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Revision as of 15:04, 20 March 2007 by Carcharoth (talk | contribs) (add merge category)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)An artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe of Middle-earth, Sting was an Elvish knife or dagger made in Gondolin in the First Age.
Sting was a magical weapon used by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, which he found in a troll-hoard along with Glamdring and Orcrist. It was likely forged by the elves of Gondolin in the First Age. Although it was just a dagger by the standard of Men or Elves, it made an excellent sword for a Hobbit. Bilbo gave Sting to Frodo Baggins, just before the Fellowship of the Ring set off from Rivendell. After the defeat of Sauron at the end of the Third Age, it passed to Samwise Gamgee.
It was named "Sting" by Bilbo after fighting giant spiders in Mirkwood, where he used it to "sting" them, so to speak.
It has the magical ability to detect any Orc presence near it. When this presence is felt, it glows blue, as it did when the Fellowship encountered Orcs in the mines of Moria. Frodo used this blade to kill one orc while in Moria, thus realizing the blade's powers.
Gollum, who similarly disliked anything made by Elves, was afraid of Sting. This fear helped Bilbo when confronting Gollum under the mountain in The Hobbit. It also helped Frodo to tame Gollum (temporarily) in The Lord of the Rings.
In the live action movies
In Peter Jackson's adaptations, Sting is depicted as vaguely leaf-shaped, with gentle curving edges. Engraved on the blade and cross-guard are letters in Sindarin that read phonetically, Maegnas aen estar nin dagnir in yngyl im. Translated into English, they read, "Maegnas is my name, I am the spider's bane." According to the Appendix of The Silmarillion, the element maeg in Sindarin means 'sharp' or 'piercing'. So Sting's inscription actually reads "Sharp point I am called, the slayer of spiders I am."
This prophetic engraving is fulfilled in The Two Towers when Samwise Gamgee takes up Sting to kill Shelob, the last of the giant spiders living in the Third Age. With Shelob's death the only surviving spiders are the smaller variants found in Mirkwood.
Sting is 24 inches long and 3 inches wide at the hilt. Its scabbard is made of brown velvet and black iron.Template:ME-fact
Other References
- "Sting, the Glowing Blade" appeared as Hobo name #282 in John Hodgman's list of 700 Hobo Names in his book, The Areas of My Expertise.
- Sting is an artifact weapon in the roguelike computer game NetHack. When wielded, it enables the player to see all orcs and orc-relatives on the level.
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, there is a usable, lower-level sword named "Stung". This is an obvious reference to Sting, being that the word "stung" is the past-tensed form of "sting".