reshape humanity into something stronger and better protected, we could achieve the impossible.