Elendil was slain by a single blow from Sauron’s mace and Isildur lay prone before his enemy, but as the Dark Lord loomed over the fallen prince, Isildur snatched the hilt of his father’s broken sword and struck wildly. The prince’s swipe cleaved the Ring from Sauron’s hand and in so doing the Dark Lord’s power was undone. Sauron’s body was destroyed and the war won.

Yet even in defeat were the seeds of Sauron’s ultimate victory laid, for the One Ring remained, and with it the spirit of the Dark Lord’s was bound to Middle-earth. Staggering to his feet, Isildur beheld this strange treasure, gazing upon it in awe. Yet given the choice to destroy it and end the threat of Sauron for all time, the prince instead claimed the Ring as his prize. As his gloved fingers closed about it, the Ring in turn claimed Isildur and worked its dark influence upon him, corrupting his weak mortal soul as it would all those who bore it after him.

CREATING ISILDUR

Although his screen time was comparatively brief, Isildur was nevertheless a pivotal character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and embodied some of Weta Workshop’s finest costume and weapon work.

With intricate inlays of brass and elvish writing, Narsil (which ultimately became Andúril) was one such example. As the blade was to be shattered by the foot of Sauron during the prologue, the sequence required a collection of breakaway swords. These swords, cut into the same exacting seven individual shards, were glued together and broken again and again to capture the moment.

Distilling this complex scene into collectible form, was senior sculptor Daniel Cockersell – no stranger to Middle-earth, having formed part of Weta Workshop’s physical sculpting team on The Hobbit. Isildur stands complete in 1:6 scale: gazing at the One Ring, broken hilt of Narsil still clutched in one hand.