Grond
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grond (called the Hammer of the Underworld) is the name of two fictional weapons from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
GROND is also an acronym for Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector.
[edit] In the legendarium
In the First Age, Grond was the great hammer 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). In the extended version of the film, there is a scene in which a small party of orcs attemps to breach Minas Tirith's main gate with a battering ram. They do this in vain, as the gate seemed near impossible to break. Gothmog and another commanding orc state this: "The door won't give; it's too strong!" (command orc) "Get back there and smash it down!" (Gothmog) "But nothing can breach it..." (orc) "Grond will breach it. Bring up the wolf's head!" (Gothmog) Here Grond is brought up by the beasts and the army start chanting "Grond" as the battering ram is brought up.
| 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 | |
