Telchar of Nogrod was the most renowned of the Dwarf-smiths of the First Age. Nogrod and Belegost, the two Dwarf-cities of the Blue Mountains, were famed for their craft in iron and steel, and they traded their work to the Elves of Beleriand.1,2
His knife Angrist, which could cut iron as if it were green wood, came into the hands of Curufin son of Fëanor. Beren took it from him on the road from Nargothrond, and with Angrist he cut a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth in Angband. The blade snapped as he tried to take a second, and a shard grazed Morgoth's cheek, so that he stirred in his sleep.2
The sword of Elendil was his work too. When Aragorn laid down Andúril at the doors of Meduseld, he told the doorward that the blade had been forged anew, but that Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time.3
Unfinished Tales adds the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, a helm of grey steel with a golden image of Glaurung on its crest, which Telchar made for Azaghal of Belegost and which came at last to Húrin and to Túrin.4
Interpretation Nothing is told of his life or death. He is known only by what he made, and three of his works shaped the course of the Elder Days and the Third Age.2,3,4
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and Tolkien's late writings on the Elder Days, assembled by Christopher Tolkien from his father's papers.
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 10, “Of the Sindar”
- Edited posthumously The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, ch. 19, “Of Beren and Lúthien”
- Published story The Two Towers, Book III, ch. 6, “The King of the Golden Hall”
- Edited posthumously Unfinished Tales, Part One, II, “Narn i Hîn Húrin”