The great mace of Morgoth, also called the Hammer of the Underworld, which the first Dark Lord used as his weapon when he faced High King Fingolfin of the Noldor in single combat. It was so vast and heavy that it was said to strike like a thunderbolt, and where it hit the ground it left a crater. Though Grond left the land pitted with these craters after the battle, it proved too slow to bring down the Elf-king, and finally Morgoth used the weight of his immense black shield to overpower his opponent.
After that battle, Grond is not heard of again, and thus presumably spent the rest of the First Age within Angband. Long afterwards, in the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age, the ancient mace of Morgoth gave its name to a second Grond, the battering-ram that destroyed the Great Gate of Minas Tirith.
Notes
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According to The Etymologies (The History of Middle-earth volume V, The Lost Road and Other Writings III The Etymologies), where the word is associated with a root runda meaning 'rough piece of wood'. |
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- Updated 17 April 2010
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