- "...but Beren despoiled him of his gear and weapons, and took his knife, Angrist. That knife was made by Telchar of Nogrod, and hung sheathless by his side; iron it would cleave as if it were green wood."
- —The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien"
Angrist was a magic[1] dwarvish long[3] knife made by Telchar of Nogrod and borne by Curufin. It was later taken by Beren, who used it to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown. However, it broke soon after.[4]
History[]
During the First Age, Angrist was created by the dwarf-smith Telchar in Nogrod, who hung it "sheathless by his side".[1] It was said that it could cleave iron like green[1] wood.[5] Soon after it was forged, some "treacherous smiths of Nogrod" had gotten ahold of it and enchanted it with cunning magic.[2]
Sometime later, Angrist fell into the possession of Curufin, one of Fëanor's sons. When Curufin and his brother, Celegorm, were banished from Nargothrond in the autumn of the year 465, he laid his hand on the haft of Angrist as he laughed, mockingly naming Orodreth "Sir Steward".[3] After they left, the brothers initially intended to ride to the March of Maedhros, but coincidentally, they encountered Beren and Lúthien in the Forest of Brethil. Curufin wore the knife during the ensuing ambush, wherein he attempted to kidnap Lúthien, but triggered the Leap of Beren as a result, causing Angrist to be taken from him along with his horse and other weapons and gear.[4]
Later, early on in the year 466, Beren snuck into Angband with Lúthien and used Angrist to cut out "the great central"[6] Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth. But as Beren tried to cut out the other two, the knife snapped in two[2] and the blade-shard smote Morgoth's cheek, causing him to groan and stir. The remnants of Angrist were left behind in the nethermost hall of Angband when Beren and Lúthien escaped Dor-na-Daerachas.[4]
Etymology[]
Angrist was a Sindarin name, meaning "Iron-cleaver",[7][8] derived from the elements ang ("iron") and ris ("cleave") or kris, a derivative of kir ("’cleave, cut’, q.v.").[9]
In other versions[]
In The Book of Lost Tales, Beren grabbed a great knife in fear when the castle of Tevildo shook because of the spell being broken by Tinúviel. He kept the knife, but later drew it when he seized the Iron Crown, laboring "as noiselessly as may be to prise out a Silmaril with his knife" until it snapped "with a loud crack"; the sound of which awakened the sleeping Melko.[6] Later, Despite the knife snapping, Beren somehow fingered the knife (or the remnant of it) as he lay dying after fleeing Karkaras Knife-fang.[6] In his commentary, Christopher Tolkien identified this "kitchen-knife" as the direct predecessor of Angrist.[10]
The knife was mentioned as "the dirk of Nargil" in Beleg's whetting spell in The Lay of The Children of Húrin.[11] This dirk was a magic knife that was given to Beren by Celegorm as a passing idea.[12]
In later versions and the version published in The Silmarillion,[13] this blade became Angrist, which was originally the blade of Curufin. It still maintained its Dwarven heritage, further being described as having been forged by Telchar of Nogrod (in earlier versions he was of Belegost). Although the connotations of it being enchanted were played down but not quite removed in the published version.[8]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ዓንግሪስት |
| Arabic | انغرست |
| Armenian | Անգրիստ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Ангріст |
| Bengali | অংরিস্ট |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Ангрист |
| Chinese | 安格锐斯特 |
| Georgian | ანგრისთი |
| Greek | Ανγριστ |
| Gujarati | અઙ્રિસ્ત ? |
| Hebrew | אנגריסט |
| Hindi | आङ्रिस्त |
| Japanese | アングリスト |
| Kannada | ಆಂಗ್ರಿಸ್ಟ್ |
| Korean | 안그리스트 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Ангрист |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Ангрист |
| Marathi | अँगिस्ट |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Ангрист |
| Nepalese | आङ्रिस्त |
| Pashto | آنګریست |
| Persian | انگریست |
| Punjabi | ਐਂਗਰਿਸਟ |
| Russian | Ангрист |
| Sanskrit | आङ्रिस्त् |
| Serbian | Ангрист (Cyrillic) Angrist (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඇන්ග්රිස්ට් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Ангрист |
| Tamil | அக்ரிஸ்ட் |
| Thai | ะงริสต ? |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Анґріст |
| Urdu | انگراسٹ |
| Uzbek | Ангрист (Cyrillic) Angrist (Latin) |
| Yiddish | אַנגריסט |
| Named weapons of Middle-earth | |
|---|---|
| Hobbits | Barrow-blades • Sting |
| Dwarves | Durin's Axe • Orcrist |
| Servants of Evil | Grond (battering ram) • Grond (hammer) • Morgul-knife |
| Elves | Aeglos • Anglachel • Anguirel • Angrist • Aranrúth • Belthronding • Dailir • Glamdring • Orcrist • Ringil |
| Men | Andúril • Dramborleg • Black arrow • Dagmor • Gúthwinë • Gurthang • Herugrim • Narsil • Red Arrow |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, III: "The Lay of Leithian", X: (The attack by Celegorm and Curufin)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, III: "The Lay of Leithian", XIII: (Beren and Lúthien in Angband)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, IV: "The Lay of Leithian Recommenced"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One: "The Grey Annals", §201-3, §205-7
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth, III: "The Quenta", 10, pgs 112-3, 178
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, chapter I: "The Tale of Tinúviel", pgs. 29, 33
- ↑ The Silmarillion, "Index of Names"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Two: "Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings", VI. "Quenta Silmarillion", pg. 303
- ↑ The Silmarillion, "Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names", entries anga and ris
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, chapter I: "The Tale of Tinúviel", "Notes and Commentary", pg. 58
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, I: "The Lay of The Children of Húrin", II: Beleg, pgs. 45, 49
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. III: The Lays of Beleriand, III: "The Lay of Leithian", VI: (Beren in Nargothrond)
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX: "Of Beren and Lúthien", pg. 177