Sting is a weapon forged by the elves of Gondolin. It is a short sword that Gandalf was able to discover in a cave during their journey to Erebor, so the dwarves could reclaim their homeland. On their way, they found a cave of loot, probably hoarded by the trolls they encountered before they ventured into the cave.
Sting was actually almost overlooked. What was scattered around in the cave were lots of gold coins, chests filled with treasure, and two swords that Gandalf and Thorin took for themselves. The two swords were used for the remainder of The Hobbit.
The history of the weapons they found inside the cave weren’t completely known to Gandalf but what he did knew was they were made by elves during the 1st age and that they were one of the finest blades ever forged.
Along their journey, they would soon learn about the identity of their blades and who their original owners were… except for Sting, which wasn’t a famous blade until. In fact, Sting was unknown until Bilbo claimed it. If you would like to own Sting for yourself, you can get it here on Amazon.
What Does Sting Look Like?
When Gandalf and his party started to leave the cave where they found the loot along with the two swords, Gandalf found another one as he walked along uncovering a blade under some pile of leaves.
It was Sting. As it was too short for him and the others to use, he gave it to Bilbo. Although Sting was just a shortsword, even called by some a dagger, wielded by Bilbo, it was perfect for him.
Sting almost looks like a dagger with its shape. It is a double edged blade with leaf-like design on its handle. In the Hobbit films, Sting does have a bit of design on its blade but it doesn’t have any elven text engravings.
In the Lord of the Rings, it appeared to have some Sindarin engravings that read, “Maegnas aen estar nin dagnir in yngyl im. This translates to, “Sting is my name; I am the spider’s bane.” It is not clear how or when the engravings were done to the sword.
One thing is for sure though, Sting didn’t have the engravings when Gandalf discovered the sword and gave it to Bilbo but had them in the Lord of the Rings when Frodo weilded it.
This was most likely because Bilbo was the one who gave Stings its name. The sword did not have it originally. Sting also had a sheath. It is a simple sheath with adornments at the top and bottom.
Unlike elven blades that are typically curved, Sting had a different design. It was a straight double-edged blade. This is due to the sword being forged during the 1st age when elves had a different style of forging their swords.
More than the design of Sting, one sure way of knowing that it was forged by the elven race was that it glows blue when orcs and goblins are nearby as shown in the Hobbit films as well.
How Did Sting Get Its Name?
As mentioned earlier, Sting was acquired by Bilbo and his party along with the Orcrist and Glamdring. Initially, what they only knew about the weapons were that they were made by elves. This was told to everyone by Gandalf.
However, even Gandalf didn’t know the names of the elven blades nor their history. Little did they know they actually had with them, weapons that played a huge role in the history of the elven race.
As they went on with their journey, they eventually had to seek refuge in Rivendell as they were being pursued by a pack of orcs. Rivendell is an elven city ruled by Elrond. They were given a warm welcome, but Thorin made everyone a little bit uncomfortable with how he spoke with Elrond.
Still, Elrond welcomed them and invited them for supper. The dwarves were incredibly happy although their manners proved to be quite deviant to the elves. Gandalf showed Elrond the blades they found at the cave.
He told them that the blade Gandalf had been wielding was Glamdring, an elven sword originally owned by Turgon. The Glamdring was an important sword in the history of elves as Turgon was the king of Gondolin in the first age.
The blade Thorin wielded was then inspected by Elrond. Elrond told them that the blade was named Orcrist. Orcrist was the mate of Glamdring. Elrond would also tell them that Orcrist had another name, the goblin-cleaver.
Later in the Hobbit films, it would be revealed how goblins feared the Orcrist so much as it killed thousands of their kind. The goblins had a different name for the Orcrist. They called it the Biter.
After the first two swords were inspected by Elrond, Bilbo wanted to hand him his elven shortsword. However, one of the dwarves stopped him. He told Bilbo not to bother anymore for only swords who had a reputation in battle were typically given names.
This act of the dwarf would then hinder the story of Sting going forward. Bilbo would then have his shortsword still unnamed because he wasn’t able to show it to Elrond.
Although the swords were an incredible treasure to the elves, Elrond let them keep the blades. Leaving Gandalf behind, Thorin with his party continued on with their journey. Eventually, they would reach Mirkwood.
There, they would be enchanted with a dark power that would make them all lost in the forest. All of them were put in a trance. Fortunately, Bilbo still managed to climb up to the very top a tree and managed to free himself of the dark power that placed them into the trance.
He was able to free himself by breathing the fresh, air that’s above the forest. While trying to tell others that he was also able to find the direction of the Lonely Mountain, he realized that all the dwarves were gone.
Trying to find them, he fell and got to meet the culprits, giant spiders. He would soon be nearly caught but with the one ring, he was able to flee from the spiders. While invisible, he tried to find the dwarves.
Once he found them, he tried to distract the spiders and managed to kill one of them. As he stabbed one of the spiders, it screamed, “Aah! It stings! It sings!”. It gave Bilbo an idea and at that moment, he gave his elven shortsword the name, Sting.
What Are the Abilities of Sting?
As an elven blade, Sting would glow blue when there were orcs or goblins nearby. Orcs also fear elven blades. Another attribute of the blade is that it can easily slice through any giant spider’s web.
This includes Shelob and the offsprings of Ungoliant. While at the cave of Gollum, Bilbo would use the glow of the blade to navigate around the darkness. He would also use Sting to keep Gollum at bay.
The same thing happened with Frodo and Sam when they faced Gollum. Not much else is known about the blade’s abilities.
Who Else Was Able to Wield Sting?
Although it wasn’t mentioned who the original owner of Sting was, Bilbo was able to pass Sting to his heir, Frodo Baggins in The Lord of The Rings. Frodo would then end up being a victim of the great spider, Shelob. As he was paralyzed, Sam would then take Sting from him and would use it against Shelob.
Miraculously, he was able to fend off the giant spider and defend Frodo’s seemingly lifeless body from it. Sam then would give the sword back to Frodo for the remainder of The Lord of The Ring’s story. In the end, Frodo would then give Sam everything he had, including Sting.
What Made Sting Iconic?
Although the true backstory of Sting was unknown, it became an iconic weapon because Bilbo, an ordinary hobbit, wielded it during the quest for Erebor. Hobbits are known to love the comfort of their homes and it would be strange for one to take part in an adventure, let alone a very dangerous one.
Initially, even Bilbo, did not want to take part in the quest for Erebor. This, to him, was against his nature. However, for some reason, he found himself joining the party of Gandalf and Thorin as their “burglar”.
With Sting, he faced and conquered a lot of foes. Sting was with him through every step of their adventure, even during the battle of the five armies. Bilbo also managed to successfully fulfill his role as the “burglar” by acquiring the Arkenstone from Smaug.
Sting became a symbol of a hobbit’s courage.
More About Sting
The Hobbit films emphasized the story of Bilbo and the quest to reclaim Erebor. Throughout the films, we also learned to be fond of and love the characters. Bilbo, especially, evolved into a courageous adventurer.
Sting has been with Bilbo ever since the blade was handed to him by Gandalf. From venturing into the cursed forest, surviving a clash of stone giants, being captured by giant spiders, escaping a goblin king, outsmarting Gollum, facing Smaug and taking part in the five armies, Bilbo has made a reputation for himself as being one of the great heroes in helping the dwarves reclaim Erebor, their homeland.
Although Sting’s history is unknown, Bilbo has given it it’s own remarkable story with his adventure of a lifetime. Eventually, Sting would then belong to his heir, Frodo. This would mean then that both owners of Sting were ring bearers.
Not just any ring, but the most powerful of them all, the one ring. Frodo would then give the sword to Sam and from sam, the Fairbairns, a hobbit family during the fourth age.