Mereth Aderthad
The
Mereth Aderthad ("Feast of Reuniting") was the great celebratory feast held at the order of
High King Fingolfin in the
twentieth year after the first rising of the
Sun[note 1]. The feast was held by the
Pools of Ivrin, under the
Mountains of Shadow to the north of
Beleriand. Its purpose was to unite all of the divided
Elves in one cause, and ambassadors came from all the peoples and realms of Beleriand. As well as Elves from the separate branches of the
Noldor, native
Grey-elves were also present, including some from
Doriath and the
Falas. Ambassadors even came from the
Green-elves, the people of distant
Ossiriand in the east.
[1]
The Feast was hailed as a great success, and the Elves made common cause there against their great enemy to the north. For a few short years after the Mereth Aderthad, Beleriand enjoyed a time of peace and happiness before it was plunged into the Wars that would eventually destroy it.
Notes
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth gives the date of F.A. 21, giving a different interpretation of the line "when twenty years of the Sun had passed"
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor"
