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Things of Middle-earth

Gúthwinë

Type: Weapons

Meaning: Battle-friend

Description:

The sword of Éomer, wielded by him in the Battle of the Hornburg and presumably also in the Battle of the Pelennor:
'Your fingers would remember their old strength better, if they grasped a sword-hilt,' said Gandalf....

'Take this, dear lord!' said a clear voice. 'It was ever at your service.'.... Éomer was there.... [In] his hand he held a drawn sword; and as he knelt he offered the hilt to his master.

'How comes this?' said Théoden sternly....

'It is my doing, lord,' said Háma.... [Since] he was free again, and he a Marshal of the Mark, I brought him his sword as he bade me.'

'To lay at your feet, my lord,' said Éomer....

Slowly Théoden stretched forth his hand.... Suddenly he lifted the blade and swung it shimmering and whistling in the air....

'Westu Théoden hál!' 1 cried Éomer. 'It is a joy to us to see you return into your own.'....

'Take back your sword, Éomer, sister-son!' said the king. 'Go, Háma, and seek my own sword!'

The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 6, The King of the Golden Hall

'Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together!'....

Together Éomer and Aragorn sprang through the door, their men close behind. The swords flashed from the sheath as one.

'Gúthwinë!' cried Éomer. 'Gúthwinë for the Mark!'

'Andúril!' cried Aragorn. 'Andúril for the Dúnedain!'

The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep

[Once] more lust of battle was on him.... And lo! even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to defy them.

And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And... behold! upon the foremost ship a great standard broke.... There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor....

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 6, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields


Etymology
Gúthwinë is defined as 'friend in war', a poetic reference to a weapon, from the Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon dictionary. From the Old English guð meaning 'battle' or 'war', and winë meaning 'friend'.

Notes
1Westu Théoden hál! — 'May you be healthy, Théoden'. Beowulf greets Hrothgar with the words 'Wæs þu, Hroðgar, hal!' (Beowulf, 2 l. 407).

The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, by Wayne G Hammond and Christina Scull, Book 3, Ch 6, The King of the Golden Hall

2Beowulf... is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century.

In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the resident warriors of the mead hall of Hroðgar (the king of the Danes), Grendel's mother, and an unnamed dragon. The last battle takes place later in life, Beowulf now being king of the Geats. In the final battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded.

"Beowulf". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 20 Sep. 2010.
<Wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf>.

Contributors:
Dim Genesis, 6Jun03
Lyllyn 12Jun04
Elena Tiriel 16Dec04, 29Jan08, 6Sep10, 20Sep10

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