6-27-03 Latest News

Anduril's Hilt Inscription
Demosthenes @ 2:38 am EST

I'm sure many out there already know this information, but a few of you will probably look at the inscription on Andúril from the Teaser poster and wonder what it says - and maybe wonder if it's the same as the inscription on Narsil.

I recently got in touch with elvish expert David Salo and asked him.

Aragorn And Anduril

I showed him a blown up version of the image above of Aragorn with Andúril, and asked if he could try and translate it.

He replied: I can make out on the right hand side "...l meletya telchar" and the whole inscription should start on the left-hand bottom of the triangle.

This is part of the full inscription, which reads: "Narsil essenya macil meletya; Telchar carnéron Návarotessë" (My name is Narsil, a mighty sword; Telchar made me in Nogrod).

There's also a full translation and explanation of the characters inscribed on Narsil (and other weapons used in LoTR) on Elvish.org here.

Update: I also noticed just before that the hilt length of Andúril in the teaser poster is far shorter than in other shots we've seen. In fact, Andúril's hilt looks like a one-handed sword in the teaser poster, as opposed to the much longer two-handed hilt in the picture above.

I guess it's possible - likely even - that the designers mucked about with the perspective. Or that they even digitally lopped out a bit of the hilt to make everything fit the constraints of the poster - and to make everything *look* better/perfect for the poster.

In the end, it's not earthshattering, but the obviousness of it seems very surprising to me.