Narsil was the sword of king Elendil. It broke as he died in the battle against Sauron in the second age, but its shard was used by Elendil's son Isildur to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. At the end of the third age the sword was reforged in Rivendell for Aragorn and was named Andúril or The Flame of the West.Here, the books and the movies differs quite a bit. In the book Aragorn carries the shards of Narsil with him and has it reforged before the fellowship leaves Rivendell. In the movies the shards are on display in Rivendell until Arwen pleads Elrond to reforge it, and it is given to Aragorn as Rohirrim is riding to aid Gondor. I am someone who tend to get stuck in detail, for better or for worse. I can be very upset about details in books or movies that are so insignificant that my friends did not even notice them, but I can also be very happy about them. And detail is what makes me love this particular difference between book and script.
