The Anduril Sword

“The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and on its blade was traced a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andúril, Flame of the West.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring In 1937, a British First World War veteran and college professor named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien quietly published an unusual book. The book was entitled, “The Hobbit,” and was the sort of story that – unexpectedly to its author – gripped the imagination of every generation since. The Hobbit was the first of Tolkien’s books set in the land of Middle-earth, a fictionalized version of Europe’s long distant past. The most famous of these books was The