Leeds nostalgia: Swords of fiction and fantasy made real

Five heroic swords based on weapons used in the epic, among them Thorin Oakenshield’s sword Orcrist from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, are on display at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Originally exhibited as part of The Swords of Middle Earth event in 2013, they are now on permanent display on the fourth floor, immediately next to the Impact exhibition.

The exhibits were crafted by swordsmith Peter Lyon, and award-winning production workshop, Weta – creators of the original swords for both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film productions.

The evocatively-named swords – Andúril, Strider’s Sword, Glamdring, Sting and Orcrist – are all copies of long since sold-out limited editions.

In the books, the two-handed sword Andúril, originally called Narsil (‘Red and White Flame’), was forged by the dwarf weaponsmith, Telchar of Nogrod. King Elendil used it against Sauron, during the battle of Dagorlad.

His son Isildur took up Narsil and cut the One Ring from Sauron but shattered the sword.

The shards of Narsil were re-forged by Elves into the sword Andúril (‘Flame of the West’) for Aragorn, the heir of Isildur, who was crowned King Elessar. But by now we’re getting away from the point...