Hadhafang
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In Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Hadhafang is a sword used by Arwen, daughter of Elrond. The sword and its history are not part of the original story, but were invented for these movies. In the novel, Arwen is never seen in combat. Since her character was given an action scene in the film trilogy, it was deemed necessary to give her a weapon and to provide the weapon with a back story, as many of the weapons in the original novel have one.
According to the movie trilogy's official publicity material, Hadhafang once belonged to the Elven princess Idril, who wed a mortal Man (Tuor) and bore Eärendil, the father of Elrond, who in turn was father to Arwen. Before Arwen's birth, Elrond wielded Hadhafang at the end of the Second Age of Middle-earth, during the Last Alliance of Elves and Men in the great battle against Sauron on the slopes of Mount Doom.
Later his daughter, Arwen, used Hadhafang when she aided Frodo in his escape from the Ringwraiths. Inscribed on the blade are Cirth (runes) in Sindarin that say, Aen estar Hadhafang i chathol hen, thand arod dan i thang an i arwen. This translates to, "This blade is called Hadhafang, a noble defense against the enemy throng for a noble lady." (In Sindarin, "Arwen" actually means "noble (or royal) woman").
The sword's name is derived from a Sindarin sword name devised by Tolkien, and means "throng-cleaver" (etymologies may be found in Tolkien's The Lost Road.) The author never actually used this sword name in any of his stories.
Like all of the props used in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Hadhafang was manufactured by Weta Workshop. Replicas are commercially available.
