Orcrist's owner

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I wouldn't think Fingon was the owner. He never set foot in Gondolin, and only met Turgon and the Gondolindrim in the Nirnaeth. Also, he died in that battle, and whatever sword had been in his possession surely would have been buried in the Hill of Slain with his body and never recovered.

Well, my guess was based on Rumil's idea that the two swords seemed to be a pair, so I thought Turgon could have had it made as a gift to his brother. Didn't they really meet at all in the centuries between the founding of Gondolin and the Nirnaeth? Now I think of it, suppose not... Elvish family relations are strange to us mortals. And yeah, I probably should re-read the Silmarillion one of these days.

What other close kinsmen did Turgon have? Maeglin, of course - though I'd imagine he brought his own sword from Eöl's smithy.

Anyway, Orcrist clearly was a renowned blade, so if the owner wasn't kin to Turgon, I'd at least suppose him to be one of the more illustrious chieftains of Gondolin. Ecthelion would be as good a bet as any in that case. (Not Glorfindel, I think - Elrond would have mentioned it if the sword had belonged to a member of his household.*)

*(compulsory meta-remark: this fails to take into account that Tolkien most likely had no idea of a reincarnated Glorfindel's presence in Rivendell when he wrote TH, but never mind.)