Beleriand in the First Age

8/10/2019 Beleriand in the First Age

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MIDDLE EARTH IN THE FIRST AGE

The First Age was in essence a time of myths and legends for Middle-Earth, when the Elves andMen battled the titanic power of the Dark Lord Morgoth and his armies. Many realms rose andfell during the long battle - some to the sheer force of enemies sent against them, others totreachery within - but in the end Morgoth was the victor, his enemies scattered and in hiding. Butthe Valar - Kings and Queens of Arda - came to the aid of the Children of Illuvatar and the DarkLord was defeated.

Beleriand the 'Country of Balar' was the land where most of the titanic events of the First Agetook place. Shielded by the mountains of Ered Luin in the east, fanned by cool winds fromBelegaer the 'Great Sea' in the west, and looked over by the mountains of Ered Engrim in thenorth, it was here that the war between the Dark Lord Morgoth and the Noldor Elves was fought.

Originally a land of great beauty, Beleriand wasmarred by the continual fighting between theElves and Morgoth, so that its beauty was madeless and less, as the influence of the Dark Lordconsumed more and more of the light of the land.Within time however, after many centuries ofbattles, Morgoth finally had near completedominion of Beleriand, and it served as the homefor his evil minions, an empty land of sadness andmourning.

In the end, Earendil son of Tuor sailed to Valinor, and there begged for the pardon of the Noldorand mercy for the Sindar and Men, and it was granted. In the massive War of Wrath thatfollowed, the land was rent apart, and Beleriand dissapeared beneath the sea.

GEOGRAPHY OF BELERIAND

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Several different geographical regions can beidentified within Beleriand, and they remainedthere even after the arrival of the Noldor. Thenames of these regions were East Beleriand, WestBeleriand, Taur im Duinath, Ossiriand, Thargelion,Doriath, Avernien and the Falas


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East Beleriand was a wide openplain, and in later years was hometo several of the Sons of Feanor. Itwas crossed by the great DwarfRoad, which led to Nogrod andBelegost, and at is heart wasEstolad the 'Encampment', for thatplace would later be the firstdwelling of Men in Beleriand. Alsowithin the boundaries of EastBeleriand was the thin land of

Arthorien, Himlad the Cool Plain,and the starlit valley of NanElmoth, where Thingol had firstmet Melian, though now thewoods were sunless and onlyhome to the Dark Elf smith Eol.

West Beleriand was less flatdominated at its heart by the wood

of Taur en Faroth 'Forest ofHunters' and the high hills thatloomed above the hidden caves ofNargothrond. In its uppermostnorthern reaches were the Woodsof Nuath and the vale of Tumladenwhere was fought the battle forNargothrond. West Beleriand itselfwas crossed by both the great riverSirion and the lesser river Narogand at the joining of these two

mighty rivers was Nan Tathren 'Valeof Willows'.


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The mighty Sirion River cuts Beleriand in twain.The greatest of the rivers of Beleriand, the Sirionflowed some 850 miles from its source in the coldhighlands of the Ered Wethrin to its mighty deltaon the Bay of Balar. It was unusual in that forsome nine miles of its middle course it flowedunderground from the wide enchanted marshlandof Aelin-uial beneath the high land known as the

Andram . The Sirion was regarded as the borderbetween East and West Beleriand.

Taur im Duinath 'Forest Between Rivers' was planted firmly between East and West Beleriandand to the north of it was the hills of Andram the 'Long Wall' which also divided East and WestBeleriand. Taur im Duinaith was a fey land home to few Elves or Men and only dwelt in by wildanimals.

Ossiriand 'Land of the Seven Rivers' was named so for it was flanked on its west by the riverGelion, and was divided into five sections by the six tributaries of the Gelion, the Adurant,Duilwen, Brilthor, Legolin, Thalos and Ascar. In later years it would be known as Lindon, andwould be the only part of Beleriand to survive and still be attached to the mainland of MiddleEarth, but during the First Age it was home only to the reclusive Laiquendi, the Green Elves ofOssiriand, and was empty of anyone else. The wooded land climbed higher and higher untilupon its east it was bordered by Ered Luin. To the north of Ossiriand, also protected by EredLuin and the Gelion was the land of Thargelion, soon to be realm of Caranthir, though it wasalso known as Talath Rhunen.

Avernien and the Falas both lay by the sea. The name Falas literally meant 'the coast', and itwas ruled by the Sindar lord Cirdan, and it was home to the Falathrim who dwelt in the twinhavens of Brithombar and Eglarest. Avernien was more quiet, where lay the birchwoods ofNimbrethil, and it was beside the mighty mouths of the Sirion.

However in the northern half of Beleriand lay the great woods of Doriath, that had originallybeen known as Eglador. Consisting of the four woods Neldoreth, Region, Nivrim and Brethil, it
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later shrank when the Girdle of Melian was placed down, and Brethil was excluded from theprotection.

South of Beleriand lay the empty plains ofMiddle Earth, though to the north lay the

Northlands, though it was protected from thereby the high mountains of Ered Gorgoroth andthe highlands of Dorthonion, the mountains ofEchoriath where lay Gondolin, Nevrast andHithlum, and the March of Maedhros.

Beleriand later became the home of many dwellings and realms of the Elves. Thingol reigned inDoriath and held the title Lord of Beleriand, but his power went little beyond his marches.Maedhros the eldest son of Feanor ruled in Himring, while Maglor his brother protected thelands of Maglor's Gap. Celegorm and Curufin the next two sons of Feanor dwelt in Himlad, andCaranthir the next commanded Thargelion, and the two youngest Amrod and Amras hunted inEast Beleriand. The House of Fingolfin ruled in the Northlands in Hithlum, though Turgon dweltin hidden Gondolin in Echoriath. Finrod, Lord of the House of Finarfin in Beleriand, ruled thegreatest realm of the Noldor, which was hidden Nargothrond, while Orodreth his brother ruled inhis stead the tower of Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion, and the two youngest Aegnor and Angrodcommanded Dorthonion. The only other free realm of the Sindar in Beleriand was the Falas,which was ruled by Cirdan, and there still dwelt the Laiquendi in Ossiriand.

Mighty Gondolin, thehidden city of the Elves.


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NORTHLANDSThe Northlands, while geographically not part of Beleriand, were included in that country as theyears progressed.

The mightymountains of EredEngrim fenced it tothe north, and fromthere rose the tallpeaks ofThangorodrim, whereMorgoth built thefortress of Angband.Hithlum, a land ofmist and often coldwinters, becamehome to many Noldorand was the seat ofthe High King, and it

kept watch overMorgoth from thewest. Dorthonion,where dwelt manymen before the battleof Dagor Bragollach,looked at it from thesouth, and Ered Luinrose to wall it off inthe east. BetweenThangorodrim and

these last threeboundaries was theplain of ArdGalen 'GreenRegion', though laterit would become

Anfauglith 'Land ofGasping Dust'.


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Mighty Angbadthe fearsome seat of Morgoths power was built behind the forbidding peaks ofEred Engrim after Morgoths citadel ofUtumno was cast down by the Valinorthough most scholars believe MorgothsPits indeed lay beneath the mountainsrather than behind them. From hereMorgoth breeds his Fell creatures andspreads his pestilence. Indeed,it was from the Great Night Door thatMorgoths flames poured forth in theDagor Bragollach the War of Fire.


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Aman the Undying Land cannot simply beseen as another part of Arda for while thesame seas that reach Middle Earth washits shores it is indeed quite apart.

At the heart of Amanlies Valinor,the Land of the Valar.It is from there that

the Valar watch ofthe World and live inpeace. Dwelling withthem are the Maiarthe lesser Ainurand other spirits andcreatures of goodalong with theCalaquendi the Elvesof Light.

Yet not all of Aman is a bastion of ageless light, for to its north lies the Wastes of Araman, andto the south is the dark land of Avathar, where Melkor first found Ungoliant. Yet Valinor isprotected from these by the Pelori, the greatest mountains in all the world, and their faces weresheer facing the east, though their western slopes were gentle, falling down into the meadowsand plains of Valinor. The Calacirya, the Pass of Light, was the only break in the Pelori, and atits center was Tirion, the city of the Noldor and Vanya, which rested on the Hill of Tuna. Risingto the south of Tirion was Taniquetil, the seat of Manwe and Varda and rising higher than even

Thangorodrim and all the mountains of Pelori. Alqualonde, the city of the Teleri, was locatedoutside of the Pelori north on the coasts of Valinor, and from there they sailed the seas.

However, the greatest city of Valinor was Valmar itselfs, the city of the Valar Located around itwere the dwellings of many of the Valar, though most importantly the Two Trees did rest near it,and there was also the Ring of Doom, where the Valar would sit in council. Two other importantlocations in Valinor were the Halls of Mandos, which lay in the uppermost north of the plains,and to here the dead spirits of all Elves came. Also in the north, among the hills, was Formenosthe holdings of Feanor in exile, where the Silmarils were to be kept.


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The beauty of the world captured within them, the Silmarils were forged by he who was namedCurufinwe by afterwoods known as Feanor, greatest of all the Noldor Elves is the skills of mindand hand. The light of the Two Trees was captured and blended within them, so that even in thegreatest darkness they shone with a light of its own, and they were hallowed by Varda theQueen of the Valar, and made sacred, beauty imperishable.

In the form of three great jewels, the Silmarilswere as the crystal of diamond, but as strongas adamant, and that no violence within thewalls of Arda could mar or break them, crush orrend them. But the crystal itself was as thebody is to the spirit. For the inner light of theTwo Trees and Varda burned within them. Thuseven in the uttermost night they shined like allthe stars combined into one point of light. Andso pure and sacred were they that any fleshtained and or evil that touched them would behorribly burnt. But the Silmarils were cursedwith their own taint, that any mortal eyes thatglimpsed them would desire them.

But after their forging, Feanor bore them openly among the Elves, and even the Valar wondered

at their radiance. But Melkor the cursed, the Dark Lord and Enemy of all Arda, lusted after them.Still confined to Valinor in forgiveness he was, having been released from the three ages of hiscaptivity, though at the sight of those jewels and the secret desire that spread within him, heonce more began spreading lies and untruths.

But Feanor guarded the Silmarils with jealously,wearing them only at the great feasts, and at allother times he locked them deep down in thevaults of his home-in-exile Formenos. But asMelkor's lies increased, and Feanor soonlocked the Silmarils in the most secure vaults

and grudged their site to all but his father andsons. And the Valar were dismayed, but theycould do nothing, but it was not long beforeMelkor himself appeared at the doors ofFeanor's halls, using his cunning tongue to tryand lure the Silmarils away from Feanor. Butthe Elf Lord saw the Dark One's plans, andturned him away.


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And Melkor was filled with shame ofwhich came anger, and fled Valinor, andhere plotted with the beastly Ungolianta great and evil being in the form of ahuge spider and surrounded them in aweb of darkness, they entered Valinorand in one of the most vile acts in all thehistory of Arda, slew the Two Trees,fleeing swiftly before the Valar couldtake full action.

But Manwe King of all Arda saw that thelight of the Two Trees lived still within theSilmarils and begged Feanor to allow theValar to use them to create the beauty ofthe Two Trees again. But filled with prideand knoweldge that such an act wouldmean the Silmarils being destroyedFeanor refused and another doom of theworld was set. But even in that momentWord came that Melkor had attackedFormenos slain Feanor's father Finwewho was also King of the Noldor andsiezed the Silmarils. Thus did the Noldorreturn under Feanor to Middle Earth andthe War of the Jewels was fought.

But the Silmarils remained with Morgoth for all the War, embedded into his iron crown, untilone was cut loosed and taken by Beren Erchampion and given to Elu Thingol, King ofDoriath, after the jewel was rescued from the belly of the pain-mad wolf Carcharoth who hadswallowed it. And that jewel passed from Thingol, to Dior Beren's son, to Elwing Dior's

daughter at last in the Havens, until in the end it was taken by Earendil Bright in the ship ofVingilot, and now sails the skies.

In the end, the War of Wrath was fought and theoverthrow of Morgoth by the Valar themselveswas complete, and the Silmarils taken. ButMaedhros and Maglor, eldest and only survivingsons of the now dead Feanor, siezed them, but

so having caused so much evil, the tworemaining sacred jewels burnt their hands andflesh. And Maedhros, driven by pain, threwhimself into a great chasm of fire, while Maglorhurled his into the sea, where it remains.

Thus were the three Silmarils returned to theelements of creation - one sailing the sky highon Earendil's brow, one consumed by thechasm and now rejoined with the earth, and oneresting at the bottom of the sea.


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TimePeriod

YearStart

YearEnd

Event

51 Finrod Felagund begins the building of Nargothrond.

52 Turgon discovers Tumladen and begins the buidling of Gondolin.

c.60 Dagor Aglareb, the Third Battle. An Orc attack on Dorthonion is repulsed by thehosts of Fingolfin and Maedhros.

c. 100 Gondolin completed

155 An Orc attack on Hithlum is repulsed by Fingon's host.

255Glarung emerges for the first time, but is routed in a battle on Ard-galen.TheDragons do not appear again for a long time.

c. 306 Maeglin is born.

c. 310 The three Houses of Edain reach Belerian from the southeast.Beor's House arrives first and is guided by Finrod to Estolad, where it settles.The next folk, the Haladin, remain in Thargelion.During the following year, the House of Hador arrives and migrates to Estolad.

After some wandering, Beor's folk settle in Dorthonion and allies itself with

Finrod of Nargothrond.Hador's pepple settle in Hithlum and Ered Wethrin.

After some years, Haladin are driven out of Thargelion by Orcs.They move to Estolad and, after some years, Haleth leads her peoplewestwards through Nan Dungortheb to Brethil and Talath Dirnen.Many other Men from the three Houses remain in Estolad until Nirnaeth

Arnoediad.

c.330 Maeglin arrives in Gondolin, Eol and Aredhel die.

c.370 The Haladin settle in Brethil

c.425 Hador's House settles in Dor-lomin.

c.441 Hurin is born

c.444 Huor is born.

c.455 Dagor Bragollach, the Fourth Battle.Ard-galen is devasted by rivers of fire from Angband.During the winter, the March of Maedhros and Dorthonion are conquered byMorgoth's hosts.Fingolfin is killed by Morgoth at the gates of Angband.Fingon becomes King ofNoldor.

c.457 Sauron captures Tol Sirion and changes it to Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of theWerewolves).Beor's tribe flee from Dorthonion to Hithlum; only Barahir's outlaws remain.

c.460 Barahir and his men die. Only Beren survives.c.462 An Orc attack on Hithlum is repulsed.

Hurin becomes Chieftain of the House of Hador in Dor-lomin.

465 Turin is born

466 468

The adventures of Beren and Luthien, during which Finrod, Huan andCarcharoth die. Sauron is expelled from Tol-in-Gaurhoth by Luthien and histower is destroyed. A Silmaril is wrestled from Morgoth and given to Thingol.Beren and Luthien settle in Tol Galen.


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TimePeriod

YearStart

YearEnd

Event

473 Nirnaeth Arnodiad, the Fifth Battle/

The hosts of the Eldar and the Edain are utterly crushed by Morgoth's forces.Hithlum is settled by the Easterlings.Tuor is born.

474 The Falas is ravaged by Orcs.

482 501Turin's tragic adventures, well described in Narn I Hin Hurin.. They are tooextensive to be summarized here?

496The Haladin are defated and withdraw in the forests.Nargothrond is conqueredby Glaurung and Orcs

502 Hurin dies

503 Tuor and Idril marry

505

Dwarves from Nogrod slay Thingol in Menegroth and steal the Silmaril, but arethemselves slain during their escape.The jewel is brought back toMenegroth.Melian departs Middle-earth. A dwarven army sacks Menegroth andcaptures the Silmaril. During their return march Beren kills them and recovers

the jewel, which is worn by Luthien for some years.509 Beren and Luthien die

510

Feanor's sons attack Menegroth to capture the Silmaril. Caranthir, Celegorm,Curufin, Dior, and Nimloth are slain, while Elwingescapes to Sirion with theSilmaril.

511

The Sack of Gondolin.Turgon and Maeglin die.Tuor and Idril flee to the Mouths of the Sirion.Ereinion Gil-galad is King of the Noldor.

c.520 eanor's four surviving sons attack the Elven settlement at the mouth ofSirion insearch of the Silmaril, but fail to capture it. Amrod and Amras fall in the fight.Some decades later, Earendil reaches Aman and appeals to the Valar.TheHosts of Valinor go to Middle-earth and the War of Wrath is fought.

c.540 The First Age comes to an end

EndFirst

Age


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Additional MapsMenegroth: Called 'TheThousand Caves', thestronghold and citadel ofThingol on the banks ofthe River Esgalduin inDoriath . It was delved inthe long years before therising of the Moon by theDwarves of the BlueMountains .

The stronghold and realm of Finrod Felagund , founded by him on the model of the halls ofMenegroth in Doriath.The stronghold of Nargothrond was carvedinto the rock beneath Taur-en-Faroth , andcould only be approached by a narrow pathalong the high banks of the River Narog. Nobridge was built across the river until late in itshistory. The citadel long lay hidden from

Morgoth , and was ruled wisely for long yearsby Finrod. After he was lost in the Quest of theSilmaril , his brother Orodreth expelled theusurping sons of Fanor , Celegorm andCurufin , and was lord in Nargothrond.The lands to the north of the citadel wereconsidered part of its realm, and the people ofNargothrond kept unceasing watch on thegrasslands to the north; the Talath Dirnen orGuarded Plain .
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When Trin dwelt in Nargothrond, hepersuaded the Elves who dwelt there tochange their long policy of secrecy, andopenly attack the servants of Morgoth. So theDark Lord discovered the city's location, andsent out an army under Glaurung to sack anddestroy it.
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Beleriand in the First Age