5 days to the release of
Return of the King!
Friday Fact:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
Most of the facts I've posted have been deliberately drawn from the LOTR appendices and Tolkien's other writings, because my idea was to add some background and depth to the story for those who haven't read much yet. Today's fact, however, is geared towards those who have not read Lord of the Rings yet, either. Aragorn's story is handled slightly differently in the movies as opposed to the book, and I'm not going to go into all of that now (especially since parts of it are probably a matter of interpretation and opinion). But I did want to address the "blade that was broken".
In the Appendices, it is told that when Aragorn was twenty years old Elrond told him of his true heritage, and gave him the Ring of Barahir and the Shards of Narsil, as being heirlooms of his house.
In Fellowship, when Aragorn meets the hobbits in Bree, there is a great deal of suspicion which is relieved in part by a letter from Gandalf which quotes the above verses. Aragorn draws his sword "and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt." (Needless to say, the encounter with the Ringwraiths on Weathertop happens rather differently.) Later, in Rivendell, Bilbo tells Frodo that he wrote the verses for Aragorn when he first heard his story.
At the Council of Elrond, Boromir tells of a dream he had, in which he heard a voice crying "Seek for the Sword that was broken: in [Rivendell] it dwells..." and Aragorn throws the pieces of Narsil onto the table and vows to come to the aid of Gondor. In Rivendell the sword is reforged before the Fellowship sets out, and from the beginning the plan is that Boromir and Aragorn will go to Gondor instead of to Mordor with Frodo. As they gather to leave "Aragorn sat with his head bowed to his knees; only Elrond knew fully what this day meant to him." (When Gandalf falls in Moria, Aragorn is torn because he feels that he needs to aid Frodo in his quest as well.)
In Lothlorien, the gift that Galadriel gives Aragorn is a new sheath for Anduril (the new name given to Narsil after it was reforged). She says "The blade that is drawn from this sheath shall not be stained or broken even in defeat."
Later, when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are asked to put aside their weapons at Edoras, all are reluctant: Aragorn especially so because he does not want to lay aside such an ancient and important blade. After he does, Gimli notes "If it has Anduril to keep it company, my axe may stay here too, without shame."
At first I was a bit disappointed by the differing treatment of the sword in the movies, but I suspect the sword will play a stronger role in the last movie (less than a week now!), and I look forward to seeing what happens.
(Source: The Fellowship and the Two Towers, and the appendices of LOTR)
Tomorrow, for the last fact, I will discuss either the Elfstone given to Aragorn by Arwen, or the Ring of Barahir...or maybe both. We'll see.
9:21:13 AM 
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