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War of the Great Jewels

Middle-Earth

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.

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.
—The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, "The Númenorean Kings", "Númenor"

The War of the Great Jewels, or simply War of the Jewels or Wars of Beleriand, was a series of conflicts in the late First Age, between the forces of Morgoth and the Elves of Beleriand, with their Edain (and sometimes Dwarf) allies.

The conflict was instigated in the First Age when the Dark Lord Morgoth stole the Silmarils, the three Great Jewels of Fëanor, and fled with them to Middle-earth. The Ñoldor, who at that time lived in Valinor, were convinced by Fëanor to pursue Morgoth in the belief that they could win back the Jewels and establish mighty kingdoms in Middle-earth. However in leaving Valinor, the Ñoldor committed the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, a horrific and unjustifiable slaughter of their Teleri brethren. For their crime, the Valar banished them forever from Valinor and vowed to let them reap the folly of their pursuit of Morgoth.

Though the Elves did indeed establish great and beautiful realms, their war against Morgoth was entirely without hope. Though they did not realize it, as a fallen Vala Morgoth was simply too powerful by nature for the Elves and their allies to ever overcome. Ultimately Morgoth destroyed all the great kingdoms of Beleriand, and though the two lovers Beren and Lúthien would manage to retrieve one of the Silmarils, it caused terrible infighting amongst the Elves as the Sons of Fëanor sought with violence to claim it for themselves.

The War came to an end when Eärendil the Mariner managed to sail to Valinor, where he begged for the Valar to aid the overmatched Elves and Edain. Though the Valar had vowed to let the Ñoldor suffer the consequences of their foolishness, Manwë was yet moved to pity by Eärendil's plea, and mashled the forces of the Valar to overthrow Morgoth. Though the final battle was hard fought, the Host of Valinor would ultimately prevail. Morgoth's armies were destroyed (though a handful escaped), his great fortress of Angband was unroofed, and Morgoth himself was captured. The Valar then thrust him into the Timeless Void where he could no longer directly influence Arda, marking the end of Morgoth's reign and end of the First Age. However, the Host suffered terrible casualties in the final battle, and the fighting was so intense that nearly the entire landmass of northwestern Middle-earth was destroyed and sank into the sea.

The two Silmarils remaining to Morgoth were also lost to the Host, for though they were retrieved by Eönwë, they were ultimately given to the two remaining Sons of Fëanor, Maedhros and Maglor. However, the two brothers had committed many evil deeds in their pursuit of the Silmaril that Beren and Lúthien had recovered, and the brothers could not hold the blessed Jewels without suffering unbearable pain. And so Maedhros case himself and his Silmaril into a fiery chasm, and Malgor threw his into the sea.

Most of the Elves remaining in Middle-earth returned to Valinor with the victorious Host, and the Edain that fought alongside the Host were given the island of Númenor to dwell upon. However, Morgoth's chief lieutenant Sauron remained hidden in Middle-earth for about the first 500 years of the Second Age before making his return and taking the mantle of Dark Lord in Morgoth's stead. He would go on to cause great strife for most of the Second Age and late in the Third Age before finally being defeated for good in the War of the Ring at the end of the Third Age.

Battles of Beleriand

The following were the major battles in this long, extended conflict:

  1. The First Battle of Beleriand was fought before the Ñoldor arrived, and was fought by the Sindar and Laegeldrim.
  2. The Second Battle was the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, or Battle-under-Stars, fought by the Ñoldor following Fëanor and his Seven Sons.
  3. The Third Battle was the Dagor Aglareb, or Glorious Battle, which led to the Siege of Angband.
    • Various minor battles were fought during the Siege which are not counted.
  4. The Fourth Battle was the disastrous Dagor Bragollach, or Battle of Sudden Flame, which broke the Siege.
  5. The Fifth Battle was the Nírnaeth Arnoediad or Battle of Unnumbered Tears, in which the Ñoldor armies were utterly destroyed.
  6. The Sixth and Last Battle of Beleriand was the War of Wrath, which ended the First Age of Arda and destroyed Beleriand.

Other battles

In addition to the six Great Battles of Beleriand, there were other battles in Beleriand against the Dark Lord Morgoth, and even Elves against Elves and Dwarves against Elves. These conflicts were directly or indirectly part of the War of the Great Jewels.

Translations

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References

Location: Beleriand

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