Lord of the Rings Glorfindel's Elven Longsword Review - Functional Fantasy Sword Done Right!

Sword friend Daniel (A.K.A. Le'Bleu Chevalier) generously sent his latest design and commission to me for a review. The sword is supposed to be the personal sword of the mightiest elven lord Glorfindel in J.R.R.Tolkien’s works, in his battle against a balrog in the First Age after the fall of Gondolin, an elven city Glorfindel helped establish. You can view the defining moment of this desperate yet heroic battle in Ted Nasmith’s illustration.
The design pays tribute to both Peter Johnsson's design of Dark Sister longsword for the HBO House of Dragon series, and Peter Lyon's work for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features a slender Oakeshott type XVIIIe blade with a narrowed ricasso, with elvish runes “Mallosmacil” inscribed on (brass inlay) meaning “the Golden Flower Sword”, a nod to Glorfindel’s house sigil-a golden flower of celandine.
Designed to be an elegant elven longsword, it demonstrates the most graceful and rather thrust-oriented handling characteristics. The ricasso is 30.4mm wide and 8.4mm thick, bringing a lot of mass down the base of the blade. When it transitions into a diamond cross section, it is 39mm wide and 8mm thick, tapered down to 26mm wide and 4.6mm thick at midpoint, and 15.3mm wide and 3.8mm thick at 2" from the tip. Even at 1766g (3.85 lbs), it is an extremely nimble sword with a point of balance at 1.5" from the hilt. One can even think of it as a proto-estoc.
The hilt fittings are made of gilded brass, with hand-sculpted patterns of snakes on the curved crossguard, and a rose bud as the pommel. The locket on the scabbard also features a hand-carved celandine-Glorfindel’s house sigil. The chape has a snake carved on with the extremity as a rose bud.

[@arnaghadofgemmera5277]

That sword is very similar to mastercrafted wolf school silver sword. Very nice!! Maybe Geralt got the sword off elves, you never know!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I see the resemblance. Maybe that Wolven sword design was also based off the type XVIIIe sword, the Danish longsword, with the ricasso and curved guard, but a wolf motif on the pommel.

[@GoodFolksOfTheSwallow]

Never I'd see the way someone would design the sword of Glorfindel. What a time to be alive!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I love the creativity involved in the Tolkien fan community.

[@KF1]

The Silmarillion was a great story, I was surprised how vicious the elves could be. For that, a proper war sword this is. Very interesting details

[@danielflynn9141]

I questioned whether he would have a cutting sword or thrusting sword. Intuition told me it would be thrust oriented because although it is more difficult, it is more lethal.

[@notsans9995]

Excellently executed. Props to both Le'bleu and Purna for pulling this off, legitimately the best LoTR piece I've seen

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thanks, Nick! It's always a pleasure to review a sword brother's design! They nailed it yet again!

[@alientude]

Excellent review, and what a looker of a sword!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thanks so much! Indeed the aesthetics of the sword exudes an air of deadly elegance.

[@bladeoftheemperor3133]

The sword’s hilt has some very complex work that speaks volumes about the skills of the blacksmith. A good fantasy design that can be wielded very well!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Indeed. And it's all hand-sculpted.

[@danielflynn9141]

I'm so grateful for this wonderful review, Kane. I could not have asked for a better one! The footage is glorious, the snowy backdrop is the perfect environment for this sword, and the thoughtful way you weaved in all the lore with your knowledge of historic swords and swordsmanship was really fantastic. It was a perfect treatment!

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

It has always been my pleasure, Daniel! It’s the most fantastical design and I’m proud of what you have conjured up from the depth of your imagination but combined with your knowledge of historical and functional sword designs.

[@raphlvlogs271]

the long ricasso makes it much more suitable for parrying when compared to more conventional medieval designs

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

That's true, when you use the forte of the blade to parry. But also, you can make use of the ricasso to facilitate the half-swording grip stance. It also brings more mass down to the base of the blade, making the blade move a bit better as the base carries comparatively more mass than the foible.

[@thelevinlance6566]

This one turned out to be a beautifully unique piece. Even better than when the brainstorming began. Brother Daniel is ecstatic with the result, and I expect to see more customs from him. I am happy to have helped with this one. Seeing it in glorious 4k with your usual excellent photography just put it over the top for me. Fantastic presentation, an awesome review.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thanks, brother! It's an incredible design and execution. I see a lot of inspiration from different designers like Peter Johnsson and Peter Lyon, but mostly prominently your writhen hilt and rose design obviously!

[@danielflynn9141]

I owe a lot to not just your design, but to your continued support and input. Very grateful to have your advice!

[@thelevinlance6566]

@@danielflynn9141 🙏

[@fuatozturk2794]

başarılar

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Thank you!

[@mikesongnguyen8149]

Valars approved 😆

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Chad Valars: You are my toughest warrior!

[@samuraibyrd]

If it cuts a Balrog,ill take one,lol

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

It cut off the arm off a balrog, according to Tolkien, according to sword friend Daniel.

[@daemon_I_blackfyre]

Functional fandom is the best way to pay tribute to an author's work.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Agreed!

[@davis.fourohfour]

The snake is a symbol of rebirth, appropriate because Glorfindel was returned to life after he was killed.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

That's an excellent take!

[@SyoutaMaeda]

I am not an expert in the knowledge of Lord Of The Rings, but this sword is very interesting and immersive. Western swords look more powerful than Japanese swords.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

My friend, who is a major lore nut, designed this sword. He takes every illustration and textual description of Glorfindel-I’m guessing his favorite character in the entire Tolkien franchise, and combined them with some historical sword examples to come up with the design and motif. The swordsmith did a wonderful job executing his design.

[@michaelklein672]

Who did better against a Balrog? Gandalf or Glorfindel?

[@danielflynn9141]

Technically, I think the correct answer is nobody did. Every person who fought a Balrog died a miserable death.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Sword friend Daniel is a hardcore loremaster. You can trust his assessment 100%.

[@polygondreamscape]

A new sword designed for Lord of the Rings? I have heard that more movies will be in production. Maybe you should contact the crew to offer this design.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Well I'm not the designer of this sword, but I could talk to the designer to do just that, hah!

[@danielflynn9141]

The deal between WB and Embracer Group is fairly new. I think it will be several years before production begins on new film projects. Meanwhile, Amazon's Rings of Power series is in full swing. I anticipate Glorfindel appearing as a character, perhaps around season three or four. If he does not appear, I'll be furious.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@danielflynn9141 Spoiler alert: they are gonna gender-swap Glorfindel.

[@danielflynn9141]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold That won't happen. The Tolkien Estate set conditions upon sale of the television rights. Prohibiting gender-swapping is not known to be one of the conditions, but I seriously doubt this would happen.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

@@danielflynn9141 They've done enough alterations and "re-imagining" that a gender-swap at this point seem a minute change at most. But this guy is probably talking about the new movies. Is New Line Cinema signing more new contracts for future titles?

[@matts9821]

I don’t know, is a brass guard durable enough to block a cut with a steel blade? What is the snake motif about? Are they relevant to the lore?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Brass guards when having proper thickness and geometry can absolutely withstand blows from opposition. Maybe you don't see lots of medieval sword hilts being made of brass, but lots of military sabres made in the 19th century have large brass guards with multiple side bars, and they worked fine in war.

[@danielflynn9141]

I think bronze is more common than brass as a material for historic European sword fittings. I am unsure why, because the difference between brass and bronze is that brass has zinc and bronze has tin. The properties are quite similar despite being different alloys. Typically, brass or bronze fittings need to be a bit thicker than steel or iron in order to offer sufficient protection from blows, as Kane pointed out below. As for the snake motif, they are less relevant to the lore written by Tolkien and more relevant to the non-canonical lore inside my head, what some might call my head-canon. I thought serpents might inspire biblical references to the garden of Eden, except Gondolin would be the paradise lost in this case. Given the name of Glorfindel's House as named by Tolkien, The House of the Golden Flower, I thought serpents might also compliment the botanical/nature theme he established. The golden flower is celandine, and celandine blooms in February or March, and sometimes as early as January. It is around this time in early spring that snakes begin to appear. I thought snakes and spring blossoms might represent a number of things, among them symbiosis. But I also felt that the theme of new life from death would be appropriate here given that the Elves of the First Age survived so much destruction and death. It's ironic also given that Gondolin was destroyed and Glorfindel killed, but he was reembodied into new life and sent back to Middle-earth in the Second Age: new life from death, indeed. Lastly, I thought the idea of intertwined snakes would inspire comparisons to other symbols of the same in our own real world history, which date back all the way to Ancient Mesopotamia and Sumeria. The most prolific symbol is the Ancient Greek Caduceus, the symbol of the god Hermes. In one context, it was used as a symbol of commerce or trade, but in a more metaphysical context it represented a swift death to the dying or renewed life to the dead. Given Glorfindel's own death and rebirth, I thought this was also ironic. It is a concept that I thought is complimented by the blade design. A powerful thrust from this blade would deliver a quick death for sure, but in another context, it could be used to safeguard the helpless, just as Glorfindel did when he died defending refugees from Gondolin. My apologies for the long reply, but I put a lot of thought into the lore.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Ok kids, let’s wrap up for today. Quiz this Thursday and the paper is due next Friday at noon!

[@matts9821]

! Thorough explanations you have given, sir! I’m honored to talk to the designer. Props to interweave your imagination into established lore and come up with a weapon design!

[@matts9821]

Now that you have mentioned it, I can recall some brass guards on swords, just not in this form maybe. You are right that the guard doesn’t need to be unscathed but protect the user instead.

[@cattycoon3939]

Is this forged with elven technologies unbeknownst to men?

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

Perhaps. Technology such as distal tapering.

[@iniabifreely2352]

Turgon was the founder of Gondolin, not Glorfindel.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

I don't think I claimed Glorfindel was the founder of Gondolin. I think I said he was the head of the House of the Golden Flower, which was one of the founding houses of Gondolin.

[@iniabifreely2352]

@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Perhaps I misheard but 0:31 sure sounds like it.

[@johnmooers5594]

Brass cross-guard? Elves expecting to battle trolls, orcs, and balrogs would want Steel instead of brass.

[@FortuneFavoursTheBold]

The designer wants the aesthetics and contrast brass offers with the blue leather. A customer can easily swap it out with steel with this maker.