Aiglos (Aeglos)

Aiglos (Aeglos)

The Spear of Gil-galad

Dates: Used in the Battle of Dagorlad in II 34341

Race: Elves

Division: Noldor

Family: House of Fingolfin

Pronunciation: eye'glos ('eye' represents the pronunciation of that English word, with the same pronunciation holding for either alternative spelling)

Meaning: 'Snow-point'2

Other names: Spear of Gil-galad

Note: There are two variant spellings of this spear's name, Aiglos and Aeglos (though in fact these are pronounced in the same way, and would be written identically in Elvish characters). Aeglos is the most common form, but Aiglos is the spelling used (just once) in The Lord of the Rings, and is thus - arguably - preferable from a canonical point of view.

The Spear of Gil-galad, carried by him to the War of the Last Alliance. Its name is translated 'snow-point'.

Notes

1 The spear must surely have been in Gil-galad's possession for some time before the Battle of Dagorlad, and may well have dated back to the First Age or even before. Nevertheless, the Battle is the only situation where the spear explicitly appears.

2 'Snow-point' is the literal interpretation of the spear's name, but some sources go further and suggest the broader meaning 'icicle'. This might easily be correct, but to complicate matters there's an alternative in the name of a plant that grew in Beleriand, known as aeglos (a name interpreted as 'Snowthorn'). It's possible, then, that the point of Gil-galad's spear represented a thorn of this plant, rather than an icicle.