February 6, 2002

The Swords of LotR
Jamie

I've seen the film a few times now and it was only recently pointed out to me that Aragorn should not have had a sword which appeared to be Anduril, between Bree and Rivendell. I think a the reforging of Narsil to make Anduril should have been made more obvious in Rivendell, maybe that would have cleared things up a bit. Also, because the Barrow-Downs section was missed out we don't know where the hobbits get their swords from (a gift from Aragorn apparently). Finally, when the fellowship passes Argonath on the great river, if you look at the sword hilt of the right hand figure, it seems to be Narsil. According to the books the two figures are Isildur and Anarion, and although Isildur came to possess Narsil after Elendil was slain, the sword was broken by then - unless in the film the right hand figure represents Elendil and the left hand one Isildur or Anarion. I think that due attention to detail was paid in the film, and although there were bits missed out it was necessary to make a good film. I really enjoyed it.