Grond
From OnlyGrond, an unofficial fan homage
| World | Middle-earth |
|---|---|
| First Age | Morgoth’s mace, the Hammer of the Underworld[1] |
| Third Age | Mordor’s battering ram[3] |
| Known for | Breaking the Great Gate of Minas Tirith[4] |
Grond is the name of two weapons in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth: Morgoth’s great mace in The Silmarillion, and the battering ram used against Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings. The ram was named in remembrance of the earlier weapon.[1][3]
Morgoth’s mace
The First Age
The first Grond was Morgoth’s great mace, known as the Hammer of the Underworld. In The Silmarillion, he carries it into his duel with Fingolfin outside Angband. Its blows tear pits into the ground, sending up smoke and fire. Fingolfin keeps slipping clear of the descending weapon, until exhaustion overtakes him.[1]
Even then, the duel is no easy victory for Morgoth. Fingolfin wounds him seven times and, before dying, strikes his foot. The Dark Lord carries wounds that never fully heal. Grond belongs to a story of terrible power, but also of the courage to stand before it.[2]
The battering ram
The Third Age
The Grond brought against Minas Tirith is a different weapon: a vast battering ram made in Mordor. It bears the old name in deliberate remembrance of Morgoth’s mace. The connection is a legacy of destruction, rather than the return of the same object.[3]
Tolkien describes a ram roughly a hundred feet long, with a wolf’s head of black steel and enchantments intended for ruin. It hangs from enormous chains, hauled into position by beasts and worked by mountain-trolls. Everything about it serves one purpose: breaking the Great Gate.[3]
Siege of Minas Tirith
15 March, Third Age 3019
During the siege of Minas Tirith, Grond reaches the entrance to the city. The first impact fails to break it. Then, under the Witch-king’s command, the ram strikes three more times. On the last blow, lightning flashes and the gate gives way.[4]
In the book, Gandalf waits at the broken entrance to confront the Witch-king. The arrival of the Rohirrim turns the battle outward again. Grond has accomplished its task, but the fall of a gate does not settle the fate of a city.[5]
Aftermath
After the War of the Ring
The broken gate also has an afterlife. Aragorn receives Gondor’s crown before its ruins. Later, Gimli and Dwarves from Erebor replace it with gates of mithril and steel. The story carries on from the blow to the rebuilding: even Grond’s work does not last forever.[5]
Film and fandom
The 2003 film adaptation of The Return of the King gives Grond a whole wolf-shaped body. In the extended edition, Gothmog summons it after a smaller ram fails. The scene turns a siege engine’s arrival into an entrance worthy of a monster.[6]
Years later, fans gave the ram another life. Know Your Meme documents Grond posts in the r/lotrmemes community as early as 2018. A weapon built for one overwhelming act became the subject of an equally committed running joke.[7]
About OnlyGrond
That extravagant seriousness is what we love: an ancient name, a monstrous machine, and the full weight of a fantasy epic brought to bear on a door. OnlyGrond is our small, absurd homage to it. Three loops, a little awe, and the pleasure of pressing play again.
GROND GROND GROND.
Bring forth Grond. →Further reading
For Tolkien’s original accounts, read The Silmarillion, “Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin,” and The Return of the King, Book V, “The Siege of Gondor.” The rebuilding of the gate is recorded in Appendix A, “Durin’s Folk.” The references below provide public summaries and citations to those texts.
References
- Tolkien Gateway. Grond (Hammer of the Underworld).
- Tolkien Gateway. Fingolfin: Battle of Sudden Flame and the Fall of Fingolfin.
- Tolkien Gateway. Grond (battering ram).
- The Encyclopedia of Arda. Grond.
- Tolkien Gateway. Great Gate of Minas Tirith.
- Tolkien Gateway. Grond: Portrayal in adaptations.
- Know Your Meme. Grond.