Gate-guard: Théoden gives you leave to enter; but any weapon that you bear, be it only a staff, you must leave on the threshold. The doorwardens will keep them. (509)===
Háma: Here I must bid you lay aside your weapons before you enter. (510)
Legolas (handing over his knife, quiver, and bow): Keep these well, for they come from the Golden Wood and the Lady of Lothlórien gave them to me.
Háma: No man will touch them, I promise you.
Gandalf (after Aragorn and Gimli balk): Here at least is my sword, goodman Háma. Keep it well. Glamdring it is called, for the Elves made it long ago. (511)
Aragorn (reluctantly, at Gandalf's bidding): Here I set it, but I command you not to touch it, nor to permit any other to lay hand on it. In this Elvish sheath dwells the Blade that was Broken and has been made again. Telchar first wrought it in the deeps of time. Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil's sword save Elendil's heir.
Háma: It shall be, lord, as you command.
Gimli: Well, if it has Andúril to keep it company, my axe may stay here too, without shame.
Háma (to Gandalf): Your staff. Forgive me, but that too must be left at the doors.
Gandalf: Foolishness! Prudence is one thing, but discourtesy is another. I am old. If I may not lean on my stick as I go, then I will sit out here, until it pleases Théoden to hobble out himself to speak with me.
I. WIZARD
One thing I hadn't remembered noticing before -- and have highlighted above -- is that the gate-guard specifically states that staffs are prohibited weapons. So Gandalf's feigned surprise and indignation is quite an act. (And both Háma and Aragorn surely see through his protestations, despite Aragorn's concurring characterization of the staff as an old man's support.)
II. DWARF
What I noticed here flows from the characterization of each weapon:
- Legolas mentions only the origin of his weapons (not their names or lineage), and asks Háma merely to keep them well. This is sufficient, as Háma is clearly afraid of handling weapons from Faërie and volunteers that they will remain untouched.
- Gandalf provides name and origin of his sword, and likewise asks Háma to keep it well (no special request and no reaction from Háma).
- Aragorn provides name, lineage, and history of Andúril and commands that no one touch it, and Háma, clearly awed, indicates the command will be obeyed.
- Gimli does not provide a name or lineage for his axe, nor does he require it to be untouched once he leaves it. We might infer from this it's an ordinary axe, and that only dwarvish pride spurs him to follow Aragorn's lead: He's sure as heck not going to comply, if Aragorn is exempt!
This strikingly echoes the situation at Lothlórien, where Gimli wasn't going to be the only one blindfolded! (Tellingly, he first relents on condition that Legolas would be blindfolded too, and -- just as tellingly -- the Elf balks at this until the whole Company ultimately agrees to the condition.)
For this, I was struck by Aragorn saying "Death shall come to any man that draws Elendil's sword save Elendil's heir."
He makes it sound like a curse that lies on the sword (think Túrin). But is Andúril indeed cursed? Who exactly would have cursed it, and when? Surely not Aragorn -- I don't think he has the power.
Is he threatening to kill anyone who draws the sword? Seems unlikely; how would he do it, weaponless? And how would he know if someone drew the sword?
One potentially significant fact is that Aragorn doesn't provide a timeframe as to when death will come to a man (other than him) who draws Elendil's sword. So quite possibly Aragorn is saying something perfectly true -- since death shall come to all men -- and making it sound like a curse by suggesting that he himself is exempt. And in a sense Aragorn is exempt, because it is given to him to choose the time of his death. That is, death technically does not come to him; rather, he goes to death, when his work is done and the time is right.
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