War of Wrath

History

Background

By the early sixth Years of the Sun of the First Age, Morgoth's dominion had become completely uncontested in Middle-earth. The efforts of Elves and Men to resist him had failed, and all of the great Elven kingdoms in exile had been overthrown. Morgoth was now master of nearly all of Beleriand, save for the havens in Arvernien, which he gave little heed to. To make matters worse, and to the great amusement of Morgoth, the Sons of Fëanor, seeking the Silmaril of Beren and Lúthien, had enacted two brutal Kinslayings that destroyed both Doriath and the Havens of Sirion. In this time of most dire need, the mariner Eärendil, by the guidance of a Silmaril which he wore in a circlet on his forehead, searched for and sailed to Valinor on behalf of the Free Peoples. There, he begged the Valar to pardon and aid the overmatched peoples of Middle-earth.

The battle

Despite having pledged to leave the Ñoldor to reap the bitter harvest of their folly in pursuing Morgoth, Manwë was moved to pity by Eärendil's plea and at last resolved to render aid. So it was that the Valar, along with many of the Maiar, the Vanyar, and the remaining Ñoldor in Valinor, came to Middle-earth in the mightiest gathering of arms in the history of Arda. The forces of the Edain joined the Host of the Valar as soon as it landed in Middle-earth, along with the remaining Ñoldor and Sindar of Middle-earth and "uncountable Dwarves from the lines of all seven Fathers". Though Manwë, as King of the Valar, held supreme authority, the host was commanded in the field by the Maia Eönwë, the herald and banner-bearer of Manwë.

The Teleri of Alqualondë granted the use of their ships to ferry the warriors to Middle-earth, but they remembered the Kinslaying of their people long ago and still harbored much bitterness over it. As such, they sent only what mariners were needed to crew the ships, and none of them set foot on Middle-earth once they arrived. From there, the great force of Aman marched across Beleriand to the plains of Anfauglith.

Morgoth did not foresee the onslaught of the Valar and was caught completely by surprise, for he was by that point utterly devoid of mercy or compassion. As Manwë had so long ago been unable to comprehend the evil of Morgoth, so too was Morgoth unable to comprehend the pity of the Valar. He believed rather that the Valar would be content in their bliss in Aman, and would never again trouble themselves with Middle-earth or the rebellious Ñoldor. Morgoth marshaled the entirety of his forces, which had by this point grown so vast that Anfauglith could not contain their numbers, and the terrible contest began.

Though the war lasted for over forty years, the host of the Valar at last annihilated the Orc armies of Morgoth, as well as most of the Balrogs and his myriad twisted abominations. Many Men from the East fought for Morgoth and were either destroyed or forced to flee back to the far eastern regions of Middle-earth. Facing final defeat, Morgoth released his ultimate weapon; a fleet of winged Dragons, which had never before been seen. Their terrible onslaught was accompanied by lightning storms and tempests of fire, and they drove back and nearly destroyed the Host of the West.

Then, Eärendil arrived in his sky-ship Vingilot, along with the Eagles of Manwë led by Thorondor. In the skies above Angband, they confronted the dragons, and Eärendil himself slew their captain, the mighty Ancalagon the Black, who broke the towers of Thangorodrim in his fall. Angband was then leveled and Morgoth was finally captured in the deepest of his mines. He sued for peace and pardon, but he was bound again with the old chain Angainor, his Iron Crown was beaten into a collar for his neck, and the two Silmarils still in his possession were taken by the Maia Eönwë. Morgoth was taken to Aman by the Valar and tried for his crimes. In the end, the Valar un-housed Morgoth by beheading him and "thrust him through the Door of Night", beyond the Walls of the World and into the Timeless Void. The Door is forever guarded by Eärendil. Morgoth's final defeat marked the end of the First Age.

Aftermath

The geographical wreckage of the war was immense. Most of the dry land west of the Blue Mountains was destroyed and sank beneath the ocean. Though it is not known exactly how many casualties the Host of the West endured, the war dragged on for decades before they managed to approach Angband, and the attack of Morgoth's winged dragons was said to have been nearly catastrophic for the forces of the Valar.

While Morgoth's hordes were utterly routed, the creatures and beings that comprised his forces were not eradicated. Around 500 years into the Second Age, Morgoth's chief lieutenant, Sauron, emerged from hiding. Though he had briefly considered returning to Valinor to receive the judgement of the Valar, he would ultimately take up Morgoth's mantle as the Dark Lord. He went on to cause untold suffering throughout the Second and Third Ages for the peoples of Middle-earth. The remaining Orcs would multiply quickly under his command, and would remain to trouble the world until the end of Sauron's reign in the Third Age. Some few Balrogs fled the final battle and hid deep beneath the earth, though only one, known as Durin's Bane, was ever noted by history to have appeared again. A number of Morgoth's dragons, particularly Cold-drakes, also escaped and hid away in the mountains. The Cold-drakes in particular became a significant problem for the Dwarves in Ages to come, as the two species shared a habitat and the drakes ever lusted for treasure. Nearly all of the winged Fire-drakes were destroyed by Eärendil, Thorondor, and his Eagles, but two fled. Only one, Smaug the Golden, was known to have ever re-emerged.

The remaining Elves were strongly bidden by Ëonwë to return with him to the lands of Aman. Most of the Elves went into the West, while others still refused the summons and rather journeyed eastward where they would become lords of the remaining Eldar in Middle-earth. Gil-galad, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Elrond were chief amongst them.

In addition to the tremendous casualties taken by the Host of Valinor, the victory was made even more bitter by the loss of the remaining two Silmarils. Maedhros and Maglor, the two surviving sons of Fëanor, were yet compelled by their oath to recover the gems. They petitioned Eönwë for them but were refused, for he judged that the crimes they had committed in their attempts to retrieve the Silmarils had made the brothers unworthy to possess them. Both brothers were by this point sick at heart at the burden of their terrible pledge, and though the oath had been sworn in the name of Eru Ilúvatar himself, Maglor in particular was willing to break it and simply accept the consequences. Ultimately however, Maedhros persuaded his brother that they had no choice but to try, for he judged that it would be better to die in an attempt to fulfill such an oath than to break it.

Thus the brothers conspired to sneak into the camp of the victorious Host of the Valar, where they slew the guard around the Silmarils and took them. The camp was roused against them, and both brothers prepared to die defending their oath. However, Eönwë permitted them to depart without further resistance, and each brother took a single Silmaril and parted ways. But they soon discovered the truth of Eönwë's initial judgement. Due to the wicked deeds they had performed in recovering the jewels, chief amongst them the three Kinslayings, they could not hold the Silmarils without suffering terrible pain. And so Maedhros cast himself and the Silmaril he bore into a fiery pit, and Maglor threw his jewel into the Sea before wandering until he was lost to time.

For those men of the Edain who fought for the host of the Valar, the land of Númenor (in the full Quenya form Nùmenórë) was given to them. This land was neither of Aman nor of Middle-earth, but was closer to Aman.

In other versions

In The Lost Road and Other Writings, the only elvish name for the battle, "Dagor Delothrin", is mentioned only in the "The List of Names" and the index as ‘Terrible Battle’, pointing to the Great Battle entry.

In a prophecy told in Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, Ancalagon is killed by Túrin instead of by Eärendil.

In earlier versions of the legendarium, the westward trip of Eärendel was in vain, and the Elves of Valinor discovered the enslavement of the Gnomes thanks to a bird that had escaped the Fall of Gondolin. In order to liberate the Gnomes, the Elves of Kôr, led by Inwil son of Inwë, launched in the Great Lands an expedition against Melko and his army of Goblins, Gongs, Nauglath, and wicked Men, known as First Faring Forth or March of Liberation. However, the Elves were defeated in the Battle of Rôs and started to retreat to the region of Leithian, ruled by Ing, a man that was and Elf-friend. However, after the disappearance of Ing, his realm became an island and it was invaded by unfriendly Men, who defeated the Elves in the Battle of the Heath of the Sky-roof. Thus, most of the Elves in Leithian fled to Tol Eressëa. However, according to an Elvish prophecy, Ing will lead the Elves from Tol Eressëa back to Leithian during the Second Faring Forth.

In another account, the Elves traveled to the Great Lands on Tol Eressëa, which was dragged by Uin, the whale servant of the Vala Ulmo. Thus, a magic bridge was cast between the island and the promontory of Rôs, in front of which it was anchored. However, the Vala Ossë was angered by the uprooting of the island he had placed in front of Valinor long before, and he tried to drag it back. This broke off the western portion of Tol Eressëa, forming as second smaller island. Thus, the larger island was renamed Leithian, while the smaller one became the Isle of Íverin. However, the Elves were utterly defeated and condemned to fade, and groups of evil Men invaded Leithian. In this account Ælfwine/Eriol witnessed the battle and in its aftermath, escaped from the battlefield through the valley of the Brook of Glass, but found the waters "fouled with the war of men and grime of strife". Afterwards, the sons of Ælfwine led their people to the reconquest of Leithian and established themselves in the lands of Tavrobel, Kortirion and Taruithorn.

In a third version of the story, Eriol was filled with longing for his home and, against the will of Meril-i-Turinqi, he decided to leave Tol Eressëa, taking his son Heorrenda with him, hoping that his deeds would actually hasten the Faring Forth. However, this action actually doomed the Faring Forth, causing the fading of the Elves.

Affiliations

War of the Great Jewels

Battles of Beleriand

Translations

References

External links

• How Was Beleriand Destroyed in the War of Wrath? by Michael L. Martinez