#dailir

[maironsbigboobs]

@sindarweek day 3: Objects

Creations, heirlooms and gifts of the Sindar.

[grey-gazania]

Coolest weapon in The Silmarillion?

Anglachel/Gurthang

Angrist

Anguirel

Aranrúth

Glamdring

Ringil

Belthronding & Dailir

Aeglos/Aiglos

Dramborleg

Grond

Voting ended onAug 5, 2023

[vosus]

Crest for Dailir

2021, Mark Jarrell

markjarrellart.com

[welcometolotr]

more TFO headshots to flesh out the appendices haha 😅 still working my way through the few that don’t have illos!

(aeglos is the maia in gil-galad’s spear; ailios is olwe’s granddaughter; dailir is the maia in beleg’s arrow; elessar is the maia of the elf-stone that eärendil & aragorn carry)

[askmiddlearth]

Beleg's Bow and Arrow: Belthronding and Dailir

Sure! And weapons aren't only named because of a battle they've been in (Balin's quote from An Unexpected Journey isn't necessarily canon.) Some weapons are named just because they were owned by somebody important, and others were named because they were made of an unusual material, etc.

But, anyway, the bow and arrow. The most famous archer in Tolkien's stories, Beleg Strongbow, named his bow and one of his arrows.

Beleg's bow was called Belthronding. I don't think Tolkien ever translated the name for us, but we do know a bit about the bow itself. It was made of black yew wood. It was Beleg's weapon of choice, and in fact his epesse/surname "Strongbow" is a reference to Beltrhonding. When Beleg died, Belthronding was buried with him.

Beleg also named one of the arrows he used, Dailir. Tolkien didn't translate this name either, but some of the more linguistically inclined readers think that the name could mean either "shadow song" or "cleaver." Beleg named the arrow because every time he shot it, he would find the arrow again unharmed. But he finally broke it by accident, only minutes before he died.

Tolkien really loved swords, so he doesn't give as much attention to bows, but I see no reason for why they would be named less often than swords.

SOURCES: The Silmarillion, The Histories of Middle Earth vol. 3 ("The Lay of the Children of Hurin")