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tolkiens legendarium - Details on the Origin of Sting


I have been trying to gather some details on the Origin of Sting, but it seems there is very little known. I gather that Sting was forged in Gondolin during the first age, however aside form that I cannot find any info. I find it slightly odd that, despite being such an iconic sword, there is little back story.


Can anyone provide any details on Stings life in the first age? Who made it? who wielded it, who rescued it? etc.




Answer



There's a little bit of context available. With some guesswork, we can piece together a likely biography for Sting.


We know that Sting was made by Gondolin Elves which makes it very likely to have been used in the defence of Gondolin:



"being the work of Elvish smiths in the Elder Days these swords shone with a cold light, if any Orcs were near at hand" - FOTR



We've not got an in-universe description of how it came to be in the possession of a group of trolls, but it was (probably) wielded as a secondary weapon by a soldier who died (or lost it) at the Battle and Fall of Gondolin. It was then located by looters:



"Eärendel distraught wanders with Voronwë and comes to the ruins of Gondolin. Men are encamped there miserably. Also Gnomes searching still for lost gems (or some Gnomes gone back to Gondolin)." - HoME I - The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2




There's no good reason to assume that it's a famous blade given that it's little more than a dagger.


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