Helm of Hador

The date when the Helm was originally made is very uncertain, but the fact that it was created specifically for Azaghâl (who fought in the Nirnaeth of I 472) suggests that it was unlikely to have been made before about I 300. Hador was apparently born in the year I 389, but the enormously heavy Helm would not have been a suitable gift until he reached manhood, so he probably received it in about the year I 410.

Just as we have no detailed dating of the Helm's creation, we also have no direct record of its fate. Our last record of it is at Bar-en-Danwedh in I 489, where it was borne by Hador's great-grandson Túrin Turambar. Túrin was captured by Orcs and carried off in that year, so perhaps the Helm was left behind in the secret places of Amon Rudh, or perhaps it was taken as a prize by the Orcs. Whatever its fate, it makes no further appearance in history after this date.

According to notes referred to in Unfinished Tales, it does indeed seem to have been Tolkien's intention that the Helm would have been somehow later recovered, and to have found its way to Nargothrond. This conception is not, however, seen in any developed narrative, and we have no clear history for the Helm after the fall of Dor-Cúarthol.