The Gift of Speech

[Gurthang]

My sister is reading The Hobbit for the first time, and I happened to walk in and ask what part she was on. After she told me, I exclaimed that she was already past Smaug's demise. I was thinking of that scene, and asked her if the arrow had spoken. I didn't think it had, but I quickly checked anyway. Nope, no talking arrow, just Bard talking to it. I did note however, that the thrush had spoken to Bard.

Now, the thrush talking, and the old raven speaking as well, is not too far fetched, since birds like parrots and crows can talk a little. But as I was thinking about Bard and his arrow, a thought occured to me.

Why was the black sword, Gurthang, able to speak?

Most of Tolkien's writings, although fantasy, follow the general laws of nature as our own world. So why would he give a voice to an inanimate object like a sword. It makes for a good story, but almost feels out of place.