Grond

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Grond (called the Hammer of the Underworld) is the name of two fictional weapons from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

[edit] In the legendarium

In the First Age, Grond was the great mace of Morgoth Bauglír, the first Dark Lord, who wielded it when he fought with Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor. With every blow from the mace that struck the ground, a crater was formed.The Dark Lord Morgoth managed to kill the High King, but not without receiving seven wounds himself.

During the War of the Ring in the Third Age, a great battering ram was named after the hammer. A hundred feet long with a head shaped like a snarling wolf, it was used in the siege of Minas Tirith. Aided by spells laid on it by the Witch-king of Angmar, and the spells cast upon it during its forging in Mordor, Grond destroyed the formidable gate of Minas Tirith in just four blows.

[edit] Portrayal in adaptations

In Peter Jackson's The Return of the King, the ram Grond has fire spewing from its gaping jaws and is pulled by four huge rhinoceros-like creatures ("great beasts" were briefly mentioned as pulling it in the book). The wolf design is extended, with the whole battering ram carved to resemble a great wolf. Gothmog refers to it as "the wolf's head" in the film. As it is pulled forward, Sauron's Uruks repeatedly chant its name.

Weapons of Middle-earth

Aeglos | Andúril | Anglachel | Anguirel | Angrist | Aranrúth | Belthronding | Black Arrow | Dagmor | Dailir | Dramborleg | Durin's Axe | Glamdring | Grond | Gúthwinë | Gurthang | Herugrim | Morgul-blade | Narsil | Orcrist | Red Arrow | Ringil | Sting