What is that sword that Theo has? You know the one that looks really really evil. We’ve had a lot of Clues now so let’s make an educated guess. In The Rings of Power, Theo, a young Southlander, was mischievously investigating Waldreg’s barn when he discovered an ominous black sword hilt. The sword, which is obviously filled with evil magic, feeds off of blood and produces a fiery blade in place of its own broken metal.
In its first four episodes, The Rings of Power has revealed very little about the meaning of the hilt, other than the fact that Adar, the villain from season 1, is looking for it. The hilt, according to Waldreg, is a present from Sauron to his followers and will be utilized when the right time comes. However, his scary statements raised more questions than they answered.
Theo finally shows Arondir the Elf the hilt in The Rings of Power episode 5 (“Partings”), and it goes without saying that the elf is significantly more knowledgeable about the issue than a 14-year-old mortal. While Arondir is aware of the black sword’s design and has a general knowledge of its function, he is unsure of how Adar may use it.
Rings Of Power’s Black Sword Hilt Explained
Early on in the Rings of Power, Theo finds a sword hilt hidden under the floorboards of Waldrag’s barn and it’s clearly Evil. By which I mean I don’t think they could have made it come across as more evil if they tried, it is black gnarled, leaves a scar imprinted on your arm, contains the mark of Sauron, drinks blood, reforms itself with smoke, and fire and what sounds like a hint of the black speech in the air. It’s just missing property of Sauron’s name tag and it would have had the full set.
I’ll admit that my first instinct when I saw those early pictures was that this might be one of the legendary swords of Middle Earth history, Gurthang. If you’ve read Tolkien’s The Children of Hurin, you will know that it is quite something, black-lit by a pale fire, forged from a fallen star, wielded by Turin Turamba to perform amazing feats of heroism, but also great tragedies. It seemed cursed and even sentient at the end speaking to Turin. Its last act was to break Asunder and was buried with its master.
Perhaps I thought someone had found the sight of the grave and dug it up, we’re told that became an island in the sundering sea. But despite the visual similarities we’ve had no hint that that’s what this is. So let’s start from scratch by figuring out what it is and what it can do.
Effect Of Black Hilt
The sword hilt’s effect on Theo seems almost immediate and not positive. We don’t see much of him really before he finds it, but when he does he decides to steal it, reacts angrily when his friend tries to just hold it and keeps taking it out to look at it, all of which have Echoes of ring magic to me, as does Theo’s anger management problem.
When he thinks there are mice making too much noise beneath the house he grabs a poker from the fireplace and smashes the floorboards apart. Added to this it seems to Mark him on the forearm, it has formed a link with him and not a good one. The sword blade appears when he feeds it his blood. Theo does use the sword as a sword one time, proactively feeding it his blood so the blade will appear and he can defend himself against that orc.
Black Hilt Is Not Just A Sword
But I think it’s pretty clear that this is not primarily a sword for use in combat. After all most of the time, it is just a broken Hilt and though we haven’t seen it happen yet, it seems to go back to that state after combat. Added to this Waldreg explicitly tells Theo that “it is no sword, it is a power, fashioned for our ancestors by his master’s own hand” and he clarifies the master is Sauron.
Waldreg thinks the comet was a sign that Sauron’s time is nigh, so the two of them those who have been marked by the sword should be ready. Now as a complete aside here, it is fascinating that Waldreg seems absolutely fine with Theo having stolen the sword. Is it because Waldreg doesn’t want the responsibility? Because he thinks that Theo in particular should have it? He seems completely certain that Theo is on his side, talking to him openly about Sauron (one to keep an eye on).
And just for the record, we should note that this sword was made by Sauron. Was made for the people of the Southlands has been kept in secret for a long time and is presumably waiting for Sauron’s return.
Identical Sword In Ostirith
We then get some information from Arondir. He looks at the hilt and then unearths the carving of it on the wall of the Watchtower. It’s hard to see exactly what’s going on in that carving, but the sword is clearly being used to kill someone lying down, a sacrifice perhaps. And equally important is the fact that the elves thought this sword important enough to carve a massive image of it on their wall. Presumably, at some point, someone among the elves knew how important the sword was and what it was to be used for. Arondir concludes that it is a key, so it should be used to unlock something but he doesn’t know what.
So, Adonir unveils a nearly identical sword that has been carved in the mountainside and appears to be entangled with rock and tree roots ever since the War of Wrath with Morgoth. These significant details suggest that cursed swords of darkness were more common in earlier times because Arondir later says that Theo’s mystic hilt was the result of “some forgotten workmanship.”
Theo’s sword and the second sword from the Rings of Power are remarkably similar, right down to the complex hilts, which Arondir uncovers in Ostirith. But the sword in the mountain seems to be inactive. Although it’s conceivable that the power of the sword was somehow restrained by nature, it’s more likely that perhaps the second blade’s power was exhausted after serving its intended purpose, as opposed to Theo’s, which is still full of enormous strength.
Arondir’s assertion of several swords kills a few of The Rings of Power theories directly through the heart. Many believed the hilt originally belonged to a significant sword from Middle- earth’s past—possibly a weapon used by Sauron/Morgoth. Although the artifact is unique and rare, we now know it is actually a part of a set. This may confirm the widely believed theory that Theo’s hilt is a type of morgul-blade, one of the nazgûl’s malevolent magic swords.
Why Does Adar Want The Black Hilt?
Our final set of clues comes from Adar because Adar is clearly searching for the sword. The orc who attacks Theo recognizes it immediately, even though it is mid-combat, and then getting it from Theo becomes their overriding priority. They search the village and then when they find that it’s in the Watchtower, they gather their forces to attack that.
For Adar it’s not just important, it’s everything he is looking for and what will Adar use it for? Well from what he says “to shut off the Sun and become a god”, these seem like lofty ambitions and they are. The God thing he says to Arondir and the sun thing to a random orc. He says outright that soon the sun will be gone.
This idea is echoed a couple of times in Rings of Power Episode 5. Bronwyn wonders whether her people, the people of the Southlands or Mordor, are destined to live in darkness and Tar Palantir, Miriel’s father the pro-elph numenorian king who had those visions of the future, says that if she goes to the Southlands she will find only Darkness.
Adar Wants To Block The Sun
Okay, let’s tie all this in with Tolkien’s legendarium. The land we see at the start of the Rings of Power, the green and pleasant land of the Southlands, will clearly not last. Sauron will make it his home and it will become Mordor, which literally means the land of the Shadows or the Blackland or for Tolkien The Black Country.
The sun is blocked out from Mordor seemingly by the Ash and smoke billowing from Mount Doom which is how the Orcs can live there. We’ve had the Orc’s inability to survive in the sun presented to us several times in season one of the Rings of power. Adar their father and leader who seems to care for them a lot, albeit in a dark and twisted way, seems now to be promising them no sun.
This would revolutionize how they live, overground not just hiding in tunnels. If he achieved this he would indeed become a God to them as he wants to be. And he thinks Theo’s sword is how he will do this. So Theo’s sword is a power, a key to shutting off the Sun and making the Southlands or Mordor into a Homeland for the Orcs, but how?
Well as I said according to the legendarium, Mordor is as it is because of Mount Doom, spewing Ash and smoke over the area and covering the area in perpetual gloom, hiding the Sun. So logically, that is the power of Theo’s sword, that is what it’s the key unlocks. Turning Mount or Druin into Mount Doom and that is why Adar is so keen to get hold of it. He will make a Homeland for the Orcs, but how will it work? How could a sword possibly turn a mountain into a volcano?
Black Hilt Needs A Sacrifice
Well we know it seems to be activated by blood magic and we’ve seen that carving of it sacrificing a man, so is that it? Is it simply a matter of sacrificing someone? Well I guess it’s a matter of who that sacrifice is, could it be Adar? He doesn’t seem to think so, given he talks about losing the part of him who knew the sun’s warmth, not dying. I guess it would need a pretty powerful sacrifice, magical, important, something to do with fire. But let’s hold that thought for a second to look at the sword itself, we will come back to this.
A fan recently asked on Twitter for some thoughts from geologists about that sword. Because it was suggested to him that it has what looks like conchoidal fracturing, which is seen in obsidian and is evidence of fast cooling magma, in other words, evidence of volcanic activity, hat tip here to the helpful folk of Twitter. So the sword is all about volcanic activity. We know that Mount Doom will erupt sometime and this is the key. All we need is a lock for that key.
The Stranger’s Connection To The Black Hilt
So let’s cycle back to the sacrifice. Because heading towards Mordor right now is a mysterious character who is clearly powerful and yet innocent in a way, Meteor Man or The Stranger. A fan theorized previously that the Stranger is a Balrog in human form and that may still be true, but the more important point here is what role it or he will play.
Let’s break down the symbolism and powers we have on display here with Meteor Man. There is clearly a very very strong Fire theme, a fiery Comet, the fireflies, the piece of paper he was reading Catching Fire, shouting which means fire, and so on. But also mini earthquakes, that’s how he defeated the wolves attacking the Harfoots and Ice that’s how he seems to heal the wound on his arm. Frozen fire, obsidian, earthquakes, and the volcano links are strong.
So the sword is the key, the sword will have to sacrifice someone to unleash its power and the lock is perhaps The Stranger/Meteor Man. Together they will make Oradruin erupt and become Mount Doom. The Southlands will become Mordor, the Land of Shadows (a Homeland for the Orcs). If Adar achieves this then he will truly become a God to them and Mount Doom will become a volcano, a fire hot enough to forge the one ring. Sauron is returning and will become king of Mordor and it will all start with Theo’s sword.
Also Read: Rings Of Power Episode 5 Easter Eggs: The Dead Marsh, The Creation Of Mithril And The Wolves
