Elrond Famous Quotes

Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' lair, and he said: "These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the kind of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!

Only in Chapter Three do we learn how extraordinary their luck has actually been. When Elrond reads the runes on the swords, he is able to tell them that they are not only ‘very old swords’ and powerful, but they are ‘very famous’ blades. They have names, Orcrist and Glamdring, and the latter of these actually belonged to the kind of the ancient elven city of Gondolin. This would be rather like going on vacation to India and finding in a village marketplace a sword that belonged to Alexander the Great. The odds against it are pretty staggering.