Post by Andorinha on Jan 19, 2009 11:31:08 GMT -6
Silmarillion overview
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From: Merlin the mad
Sent: 12/10/2002 5:18 PM
I just added this page to my Website on Middle-earth battles, preparing to make some of the battles in the Silmarillion into war-game scenarios. I thought that it might make interesting reading to those at TR who want a quickie look at the plot of the book:
In the Silmarillion Tolkien describes the beginning of Middle-earth: Of how the Eldar and Sindar (Elves who had lived with the Valar in Aman, and those others which never saw the light of the Two Trees Telperion and Laurelin in Valinor and remained in Middle-earth) were reunited in the realms of Beleriand after many ages of the world had passed: after Melkor/Morgoth was released from his three-ages imprisonment, and pardoned by Manwë, and revolted again against the rule of the Aratar and destroyed the Two Trees and stole the Silmarils, and returned to the north; where he rebuilt his fortress of Angband beneath; and threw up the three reeking towers of volcanic rock, Thangorodrim above, wreathed always in smokes of his own making as his forges rebuilt his armories, and his experimentations upon the life forms of Middle-earth produced horrendous monsters to plague the Elves and Men whom he hated above all else that Eru-Ilúvatar had made. And of how Fëanor, maker of the Silmarils, vowed a vow of terrible power and destiny, to recover the Silmarils and avenge his father Finwë, whom Melkor had slain; which vow his seven sons (Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod and Amras, lords of the Noldor) entered into when they left Aman and returned to Middle-earth to fight Melkor/Morgoth for the jewel heirlooms of their house: which vow overpowered all that the Eldar did forever after, and caused kin-strifes and was in no small part responsible for the ruin of Beleriand. In that last battle the Valar came and fought with the Elves and Men against Morgoth Bauglir and threw down his power once and for all, and Morgoth was chained in some nether place removed from the world. But his lieutenant, Sauron, possessed an equal measure of evil and enough power from his master to make contest for mastery of the diminished world of Men which began in the Second age, following the destruction of Beleriand.
Of all the battles alluded to in the Silmarillion, only one (Nirnaeth Arnoediad) has sufficient details to determine something by way of numbers; and none show anything more than the broadest of tactics. When I design these battles into war-games scenarios, most of the details of armies, postioning, timed events and terrain are of my own devising. And the events described that span several days or even weeks I have divided into separate phases of each game as required
To place the battles that will receive war-gaming details in their context, I here provide a drastically reduced narration of the wars of Beleriand and the fate of the Silmarils and of the sons of Fëanor.
The First battle of Beleriand, of the Five Battles recorded, was fought before Fëanor and the Noldor returned to Middle-earth. Morgoth's armies of orcs penetrated far into Beleriand, cutting off king Thingol in Doriath from Círdan in Eglarest. "Therefore (Thingol) called upon Denethor; and the Elves came in force from Region beyond Aros and from Ossiriand, and fought the first battle in the Wars of Beleriand." Thingol marched to the battlefield - north of the Andram and between the rivers Gelion and Aros - and between the armies of Menegroth and the Green-elves "(the eastern army of orcs) were utterly defeated, and those that fled north from the great slaughter were waylaid by the axes of the Naugrim that issued from Mount Dolmed: few indeed returned to Angband." The Green-elves were light-armed compared to the orcs "and no match" for them. During the battle, "Denethor was cut off and surrounded upon the hill of Amon Ereb. There he fell and all his nearest kin about him, before the host of Thingol could come to his aid."
The Second Battle (FA 1) was fought as a result of the return of the Noldor. They had landed in the firth of Drengist and burnt the white ships of the Teleri which the Noldor had stolen with the sheding of much blood of their kinsfolk. And they burnt the ships behind them. The flames of that burning alerted Morgoth in Angband and he sent a powerful army of orcs into Mithrim where they attacked the Noldor in their camps on the north shores of the lake Mithrim. "Under the cold stars before the rising of the Moon...was fought the Second Battle in the Wars of Beleriand. Dagor-nuin-Giliath it is named, the Battle-under-Stars, for the Moon had not yet risen; and it is renowned in song. The Noldor, outnumbered and taken at unawares, were yet swiftly victorious; for the light of Aman was not yet dimmed in their eyes, and they were strong and swift, and deadly in anger, and their swords were long and terrible. The Orcs fled before them, and they were driven forth from Mithrim with great slaughter, and hunted over the Mountains of Shadow into the great plain of Ard-galen, that lay northward of Dorthonion. There the armies of Morgoth that had passed south into the Vale of Sirion and beleaguered Círdan in the Haven of the Falas came up to their aid, and were caught in their ruin. For Celegorm, Fëanor's son, having news of them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon them out of the hills near Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech. Evil indeed were the tidings that came at last to Angband, and Morgoth was dismayed. Ten days that battle lasted, and from it returned of all the hosts that he had prepared for the conquest of Beleriand no more than a handful of leaves." But Fëanor was in the fullness of his wrath and hubris. He swore that now he and his people would seek their vengeance for the death of his father and the stolen Silmarils. Therefore, Fëanor pursued his fleeing enemies across the plains of Ard-galen toward Angband, which he knew not the strength of: "but even had he known it would not have deterred him, for he was fey, consumed by the flame of his own wrath." The orcs he pursued turned at bay, "and there issued from Angband Balrogs to aid them." Fëanor and those few with him were surrounded and assailed, for in his haste he had far outmarched the main strength of his army. "Long he fought and undismayed, though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds; but at the last he was smitten to the ground by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, whom Ecthelion after slew in Gondolin. There he would have perished, had not his sons in that moment come up with force to his aid; and the Balrogs left him, and departed to Angband." Fëanor was carried back towards Mithrim, but near Eithel Sirion, on the upward path to cross the mountains, he felt his death coming and they stopped. Looking back toward the smoke-wreathed towers of Thangorodrim Fëanor cursed Morgoth thrice, and bound his sons to remember the oaths they had sworn to recover the Silmarils, and he made them swear to avenge their father. Then he died.
Fingolfin, half-brother of Fëanor, became king of all Hithlum, and the sons of Fëanor moved elsewhere into Beleriand and settled.
Some fifty and two years into the First Age (51 years following the death of Fëanor), Turgon, son of Fingolfin, had revealed to him by the Vala Ulmo the secret vale of Tumladen and began the building of Gondolin, the Hidden City, which was completed in the year FA 104. Then Turgon and all his people entered into it and passed for many years from all knowledge of those outside.
The Third battle, Dagor Aglareb (the Glorious Battle - FA c. 60), is frankly a bore tactically. The armies of Morgoth attack, hoping for surprise, and instead are routed by the Elves who are ready for them. Not a single orc returns to Angband, the last of them being struck down within sight of the very gates. A 400 years-long siege of Angband unsues.
A complete encirclement of Angband was impossible, because of the mountains and ice which were impassable to the Elves: and in the north Morgoth would send out spies around the long way to Beleriand: and once 100 years into the Siege he sent an army of orcs to attack Hithlum along the firth of Drengist: but they were spotted in time and driven into the sea. Morgoth did not send forth any more orcish armies, seeing as how they were no match alone against the Elves. He devised greater creatures and made plans. 200 years into the siege, the first of the dragon race, Glaurung, came forth and routed a part of the besieging forces, pursuing them south across the plains of Ard-galen: but Elvish horsearchers surrounded Glaurung and drove him back to Angband: he was yet young and had not come into his full armored strength.
Then came the Long Peace, "for wellnigh two hundred years," where the only fighting was "affrays on the marches. And all Beleriand flourished and grew rich. Behind the guard of their armies in the north the Noldor built their dwellings and their towers, and many fair things they made in those days, and poems and histories and books of lore. In many parts of the land the Noldor and the Sindar became welded into one people, and spoke the same tongue; though this difference remained between them, that the Noldor had the greater power of mind and body, and were the mightier warriors and sages, and they built with stone, and loved the hill-slopes and open lands. But the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music..., and they loved the woods and the riversides; and some of the Grey-elves still wandered far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went."
Quite the bucolic picture of peace and prosperity: hardly the thing to make war-game scenarios out of!
Then at the end of the Long Peace (FA 455), Morgoth sent forth volcanic fires from Thangorodrim. All the plains of Ard-galen were burnt and the armies of the besieging Elves were destroyed and routed back to Beleriand. Ard-galen never recovered, but remained a land of choking dust and ashes and was renamed Anfauglith. This was the Fourth battle, called Dagor Bragollach - the Battle of Sudden Flame. "In the front of that fire came Glaurung the golden, father of dragons, in his full might; and in his train were Balrogs, and behind them came the black armies of the Orcs in multitudes such as the Noldor had never before seen or imagined. And they assaulted the fortresses of the Noldor, and broke the leaguer about Angband, and slew wherever they found them the Noldor and their allies, Grey-elves and Men. Many of the stoutest of the foes of Morgoth were destroyed in the first days of that war, bewildered and dispersed and unable to muster their strength. War ceased not wholly ever again in Beleriand; but the Battle of Sudden Flame is held to have ended with the coming of spring, when the onslaught of Morgoth grew less."
Deeds of personal valor are recorded throughtout. The most daring were the desperate single combat between king Fingolfin of Hithlum and Morgoth, in which Fingolfin shamed Morgoth into coming out of Angband and fighting him: seven wounds he gave Morgoth before being slain at last, and Morgoth went halt on one leg and bore the pain and scarrs of his wounds ever after. (Fingon son of Fingolfin was then high king of the Noldor and ruled in Hithlum.) Then Beren a Man and Lúthien the daughter of king Thingol of Doriath dared together to take a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth: which task Thingol had assigned to Beren before he would be given leave to wed his daughter. That tale is long and reveals Tolkien at his mythic best. It cannot be told in part, only to say that Thingol received his Silmaril and kept it in despite of the oath sworn by the sons of Fëanor, and this formed a break in the alliance between the Sindar of Doriath and the Noldor, weakening Beleriand and furthering the cause of Morgoth's hate.
The Fifth battle (FA 473) is called Nirnaeth Arnoediad - Unnumbered Tears. It came about because Maedhros, impressed by the deeds of Beren and Lúthien in entering Morgoth's lair and taking the Silmaril, was convinced that Angband was not unassailable. He endeavored to create an alliance amongst all the folk of Beleriand: in this he was hindered by the oath of Fëanor, and the strife that it had already caused did not cease: but nevertheless, Maedhros succeeded in gathering together a wonderfully strong alliance of Elves, Men and Dwarves, called the Union of Maedhros. But he revealed his strength too soon and drove all the orcs out of the northern regions of Beleriand, and Dorthonion was again recovered for awhile. Morgoth knew then what was afoot, and sent spies abroad to discover more, and treason he sowed amongst the Men who were deep in the counsels of Maedhros and king Fingon. "At length Maedhros, having gathered all the strength that he could of Elves and Men and Dwarves, resolved to assault Angband from east and west; and he purposed to march with banners displayed in open force over Anfauglith. But when he had drawn forth, as he hoped, the armies of Morgoth in answer, then Fingon should issue forth from the passes of Hithlum; and thus they thought to take the might of Morgoth as between anvil and hammer, and break it to pieces. And the signal for this was to be the firing of a great beacon in Dorthonion." But the beacon was never lit: "Maedhros was hindered in his setting-forth by the guile of Uldor the accursed, who decieved him with false warnings of assault from Angband." Fingon doubted and fretted where his army was drawn up in the mountains near Eithel Sirion. But then trumpets were heard, and his brother Turgon of Gondolin came forth with his whole force of 10,000 warriors and took station beside the army of Hithlum. To keep the eastern and western armies from merging, Morgoth sent an army dressed in dun garments and hiding their steel across the Anfauglith; their approach was therefore unremarked until they were very close. They came up and formed ranks between Eithel Sirion and the fen of Serech, and taunted the Elves to come down and fight them. But the lines held firm while the Elves and Men awaited the signal of Maedhros. "The Captain of Morgoth in the west had been commanded to draw out Fingon swiftly from his hills by whatever means he could...(He had brought) Gelmir, son of Guilin, that lord of Nargothrond whom they had captured in the Bragollach; and they had blinded him." This unfortunate they mutillated and killed before the walls of Barad Eithel: and Gwindor the brother of Gelmir in his wrath led an attack deep into the ranks of the enemy. "And seeing this all the host of the Noldor was set on fire, and Fingon...and all the host of Hithlum leapt forth from the hills in sudden onslaught." The western army of Morgoth was swept away before he could reinforce it. In the forefront was Gwindor and the Elves of Nargothrond, and they drove right up to the gates of Angband and broke them down. They penetrated to the very halls of Morgoth and beat on his doors; but his garrison of reserves was too great and all but Gwindor were slain and he was captured (though later he escaped). Meanwhile out on the Anfauglith king Fingon was assailed by more forces, which kept him from coming to the aid of Gwindor. They retreated, "and Haldir lord of the Haladin was slain in the rearguard; with him fell most of the Men of Brethil." On the fifth day of the battle, the Elves of Hithlum were still far from the Ered Wethrin, and the orcs came up in the middle of the night and surrounded them. "They fought until day, pressed ever closer. In the morning came hope, when the horns of Turgon were heard as he marched up with the main host of Gondolin; for they had been stationed southward guarding the Pass of Sirion, and Turgon had restrained most of his people from the rash onslaught." Turgon hewed his way to his brother's side. At that very hour the horns of Maedhros were heard coming up from the east. The enemy was assailed in their rear. "It is said that even then the Eldar might have won the day, had all their hosts proved faithful; for the Orcs wavered, and their onslaught was stayed, and already some were turning to flight. But even as the vanguard of Maedhros came upon the Orcs, Morgoth loosed his last strength, and Angband was emptied." Glaurung came leading more dragons, and wolves and wolfriders and Balrogs. This last reserve came between Maedhros and Fingon and swept their hosts apart. Yet even this would not have proven the end of the Union, had not the treachery of Men come in that hour: the plans of Ulfang were revealed, and his son Uldor led his Easterlings into the rear of the sons of Fëanor. Uldor was slain by Maglor, brother of Maedhros: and his brothers Ulfast and Ulwarth were slain also: but Uldor had concealed more strength of "evil Men" in the eastern hills, "and the host of Maedhros was assailed now on three sides, and it broke, and was scattered, and fled this way and that." The sons of Fëanor all managed to escape the field of Unumbered Tears to fight another day. "Last of all the eastern forces to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks into battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor." But when Glaurung came upon them, the Dwarves ringed the dragon and even his mighty armory was not proof against the blows of their axes. Glaurung turned and struck down the lord of Belegost, Azaghâl, and crawled over him, but "with his last stroke Azaghâl drove a knife into his belly, and so wounded him that he fled the field, and the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him....In the western battle Fingon and Turgon were assailed by a tide of foes thrice greater than all the force that was left to them." Gothmog the lord of Balrogs drove a wedge between the brothers, and the host of Gondolin and the Edain led by Húrin and Huor his brother were pushed aside toward the fen of Serech. Gothmog then fought with king Fingon and all his guard were slain, and he was only overcome at last when another Balrog came behind and snared him down with a thong of fire. Then Gothmog hewed Fingon with his black axe, "and a white flame sprang up from the helm of Fingon as it was cloven. Thus fell the High King of the Noldor; and they beat him into the dust with their maces, and his banner, blue and silver, they trod into the mire of his blood." Turgon managed to withdraw back into Gondolin, because of the rearguard of Húrin and Huor and the Men of Hador. All but Húrin died there, defending themselves with the fen of Serech to their front: but the "hosts of Angband swarmed against them, and they bridged the stream (Rivil) with their dead, and encircled the remnant of Hithlum as a gathering tide about a rock." Huor was killed by an arrow in the eye, and finally Húrin was alone. After seeing off scores of enemies he was finally captured and taken to Angband.
The outcome of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad was disaster. The kingdom of Hithlum was ruined utterly. The sons of Fëanor wandered without force or home as outcasts. All of Beleriand was plundered and raped by the orcs and wild men serving Morgoth: only in Gondolin the hidden, and in Doriath behind the Girdle of Melian, did security still remain.
The tragedy of Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, leads only up to the battle of Tumhalad (FA 496), a complete disaster for the army of Nargothrond. Túrin was the only warrior who could withstand the fires of Glaurung (he wore a dwarf-mask); and the armies of Morgoth were far too strong to even make this battle a playable chance of victory for the good-guys. They simply get beaten. Gwindor dies. And Túrin fails to save his lady love in Nargothrond: all his army is killed around him as he tries, and he stands immobilized by the eyes of the dragon as the fair Finduilas and the rest of Nargorthrond's captives are led away to Angband. Later in a fit of vengeance and sorrow, he slays Glaurung (FA 501) and then takes his own life.
Húrin refused to reveal the whereabouts of Gondolin to Morgoth, for which he was cursed and set in a chair high up in Thangorodrim for 28 years, seeing the world only through the senses of the dark lord. A year after Túrin's death Morgoth released Húrin, and he wandered about as one lost, watched continuously by the spying creatures of the dark lord. He called to Turgon from Dimbar, and thus inadvertently revealed to Morgoth the approximate location of Gondolin. He buried his wife and Túrin, then recovered the Nauglamír from the deeps of abandoned Nargothrond: this heirloom Húrin "paid" Thingol with for the raising of his son Túrin (and then soon afterward died): and Thingol purposed to have the Silmaril set into it. But the Dwarves of Nogrod, when they saw the ancient workmanship of their fathers and the shining jewel of Fëanor, lusted to possess them. Thingol sat with the craftsmen as they worked daily, but when the work was done and he put forth his hand to don the Nauglamír, the Dwarves rose up and slew him (FA c. 505). The Dwarves took the Silmaril and necklace and fled Menegroth, but were pursued to the death, and the Silmaril was returned to Melian the Maia. A twisted version of the tragedy was told in Nogrod, making out Thingol as treacherous, that he would slay his hired craftsmen rather than give them their due. The Dwarves mourned their loss and swore vengeance. With the death of Thingol, Melian the Maia also changed: no longer was she bound to the physical form she had kept to be the wife of Elwë Singolo (Thingol). Her power was now withdrawn from Doriath, and the Girdle of Melian was down. She spoke only to Mablung, chief captain of Thingol, "bidding him to take heed to the Silmaril, and to send word speedily to Beren and Lúthien in Ossiriand; and she vanished out of Middle-earth." When the avenging host of Dwarves from Nogrod came, they passed without hindrance into deepest Doriath and came to Menegroth: there the greatest tragedy between the Naugrim and Elves occurred and many on both sides were slain. And Mablung fell defending the doors to the treasury, and the Nauglamír and Silmaril were taken away, with much other loot besides. Word came upon word to Tol Galen where dwelt Beren with Lúthien and their son Dior. And moving swiftly with many Green-elves of Ossiriand, Beren and Dior ambushed the diminished Dwarven host as it crossed the fords of Sarn Athrad: few Dwarves broke out of that fight, and those that did were slain by the Shepherds of the Trees. The slaying of the lord of Nogrod Beren accomplished himself, and reclaimed the Nauglamír: "but he dying laid his curse upon all the treasure." Beren washed the jewel of Fëanor clean in the river Ascar, but dumped all the rest of the treasure of Doriath into it. They returned to Tol Galen, and "Lúthien wearing that necklace and that immortal jewel was the vision of greatest beauty and glory that has ever been outside the realm of Valinor."
Dior, Thingol's heir, returned and built up Menegroth: But when Beren and Lúthien died, the Silmaril was sent to Dior and he kept it in despite of the sons of Fëanor, who came from their wandering upon hearing word of the Silmaril once again in Menegroth. Then was the second kin-slaying (FA c. 509), and "there fell Celegorm by Dior's hand, and there fell Curufin, and dark Caranthir," and Dior also with his wife, and Menegroth was sacked and Doriath was never inhabited again. But the Silmaril was taken away by Elwing Dior's daughter, who later married Eärendil of Gondolin.
The battle for Gondolin ended in the death of king Turgon and nearly all his people (FA 511): Ecthelion the captain of the gate slew and was slain by Gothmog. A remnant survived the sack, which was brought about by the treachery of Maeglin, who had been a captive of Morgoth and was released only upon his promise that he would reveal the exact location of Gondolin: and in return Morgoth had promised Maeglin that he would possess lordship of Gondolin and have Idril to wife. Idril was the wife of Tuor, son of Huor, for whom Maeglin had the deepest jealousy. Their son Eärendil was thus of the Half-elven. When Morgoth made his assault on Gondolin, Idril was taken by Maeglin, but Tuor rescued her and killed him; then they and such few as they could gather together during the burning fled through the tunnel that Idril had prepared in secret many years before, fearing the shadow which had grown in her heart whenever she had thought upon Maeglin's desire for her. By hazardous paths the exiles made their way to the mouths of Sirion. There they joined their people to those who survived out of Doriath; and Eärendil Half-elven married Elwing Dior's daughter who kept the Silmaril.
Tuor "built a great ship...and with Idril Celebrindal he set sail into the sunset and the West and came no more into any tale or song." (FA c. 543) Eärendil was always sailing in search of news of the whereabouts of his parents: but Elwing went not abroad with him, but sat waiting in sadness beside the mouths of Sirion.
"The sons of Fëanor (having heard that the Silmaril was in the havens of Sirion) came down suddenly upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath, and destroyed them (FA late 6th century). In that battle some of their people stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion in the hearts of the Eldar in those days); but Maedhros and Maglor won the day, though they alone remained thereafter of the sons of Fëanor, for both Amrod and Amras were slain." Elwing cast herself into the sea with the Silmaril on her breast when her two sons Elros and Elrond were taken captive. But Ulmo bore her up and restored her to Eärendil as he sailed the west looking for Tuor and Idril, or the land of Aman. It was in his heart to bring a prayer of intercession to Manwë, to aid the Eldar and the other Elves and Men of Beleriand. To this end he was successful, but came no more to Middle-earth: but rather his voyages continued; for the Valar "took Vingilot (the vessel of Eärendil, built for him by Círdan the shipwright of Balar) and hallowed it, and bore it away...even into the oceans of heaven....Far he journeyed in that ship...with the Silmaril bound upon his brow... even into the starless voids; but most often he was seen at morning or at evening, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from the voyages beyond the confines of the world."
The intercession of Eärendil brought the Valar from Aman to battle with Morgoth (FA post 600): and despite his strength being greater than it had ever been, all his mighty host of orcs and monsters availed him naught: the giant Eagles fought with his winged dragons in the air in the last of the battles of the First Age, called the Great Battle: "Eärendil slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, and they were broken in his ruin." The hosts of Eldar and Men met in battle with the orcs and Balrogs while the battle in the air darkened the skies. "The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth; and the uncounted legions of the Orcs perished like straw in a great fire, or were swept like shrivelled leaves before a burning wind." Morgoth fled to the deepest pits of Angband and sued there for mercy. But he was chained again and by the Valar he was "thrust through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void; and a guard is set for ever on those walls, and Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky."
The fates of Maglor and Maedhros were bound by the oath they had made. Eönwë summoned the Elves of Beleriand to leave Middle-earth; but the sons of Fëanor would not hearken, and prepared with weariness to give battle even to the victorious hosts of Valinor to keep the oath. But Eönwë decreed that they had lost the right to the work of their father "because of their many and merciless deeds. The light of the Silmarils should go now into the West...and to Valinor must Maedhros and Maglor return, and there abide the judgement of the Valar." It was in the camp of Eönwë that the Silmarils were kept. The two sons of Fëanor crept there in disguise, and slew the guards and seized the Silmarils. "Then all the camp was raised against them, and they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last. But Eönwë would not permit the slaying of the sons of Fëanor." They fled, and each took a Silmaril: "But the jewel burned the hand of Maedhros in pain unbearable; and he perceived that it was as Eönwë had said, and that his right thereto had become void, and that the oath was vain....He cast himself into a gaping chasm filled with fire, and so ended; and the Silmaril that he bore was taken into the bosom of the Earth." Maglor also could not endure the pain of torment and cast his Silmaril into the sea. "Thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores, singing in pain and regret beside the waves." (In Maglor's favor is his raising of Eärendil's and Elwing's sons, Elros and Elrond, for he had taken pity on them and not suffered that they should be slain.)
Of the rise and fall of Númenor, and the rings of power and the coming of the Third Age, more is said elsewhere.
MtM
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Message 2 of 2 in Discussion
From: MSN Nicknamesinginglúthiebaggins
Sent: 1/5/2004 6:26 PM
well, you've covered alot, that's for sure!
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Message 1 of 2 in Discussion
From: Merlin the mad
Sent: 12/10/2002 5:18 PM
I just added this page to my Website on Middle-earth battles, preparing to make some of the battles in the Silmarillion into war-game scenarios. I thought that it might make interesting reading to those at TR who want a quickie look at the plot of the book:
In the Silmarillion Tolkien describes the beginning of Middle-earth: Of how the Eldar and Sindar (Elves who had lived with the Valar in Aman, and those others which never saw the light of the Two Trees Telperion and Laurelin in Valinor and remained in Middle-earth) were reunited in the realms of Beleriand after many ages of the world had passed: after Melkor/Morgoth was released from his three-ages imprisonment, and pardoned by Manwë, and revolted again against the rule of the Aratar and destroyed the Two Trees and stole the Silmarils, and returned to the north; where he rebuilt his fortress of Angband beneath; and threw up the three reeking towers of volcanic rock, Thangorodrim above, wreathed always in smokes of his own making as his forges rebuilt his armories, and his experimentations upon the life forms of Middle-earth produced horrendous monsters to plague the Elves and Men whom he hated above all else that Eru-Ilúvatar had made. And of how Fëanor, maker of the Silmarils, vowed a vow of terrible power and destiny, to recover the Silmarils and avenge his father Finwë, whom Melkor had slain; which vow his seven sons (Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod and Amras, lords of the Noldor) entered into when they left Aman and returned to Middle-earth to fight Melkor/Morgoth for the jewel heirlooms of their house: which vow overpowered all that the Eldar did forever after, and caused kin-strifes and was in no small part responsible for the ruin of Beleriand. In that last battle the Valar came and fought with the Elves and Men against Morgoth Bauglir and threw down his power once and for all, and Morgoth was chained in some nether place removed from the world. But his lieutenant, Sauron, possessed an equal measure of evil and enough power from his master to make contest for mastery of the diminished world of Men which began in the Second age, following the destruction of Beleriand.
Of all the battles alluded to in the Silmarillion, only one (Nirnaeth Arnoediad) has sufficient details to determine something by way of numbers; and none show anything more than the broadest of tactics. When I design these battles into war-games scenarios, most of the details of armies, postioning, timed events and terrain are of my own devising. And the events described that span several days or even weeks I have divided into separate phases of each game as required
To place the battles that will receive war-gaming details in their context, I here provide a drastically reduced narration of the wars of Beleriand and the fate of the Silmarils and of the sons of Fëanor.
The First battle of Beleriand, of the Five Battles recorded, was fought before Fëanor and the Noldor returned to Middle-earth. Morgoth's armies of orcs penetrated far into Beleriand, cutting off king Thingol in Doriath from Círdan in Eglarest. "Therefore (Thingol) called upon Denethor; and the Elves came in force from Region beyond Aros and from Ossiriand, and fought the first battle in the Wars of Beleriand." Thingol marched to the battlefield - north of the Andram and between the rivers Gelion and Aros - and between the armies of Menegroth and the Green-elves "(the eastern army of orcs) were utterly defeated, and those that fled north from the great slaughter were waylaid by the axes of the Naugrim that issued from Mount Dolmed: few indeed returned to Angband." The Green-elves were light-armed compared to the orcs "and no match" for them. During the battle, "Denethor was cut off and surrounded upon the hill of Amon Ereb. There he fell and all his nearest kin about him, before the host of Thingol could come to his aid."
The Second Battle (FA 1) was fought as a result of the return of the Noldor. They had landed in the firth of Drengist and burnt the white ships of the Teleri which the Noldor had stolen with the sheding of much blood of their kinsfolk. And they burnt the ships behind them. The flames of that burning alerted Morgoth in Angband and he sent a powerful army of orcs into Mithrim where they attacked the Noldor in their camps on the north shores of the lake Mithrim. "Under the cold stars before the rising of the Moon...was fought the Second Battle in the Wars of Beleriand. Dagor-nuin-Giliath it is named, the Battle-under-Stars, for the Moon had not yet risen; and it is renowned in song. The Noldor, outnumbered and taken at unawares, were yet swiftly victorious; for the light of Aman was not yet dimmed in their eyes, and they were strong and swift, and deadly in anger, and their swords were long and terrible. The Orcs fled before them, and they were driven forth from Mithrim with great slaughter, and hunted over the Mountains of Shadow into the great plain of Ard-galen, that lay northward of Dorthonion. There the armies of Morgoth that had passed south into the Vale of Sirion and beleaguered Círdan in the Haven of the Falas came up to their aid, and were caught in their ruin. For Celegorm, Fëanor's son, having news of them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon them out of the hills near Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech. Evil indeed were the tidings that came at last to Angband, and Morgoth was dismayed. Ten days that battle lasted, and from it returned of all the hosts that he had prepared for the conquest of Beleriand no more than a handful of leaves." But Fëanor was in the fullness of his wrath and hubris. He swore that now he and his people would seek their vengeance for the death of his father and the stolen Silmarils. Therefore, Fëanor pursued his fleeing enemies across the plains of Ard-galen toward Angband, which he knew not the strength of: "but even had he known it would not have deterred him, for he was fey, consumed by the flame of his own wrath." The orcs he pursued turned at bay, "and there issued from Angband Balrogs to aid them." Fëanor and those few with him were surrounded and assailed, for in his haste he had far outmarched the main strength of his army. "Long he fought and undismayed, though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds; but at the last he was smitten to the ground by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, whom Ecthelion after slew in Gondolin. There he would have perished, had not his sons in that moment come up with force to his aid; and the Balrogs left him, and departed to Angband." Fëanor was carried back towards Mithrim, but near Eithel Sirion, on the upward path to cross the mountains, he felt his death coming and they stopped. Looking back toward the smoke-wreathed towers of Thangorodrim Fëanor cursed Morgoth thrice, and bound his sons to remember the oaths they had sworn to recover the Silmarils, and he made them swear to avenge their father. Then he died.
Fingolfin, half-brother of Fëanor, became king of all Hithlum, and the sons of Fëanor moved elsewhere into Beleriand and settled.
Some fifty and two years into the First Age (51 years following the death of Fëanor), Turgon, son of Fingolfin, had revealed to him by the Vala Ulmo the secret vale of Tumladen and began the building of Gondolin, the Hidden City, which was completed in the year FA 104. Then Turgon and all his people entered into it and passed for many years from all knowledge of those outside.
The Third battle, Dagor Aglareb (the Glorious Battle - FA c. 60), is frankly a bore tactically. The armies of Morgoth attack, hoping for surprise, and instead are routed by the Elves who are ready for them. Not a single orc returns to Angband, the last of them being struck down within sight of the very gates. A 400 years-long siege of Angband unsues.
A complete encirclement of Angband was impossible, because of the mountains and ice which were impassable to the Elves: and in the north Morgoth would send out spies around the long way to Beleriand: and once 100 years into the Siege he sent an army of orcs to attack Hithlum along the firth of Drengist: but they were spotted in time and driven into the sea. Morgoth did not send forth any more orcish armies, seeing as how they were no match alone against the Elves. He devised greater creatures and made plans. 200 years into the siege, the first of the dragon race, Glaurung, came forth and routed a part of the besieging forces, pursuing them south across the plains of Ard-galen: but Elvish horsearchers surrounded Glaurung and drove him back to Angband: he was yet young and had not come into his full armored strength.
Then came the Long Peace, "for wellnigh two hundred years," where the only fighting was "affrays on the marches. And all Beleriand flourished and grew rich. Behind the guard of their armies in the north the Noldor built their dwellings and their towers, and many fair things they made in those days, and poems and histories and books of lore. In many parts of the land the Noldor and the Sindar became welded into one people, and spoke the same tongue; though this difference remained between them, that the Noldor had the greater power of mind and body, and were the mightier warriors and sages, and they built with stone, and loved the hill-slopes and open lands. But the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music..., and they loved the woods and the riversides; and some of the Grey-elves still wandered far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went."
Quite the bucolic picture of peace and prosperity: hardly the thing to make war-game scenarios out of!
Then at the end of the Long Peace (FA 455), Morgoth sent forth volcanic fires from Thangorodrim. All the plains of Ard-galen were burnt and the armies of the besieging Elves were destroyed and routed back to Beleriand. Ard-galen never recovered, but remained a land of choking dust and ashes and was renamed Anfauglith. This was the Fourth battle, called Dagor Bragollach - the Battle of Sudden Flame. "In the front of that fire came Glaurung the golden, father of dragons, in his full might; and in his train were Balrogs, and behind them came the black armies of the Orcs in multitudes such as the Noldor had never before seen or imagined. And they assaulted the fortresses of the Noldor, and broke the leaguer about Angband, and slew wherever they found them the Noldor and their allies, Grey-elves and Men. Many of the stoutest of the foes of Morgoth were destroyed in the first days of that war, bewildered and dispersed and unable to muster their strength. War ceased not wholly ever again in Beleriand; but the Battle of Sudden Flame is held to have ended with the coming of spring, when the onslaught of Morgoth grew less."
Deeds of personal valor are recorded throughtout. The most daring were the desperate single combat between king Fingolfin of Hithlum and Morgoth, in which Fingolfin shamed Morgoth into coming out of Angband and fighting him: seven wounds he gave Morgoth before being slain at last, and Morgoth went halt on one leg and bore the pain and scarrs of his wounds ever after. (Fingon son of Fingolfin was then high king of the Noldor and ruled in Hithlum.) Then Beren a Man and Lúthien the daughter of king Thingol of Doriath dared together to take a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth: which task Thingol had assigned to Beren before he would be given leave to wed his daughter. That tale is long and reveals Tolkien at his mythic best. It cannot be told in part, only to say that Thingol received his Silmaril and kept it in despite of the oath sworn by the sons of Fëanor, and this formed a break in the alliance between the Sindar of Doriath and the Noldor, weakening Beleriand and furthering the cause of Morgoth's hate.
The Fifth battle (FA 473) is called Nirnaeth Arnoediad - Unnumbered Tears. It came about because Maedhros, impressed by the deeds of Beren and Lúthien in entering Morgoth's lair and taking the Silmaril, was convinced that Angband was not unassailable. He endeavored to create an alliance amongst all the folk of Beleriand: in this he was hindered by the oath of Fëanor, and the strife that it had already caused did not cease: but nevertheless, Maedhros succeeded in gathering together a wonderfully strong alliance of Elves, Men and Dwarves, called the Union of Maedhros. But he revealed his strength too soon and drove all the orcs out of the northern regions of Beleriand, and Dorthonion was again recovered for awhile. Morgoth knew then what was afoot, and sent spies abroad to discover more, and treason he sowed amongst the Men who were deep in the counsels of Maedhros and king Fingon. "At length Maedhros, having gathered all the strength that he could of Elves and Men and Dwarves, resolved to assault Angband from east and west; and he purposed to march with banners displayed in open force over Anfauglith. But when he had drawn forth, as he hoped, the armies of Morgoth in answer, then Fingon should issue forth from the passes of Hithlum; and thus they thought to take the might of Morgoth as between anvil and hammer, and break it to pieces. And the signal for this was to be the firing of a great beacon in Dorthonion." But the beacon was never lit: "Maedhros was hindered in his setting-forth by the guile of Uldor the accursed, who decieved him with false warnings of assault from Angband." Fingon doubted and fretted where his army was drawn up in the mountains near Eithel Sirion. But then trumpets were heard, and his brother Turgon of Gondolin came forth with his whole force of 10,000 warriors and took station beside the army of Hithlum. To keep the eastern and western armies from merging, Morgoth sent an army dressed in dun garments and hiding their steel across the Anfauglith; their approach was therefore unremarked until they were very close. They came up and formed ranks between Eithel Sirion and the fen of Serech, and taunted the Elves to come down and fight them. But the lines held firm while the Elves and Men awaited the signal of Maedhros. "The Captain of Morgoth in the west had been commanded to draw out Fingon swiftly from his hills by whatever means he could...(He had brought) Gelmir, son of Guilin, that lord of Nargothrond whom they had captured in the Bragollach; and they had blinded him." This unfortunate they mutillated and killed before the walls of Barad Eithel: and Gwindor the brother of Gelmir in his wrath led an attack deep into the ranks of the enemy. "And seeing this all the host of the Noldor was set on fire, and Fingon...and all the host of Hithlum leapt forth from the hills in sudden onslaught." The western army of Morgoth was swept away before he could reinforce it. In the forefront was Gwindor and the Elves of Nargothrond, and they drove right up to the gates of Angband and broke them down. They penetrated to the very halls of Morgoth and beat on his doors; but his garrison of reserves was too great and all but Gwindor were slain and he was captured (though later he escaped). Meanwhile out on the Anfauglith king Fingon was assailed by more forces, which kept him from coming to the aid of Gwindor. They retreated, "and Haldir lord of the Haladin was slain in the rearguard; with him fell most of the Men of Brethil." On the fifth day of the battle, the Elves of Hithlum were still far from the Ered Wethrin, and the orcs came up in the middle of the night and surrounded them. "They fought until day, pressed ever closer. In the morning came hope, when the horns of Turgon were heard as he marched up with the main host of Gondolin; for they had been stationed southward guarding the Pass of Sirion, and Turgon had restrained most of his people from the rash onslaught." Turgon hewed his way to his brother's side. At that very hour the horns of Maedhros were heard coming up from the east. The enemy was assailed in their rear. "It is said that even then the Eldar might have won the day, had all their hosts proved faithful; for the Orcs wavered, and their onslaught was stayed, and already some were turning to flight. But even as the vanguard of Maedhros came upon the Orcs, Morgoth loosed his last strength, and Angband was emptied." Glaurung came leading more dragons, and wolves and wolfriders and Balrogs. This last reserve came between Maedhros and Fingon and swept their hosts apart. Yet even this would not have proven the end of the Union, had not the treachery of Men come in that hour: the plans of Ulfang were revealed, and his son Uldor led his Easterlings into the rear of the sons of Fëanor. Uldor was slain by Maglor, brother of Maedhros: and his brothers Ulfast and Ulwarth were slain also: but Uldor had concealed more strength of "evil Men" in the eastern hills, "and the host of Maedhros was assailed now on three sides, and it broke, and was scattered, and fled this way and that." The sons of Fëanor all managed to escape the field of Unumbered Tears to fight another day. "Last of all the eastern forces to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks into battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor." But when Glaurung came upon them, the Dwarves ringed the dragon and even his mighty armory was not proof against the blows of their axes. Glaurung turned and struck down the lord of Belegost, Azaghâl, and crawled over him, but "with his last stroke Azaghâl drove a knife into his belly, and so wounded him that he fled the field, and the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him....In the western battle Fingon and Turgon were assailed by a tide of foes thrice greater than all the force that was left to them." Gothmog the lord of Balrogs drove a wedge between the brothers, and the host of Gondolin and the Edain led by Húrin and Huor his brother were pushed aside toward the fen of Serech. Gothmog then fought with king Fingon and all his guard were slain, and he was only overcome at last when another Balrog came behind and snared him down with a thong of fire. Then Gothmog hewed Fingon with his black axe, "and a white flame sprang up from the helm of Fingon as it was cloven. Thus fell the High King of the Noldor; and they beat him into the dust with their maces, and his banner, blue and silver, they trod into the mire of his blood." Turgon managed to withdraw back into Gondolin, because of the rearguard of Húrin and Huor and the Men of Hador. All but Húrin died there, defending themselves with the fen of Serech to their front: but the "hosts of Angband swarmed against them, and they bridged the stream (Rivil) with their dead, and encircled the remnant of Hithlum as a gathering tide about a rock." Huor was killed by an arrow in the eye, and finally Húrin was alone. After seeing off scores of enemies he was finally captured and taken to Angband.
The outcome of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad was disaster. The kingdom of Hithlum was ruined utterly. The sons of Fëanor wandered without force or home as outcasts. All of Beleriand was plundered and raped by the orcs and wild men serving Morgoth: only in Gondolin the hidden, and in Doriath behind the Girdle of Melian, did security still remain.
The tragedy of Túrin Turambar, son of Húrin, leads only up to the battle of Tumhalad (FA 496), a complete disaster for the army of Nargothrond. Túrin was the only warrior who could withstand the fires of Glaurung (he wore a dwarf-mask); and the armies of Morgoth were far too strong to even make this battle a playable chance of victory for the good-guys. They simply get beaten. Gwindor dies. And Túrin fails to save his lady love in Nargothrond: all his army is killed around him as he tries, and he stands immobilized by the eyes of the dragon as the fair Finduilas and the rest of Nargorthrond's captives are led away to Angband. Later in a fit of vengeance and sorrow, he slays Glaurung (FA 501) and then takes his own life.
Húrin refused to reveal the whereabouts of Gondolin to Morgoth, for which he was cursed and set in a chair high up in Thangorodrim for 28 years, seeing the world only through the senses of the dark lord. A year after Túrin's death Morgoth released Húrin, and he wandered about as one lost, watched continuously by the spying creatures of the dark lord. He called to Turgon from Dimbar, and thus inadvertently revealed to Morgoth the approximate location of Gondolin. He buried his wife and Túrin, then recovered the Nauglamír from the deeps of abandoned Nargothrond: this heirloom Húrin "paid" Thingol with for the raising of his son Túrin (and then soon afterward died): and Thingol purposed to have the Silmaril set into it. But the Dwarves of Nogrod, when they saw the ancient workmanship of their fathers and the shining jewel of Fëanor, lusted to possess them. Thingol sat with the craftsmen as they worked daily, but when the work was done and he put forth his hand to don the Nauglamír, the Dwarves rose up and slew him (FA c. 505). The Dwarves took the Silmaril and necklace and fled Menegroth, but were pursued to the death, and the Silmaril was returned to Melian the Maia. A twisted version of the tragedy was told in Nogrod, making out Thingol as treacherous, that he would slay his hired craftsmen rather than give them their due. The Dwarves mourned their loss and swore vengeance. With the death of Thingol, Melian the Maia also changed: no longer was she bound to the physical form she had kept to be the wife of Elwë Singolo (Thingol). Her power was now withdrawn from Doriath, and the Girdle of Melian was down. She spoke only to Mablung, chief captain of Thingol, "bidding him to take heed to the Silmaril, and to send word speedily to Beren and Lúthien in Ossiriand; and she vanished out of Middle-earth." When the avenging host of Dwarves from Nogrod came, they passed without hindrance into deepest Doriath and came to Menegroth: there the greatest tragedy between the Naugrim and Elves occurred and many on both sides were slain. And Mablung fell defending the doors to the treasury, and the Nauglamír and Silmaril were taken away, with much other loot besides. Word came upon word to Tol Galen where dwelt Beren with Lúthien and their son Dior. And moving swiftly with many Green-elves of Ossiriand, Beren and Dior ambushed the diminished Dwarven host as it crossed the fords of Sarn Athrad: few Dwarves broke out of that fight, and those that did were slain by the Shepherds of the Trees. The slaying of the lord of Nogrod Beren accomplished himself, and reclaimed the Nauglamír: "but he dying laid his curse upon all the treasure." Beren washed the jewel of Fëanor clean in the river Ascar, but dumped all the rest of the treasure of Doriath into it. They returned to Tol Galen, and "Lúthien wearing that necklace and that immortal jewel was the vision of greatest beauty and glory that has ever been outside the realm of Valinor."
Dior, Thingol's heir, returned and built up Menegroth: But when Beren and Lúthien died, the Silmaril was sent to Dior and he kept it in despite of the sons of Fëanor, who came from their wandering upon hearing word of the Silmaril once again in Menegroth. Then was the second kin-slaying (FA c. 509), and "there fell Celegorm by Dior's hand, and there fell Curufin, and dark Caranthir," and Dior also with his wife, and Menegroth was sacked and Doriath was never inhabited again. But the Silmaril was taken away by Elwing Dior's daughter, who later married Eärendil of Gondolin.
The battle for Gondolin ended in the death of king Turgon and nearly all his people (FA 511): Ecthelion the captain of the gate slew and was slain by Gothmog. A remnant survived the sack, which was brought about by the treachery of Maeglin, who had been a captive of Morgoth and was released only upon his promise that he would reveal the exact location of Gondolin: and in return Morgoth had promised Maeglin that he would possess lordship of Gondolin and have Idril to wife. Idril was the wife of Tuor, son of Huor, for whom Maeglin had the deepest jealousy. Their son Eärendil was thus of the Half-elven. When Morgoth made his assault on Gondolin, Idril was taken by Maeglin, but Tuor rescued her and killed him; then they and such few as they could gather together during the burning fled through the tunnel that Idril had prepared in secret many years before, fearing the shadow which had grown in her heart whenever she had thought upon Maeglin's desire for her. By hazardous paths the exiles made their way to the mouths of Sirion. There they joined their people to those who survived out of Doriath; and Eärendil Half-elven married Elwing Dior's daughter who kept the Silmaril.
Tuor "built a great ship...and with Idril Celebrindal he set sail into the sunset and the West and came no more into any tale or song." (FA c. 543) Eärendil was always sailing in search of news of the whereabouts of his parents: but Elwing went not abroad with him, but sat waiting in sadness beside the mouths of Sirion.
"The sons of Fëanor (having heard that the Silmaril was in the havens of Sirion) came down suddenly upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath, and destroyed them (FA late 6th century). In that battle some of their people stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion in the hearts of the Eldar in those days); but Maedhros and Maglor won the day, though they alone remained thereafter of the sons of Fëanor, for both Amrod and Amras were slain." Elwing cast herself into the sea with the Silmaril on her breast when her two sons Elros and Elrond were taken captive. But Ulmo bore her up and restored her to Eärendil as he sailed the west looking for Tuor and Idril, or the land of Aman. It was in his heart to bring a prayer of intercession to Manwë, to aid the Eldar and the other Elves and Men of Beleriand. To this end he was successful, but came no more to Middle-earth: but rather his voyages continued; for the Valar "took Vingilot (the vessel of Eärendil, built for him by Círdan the shipwright of Balar) and hallowed it, and bore it away...even into the oceans of heaven....Far he journeyed in that ship...with the Silmaril bound upon his brow... even into the starless voids; but most often he was seen at morning or at evening, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from the voyages beyond the confines of the world."
The intercession of Eärendil brought the Valar from Aman to battle with Morgoth (FA post 600): and despite his strength being greater than it had ever been, all his mighty host of orcs and monsters availed him naught: the giant Eagles fought with his winged dragons in the air in the last of the battles of the First Age, called the Great Battle: "Eärendil slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, and they were broken in his ruin." The hosts of Eldar and Men met in battle with the orcs and Balrogs while the battle in the air darkened the skies. "The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth; and the uncounted legions of the Orcs perished like straw in a great fire, or were swept like shrivelled leaves before a burning wind." Morgoth fled to the deepest pits of Angband and sued there for mercy. But he was chained again and by the Valar he was "thrust through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void; and a guard is set for ever on those walls, and Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky."
The fates of Maglor and Maedhros were bound by the oath they had made. Eönwë summoned the Elves of Beleriand to leave Middle-earth; but the sons of Fëanor would not hearken, and prepared with weariness to give battle even to the victorious hosts of Valinor to keep the oath. But Eönwë decreed that they had lost the right to the work of their father "because of their many and merciless deeds. The light of the Silmarils should go now into the West...and to Valinor must Maedhros and Maglor return, and there abide the judgement of the Valar." It was in the camp of Eönwë that the Silmarils were kept. The two sons of Fëanor crept there in disguise, and slew the guards and seized the Silmarils. "Then all the camp was raised against them, and they prepared to die, defending themselves until the last. But Eönwë would not permit the slaying of the sons of Fëanor." They fled, and each took a Silmaril: "But the jewel burned the hand of Maedhros in pain unbearable; and he perceived that it was as Eönwë had said, and that his right thereto had become void, and that the oath was vain....He cast himself into a gaping chasm filled with fire, and so ended; and the Silmaril that he bore was taken into the bosom of the Earth." Maglor also could not endure the pain of torment and cast his Silmaril into the sea. "Thereafter he wandered ever upon the shores, singing in pain and regret beside the waves." (In Maglor's favor is his raising of Eärendil's and Elwing's sons, Elros and Elrond, for he had taken pity on them and not suffered that they should be slain.)
Of the rise and fall of Númenor, and the rings of power and the coming of the Third Age, more is said elsewhere.
MtM
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Message 2 of 2 in Discussion
From: MSN Nicknamesinginglúthiebaggins
Sent: 1/5/2004 6:26 PM
well, you've covered alot, that's for sure!