glam(b) (“shouting, confused noise, an orc”) + dring (from dringa- “beat”)
Sindarin
Glamdring
noun. Glamdring
Glamdring
noun. foe hammer
glamdring
proper name. Foe-hammer
Gandalf’s sword (LotR/280), first named in The Hobbit and translated “Foe-hammer” (PE17/84, RS/444). Its initial element glam is the plural of glamog “orc” (WJ/391), and its second element is a derivative of the root ᴹ√DRING “beat, strike” (Ety/DRING), apparently a noun ✱dring “hammer” attested only as an element in this name.
Conceptual Development: The name N. Glamdring appears in The Etymologies from the 1930s, which is the source of the second part of the derivation given above (Ety/DRING).
Elements
Word Gloss glamog “orc” dring “hammer, hammer, *beater”
Glamdring
Glamdring
The word Glamdring is a Sindarin name meaning Foe-hammer in Westron; it is comprised of two elements. The first element is glam. This word has a long history in Tolkien's mind, but always had evil connotations. In its earliest appearances, it meant "fierce hate", but later, its meaning became "shouting, confused noise", and became (poetically) associated with Orcs (cf. glamhoth). The second element is dring, said to mean "hammer". The sword was also given the crude name Beater by the Orcs.
prop. n.