Sting was a short sword forged by the Elven smiths of Gondolin during the First Age. It was forged for use in the fight against Morgoth's armies and shone blue when Orcs were near.
After the fall of Gondolin, nothing is known of its history until it turned up in the hoard of William Huggins, Bert and Tom, the Trolls that Bilbo and company came across in The Hobbit.
Bilbo named the weapon Sting after he had used it to kill the Spider that had been trying to bind him in its webs in Mirkwood:
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"I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call you Sting."
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Bilbo passed Sting on to Frodo at Rivendell, and Frodo bore it on the remainder of his journey to destroy the Ring.