Battles of Beleriand
Previous war: Battle of the Powers | |
Next war: War of the Elves and Sauron | |
Wars of Beleriand | |
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Beginning: Y.T. 1497 | End: F.A. 587 |
Place: Throughout Beleriand and the lands northward | |
Outcome: Victory for the Elves and allies | |
Major battles: First Battle, Dagor-nuin-Giliath, Dagor Aglareb, Dagor Bragollach, Nirnaeth Arnoediad, War of Wrath | |
Combatants | |
Forces of Morgoth | |
Commanders | |
- "The Jewels were coveted by Morgoth the Enemy, who stole them and, after destroying the Trees, took them to Middle-earth, and guarded them in his great fortress of Thangorodrim. Against the will of the Valar Fëanor forsook the Blessed Realm and went in exile to Middle-earth, leading with him a great part of his people; for in his pride he purposed to recover the Jewels from Morgoth by force. Thereafter followed the hopeless war of the Eldar and the Edain against Thangorodrim, in which they were at last utterly defeated."
- ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Númenor"
The Wars of Beleriand , also known as the War of the Jewels or the War of the Great Jewels(as the Silmarilli led to most of them) were a series of great conflicts throughout the Elder Days pertaining of the vain attempts of the Noldor to reclaim the Silmarils from the Dark Lord Morgoth.
From his mighty fortress of Angband, Morgoth used this base from which to launch his attacks on the peoples of Beleriand. While the Noldor had some victories, the Doom of Mandos always hung over their efforts.
Major Battles
The following are the 5 main battles (listed chronologically) in these wars:
- The First Battle: fought by the Sindar, Laiquendi, and Dwarves of the Blue Mountains, before the Noldor arrived in Middle-earth.
- Dagor-nuin-Giliath: fought by the House of Fëanor upon arriving in Middle-earth.
- Dagor Aglareb: a victory of the Noldor which led to the Siege of Angband.
- Dagor Bragollach: a defeat in which Ard-galen burned and many Noldor, including High King Fingolfin, were slain.
- Nirnaeth Arnoediad: a major defeat in which the Union of Maedhros was utterly broken by Morgoth.
- The War of Wrath: the Host of the West defeated Morgoth which caused the destruction of most of Beleriand and the end of the Elder Days of Arda.
See also
There were other parallel conflicts where Morgoth was not involved, but were directly or indirectly connected to the main War, and the Silmarilli:
- The Kinslayings, three conflicts caused by the House of Feanor against other Elves to claim the Silmarilli:
- A brief conflict involving the Dwarves coveting the Nauglamir:
- Various minor battles were fought during the Siege of Angband which are not counted among the major ones, such as an Orc-attack in Drengist[1] and the Battle of the Gelion-Ascar Stockade.
- The Massacre at Tarn Aeluin, in which the House of Bëor was destroyed.
- The Fall of the Falas, in which the havens of Brithombar and Eglarest were sacked and fell, took place after the Nírnaeth.
- The Sack of Bar-en-Danwedh, in which the Gaurwaith were destroyed and Dor-Cúarthol lost.
- The Battle of Tumhalad, followed by the Sack of Nargothrond, where the city was destroyed by Glaurung and his Orcs.
- The Fall of Gondolin, in which Morgoth's hosts besieged and destroyed the city of Gondolin, killing High King Turgon.
- The Battle of Eglarest, in which Ingwion and his host of Vanyar landed in Eglarest and defeated the Orcs who held the Haven.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "The Grey Annals": §115
War of the Great Jewels | |
First Battle · Dagor-nuin-Giliath · Dagor Aglareb · Dagor Bragollach · Nirnaeth Arnoediad · War of Wrath |