Forward
Below is the third installment of the history of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth in the First Age. This is the third of four blog entries on this topic, and because it does take some time to write, please forgive the month between installments 2 and 3. I'll probably read The Children of Húrin for the fourth and final installment, so it may be another month until the next one arrives. In the meanwhile please enjoy this précis and yes the story of Beren and Lúthien is featured. Also this book features passages taken directly from The Silmarillion itself and they are from the Unwin Paperback (1991) edition.
The Three Houses of the Edain
The Edain eventually divided into three houses. The first house was the House of Bëor, who became friends with Finrod and
entered into Beleriand about 300 years after the sun first rose. The second house was led by
Haldad and later by his daughter Haleth and settled in the Forest of Brethil, which lies on the other
side of the River Sirion from Doriath. This house is unique as
it is named after a matriarch and was known as the House of Haleth. The third house of the Edain: and the one which became the most renown, entered Beleriand
marching in rank and column and first was led by Marach, who brought them
over the mountains. Eventually, however, the house became known as the House of Hador, named after Marach's great-great
grandson. Hador’s line would include Tuor, who married Idril of Gondolin and is therefore related to Eärendil the Mariner, who himself is father to Elrond of Rivendell (who
chose to be an elf) and the mortal, Elros, the first king of Númenor, the great island kingdom of the Second Age. Because of this, the Kings of Gondor
and Arnor, including Aragorn is also descended from Hador.
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| The poster from the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King which was released in December 2003. Aragorn, who is the King of Gondor and Arnor is a descendant of the Edain of the First Age. |
Morgoth Strikes Back!
Fingolfin followed his half-brother Fëanor to
Middle-earth, in order to not abandon the Noldor to his temperamental
elder half-brother. When Fëanor arrived in Middle-earth, he did not waste any
time and the host he had immediately went north where they quickly routed an orc
army in the northern area of Ard-galen. From there Fëanor marched further north,
but was met with a defence of Balrogs and was killed in battle against Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs. In a later counter-attack, led by Glaurung, Father of
Dragons, the host of Fëanor was taken by surprise and the new High-King of the
Noldor, Maedhros, the son of Fëanor was captured by the enemy.
When this occurred, Fingolfin’s son Fingon -- who was close
with his cousin -- went to rescue Maedhros and when he was
successful, brought both his cousin and peace back to the Noldor. Recognizing both the valiance of Fingon's deeds, as well as the sins of the past, Maedhros then relinquished
his line's claim to the kingship of the Noldor in Middle-earth, and the crown passed to his uncle,
Fingolfin. Fingolfin is generally considered amongst the wisest and ablest of
the Noldor and while he was part of the Kinslaying, this was only because he
arrived late and did not understand how the event had started. Fingolfin would eventually die at the hands of Morgoth himself, after the Dagor Bragollach, a battle which saw Morgoth break a siege on Angband and meet the High-King of the Noldor in one-on-one combat. Before this happened, however, Fingolfin crippled him permanently.
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| Morgoth and the High-King of the Noldor by Ted Nasmith. From the 1991 Tolkien Calendar. |
The Story of Beren and Lúthien
Of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s works, the story of Beren and Lúthien is perhaps the most important both to
the larger legend, as well as Professor Tolkien himself. I
say this because it is the names "Beren" and "Lúthien" the are inscribed onto the
mutual gravestone of Tolkien and his wife, Edith Mary, in their final resting place at Oxford. The
story is also recounted by Aragorn in The
Lord of the Rings as he and the
hobbits are fleeing the Nazgûl and on their way to Rivendell.
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| The grave of Edith Mary Tolkien (Lúthien) and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (Beren) in Oxford, England. |
Beren was a
mortal man. His father, Barahir, was a friend and ally of the elves and Beren was one of the
last survivors of the Dagor Bragollach,
the battle that saw Morgoth reach down into the northern portions of
Middle-earth, as well as kill Fingolfin. In the defeat, he escaped south and was driving into the northern
reaches of Doriath, home of Thingol and Melian. Amazingly, despite the power of the Girdle of Melian, Beren "passed through the mazes that
Melian wove about the kingdom of Thingol, even as she had foretold; for a great
doom lay upon him" (The Silmarillion pg. 197). When he arrived in Doriath he came across Lúthien, the daughter of
the monarchs and the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. As he watched her dance, he immediately
fell in love and gave her the nickname Tinúviel which was elvish for "Nightingale".
But Lúthien was loved by another, a minstrel named Daeron, and Daeron betrayed Beren to King Thingol, who immediately disliked him. When the
two met, it was an exchange for the ages, probably one of the
most enjoyable in the entire book:
Then Beren looking up beheld the eyes of Lúthien,
and his glance went also to the face of Melian and it seemed to him that
words were put into his mouth. Fear left him, and the pride of the greatest house
of Men returned to him; and he said; "My fate, O King, let me hither through
the perils such as few even of the Elves would dare. And here I have found what I
sought not indeed, but finding I would possess for ever. For it is above all
gold and silver, and beyond all jewels. Neither rock, nor steel, nor the
fires of Morgoth, nor all the powers of the Elven-kingdoms, shall keep from
me the treasure that I desire. For Lúthien your daughter is the fairest of all the
children of the world.
Then silence feel upon the hall, for those who stood there were astounded and afraid, and they thought that Beren would be
slaim. But Thingol spoke slowly saying: "Death you have earned with these
words and death you should find suddenly, had I not sworn an oath in haste of which I repent, baseborn mortal, who in the realm of Morgoth has learnt to
creep in secret as his spies and thralls."
Then Beren answered: "Death you can give me earned
or unearned, but the names I will not take from you are baseborn, nor spy nor
thrall. By the ring of Felagund, that he gave to Barahir my father on the
battlefield of the North, my house has not earned such names from any Elf, be he king
or no. (The Silmarillion pg. 200)
When Beren showed that he indeed was great among the mortals of Middle-earth and that he wore Finrod’s ring, Melian, sensed that something greater was afoot, and warned her husband: "For not by you," she said "shall Beren be slain; and far and free does
his fate lead him in the end, yet it is bound with yours. Take heed!"
But the king did not listen. And in his pride ordered that the price for
his daughter's hand, was a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth. In making such a brash request, he therefore tied himself to the fate of those accursed jewels,
and also came under the Oath of Fëanor.
The Quest
of Beren
Beren left
Doriath and set out on his quest to retrieve a Silmaril from Morgoth. Before heading
north to Angband, he went east to Nargothrond, the home of Finrod, who had
sworn an oath of friendship with Beren’s father. In his quest he was joined by ten
warriors, and was led by the king, who was also warned by Celegorm and Curufin of the Oath of Fëanor. They went north under the
guise of orcs, but while doing so where captured by Sauron, who discovered them in a battle of wills
with the Noldorian king. When Sauron
emerged victorious, the party was imprisoned in Tol-in-Guarhoth, a watch tower
that was originally named Minas Tirith but had been captured by the forces of
Morgoth. Sauron, had werewolves under his command and one by one the compatriots
of Beren will killed until there was only him and Finrod left. When it came time
for a werewolf to kill Beren, as it attacked, Finrod broke his chains and
countered, killing the beast. It was written: "He died, then in the dark, in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, whose
great tower he himself had built. Thus King Finrod Felagund, fairest and the
most beloved of the house of Finwë, redeemed his oath, but Beren mourned beside
him in despair." (The Silmarillion pg. 209 )
Just then Lúthien
arrived. She had been following Beren and had been held in Nargothrond by Celegorm and Curufin. Aided by a massive dog named, Huan, she fled the palace and headed north. Huan then
battled the werewolves, including Sauron himself in werewolf form, and defeated them. From there Lúthien claimed the island and demanded mastery
over it. With this, Sauron fled in the form of a vampire bat, to a
region of Taur-nu-Fuin, a forested area north of Doriath.
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| Beren and Lúthien approach Angband by Ted Nasmith. |
Now free, Beren
wanted to continue his task of retrieving a Silmaril, but this time Lúthien
insisted on accompanying him. When she made this demand, Beren understood that they "could not be
divided from the doom that lay upon them both, and he sought no longer to
dissuade her". Through magic, they took the shapes of a bat and a
wolf and went north to Angband, eventually finding their way into the throne-room
of Morgoth. Once there, Lúthien sang a magical song that made the Dark
Lord and his court fall asleep. Then:
All
his court were case down in slumber, and all the fires faded and were
quenched; but the Silmarils in the crown on Morgoth's head blazed forth
suddenly with a radiance of white flame and the burden of that crown and of the
jewels bowed down his head, as though the world were set upon it, laden with a
weight of care, of fear, and of desire, that even the will of Morgoth could not
support. Then Lúthien catching up her winged robe sprang into the air, and her
voice came dropping down like rain into pools, profound and dark. She cast her
cloak before his eyes, and set upon him a dream, dark as the Outer Void where
once he walked alone. Suddenly he fell, as a hill sliding in avalanche, and
hurled like thunder from his throne lay prone upon the floors of hell. The
iron crown rolled echoing from his head. All things were still. (The Silmarillion p. 217)
Beren then cut
a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown. However, he could only get one as when he
tried to cut the others, his knife broke and a shard of it fell into Morgoth's face,
rousing him from his sleep. From there, Beren and Lúthien attempted an escape,
but their path was blocked by a massive werewolf named Carcharoth, who was also the sworn enemy of Huan the Hound. In the subsequent mêlée, the werewolf attacked and bit-off off the hand of Beren which carried the Silmaril. The creature then swallowed the jewel and ran off in
a madness as it burned him from within. As is often the case in
Tolkien’s work, Eagles then came and carried Beren and Lúthien away to safety.
Beren and
Lúthien few back to the kingdom of Doriath, where they spent some time in peace together. As word of their quest became known, Thingol's heart softened towards his would-be son-in-law and eventually they came before the king, who asked where his Silmaril was:
But
Beren said: "It is fulfilled. Even now a Silmarils is in my hand." Then Thingol
said: "Show it to me!" And Beren put forth his left hand, slowly opening his
fingers but it was empty. Then he held up his right arm; and from that hour he
named himself Camlost, the Empty-handed. (The Silmarillion Pg. 221)
But the task
was still unfulfilled and from there Beren and Huan helped hunt for the werewolf
with the jewel in his belly. In the beast's madness, he drove into Doriath and in the hunt both Beren and Huan were slain. But as Beren lay dying, Malblung, an elven warrior cut open the body of the dead beast and put the Silmaril
into Beren’s hand before he handed it to the king, thereby completing his
quest. He then died.
Grieving for
Beren, Lúthien also died, and as immortals do, went to the Halls of Mandos. As she
sang a lament for her lost love, Mandos was moved with pity and restored them
both to life. (How he did this to a mortal man, who had left the bounds of the
world, is unknown.) Lúthien then left Doriath and went east where she and Beren
lived the rest of their days, both eventually dying as mortals.
The Battle of Unnumbered Tears
The Battle
of Unnumbered Tears or the Nirnaeth Arnoediad was a major battle in the history of
Middle-earth. The battle was prompted by Maedhros, who wanted to end
the reign of Morgoth, and forged an alliance with the Edain, dwarves, and other mortals to combine and defeat the forces of Morgoth. Unfortunately,
the sons of Feanor, having alienated many in the kingdoms of Beleriand
meant that the army from Nargothrond was only a token of what it could have been, and from Doriath
only two captains joined of a force of some 45,000. Turgon did some forces
from Gondolin, but without the Kingdom of Doriath and Thingol on side,
the attacking force was considerably limited.
Never-the-less,
the army arrived in the north. Maedhros' plan was to attack from the centre, so
as to draw out Morgoth’s forces and have Fingon’s army attack from the
west, thereby taking out the flank of the enemy's forces. Unfortunately,
Morgoth learned of the plan through his agents, specifically, Uldor, a man who had sworn fealty to Carathir, but was also secretly working for Morgoth. Uldor caused considerable
trouble with the attacking force and disrupted the coordination between the
various forces, in one instance preventing the lighting of a signal beacon. Having come to know the plan of the allied forces, Morgoth also sent a force of
orcs to the west, whereby they outflanked the forces of Fingon and left him harried and alone.
When one of
Morgoth’s orc-captains, not above brutal psychological warfare, captured one of the
elves from Nargothrond, he tortured and beheaded him in front of Fingon’s
forces who were concealed above in the mountains. As this happened, a group of elves, in a fit of rage, attacked the orcs and betrayed their position. Fortunately,
Fingon’s forces were successful in breaking the ranks of Morgoth’s forces and from there Gwindor of
Nargothrond, whose brother was the one who had been executed by the orcs, made a
chage for Angband itself:
Now
his rage was kindled to madness, and he leapt forth on horseback and many riders
with him; and they purposed the heralds and slew them, and drove on deep into
the main host. And seeing this all of the host of the Noldor was set on fire,
and Fingon put on his white helm and sounded his trumpets and all the host of
Hithlum leapt forth from the hills in sudden onslaught. The light of the drawing
of the swords of the Noldor was like fire in a field of reeds and so fell
and swift was their onset that almost the designs of Morgoth went astray.
Before the army that he sent westward could be strengthened it was swept away, and
the banners of Fingon passed over Anfaughlith and were raised before the walls
of Angband. (The Silmarillion pg. 230-231)
As soon after this elven host banged on the doors of Angband, they were
surrounded and killed, except for Gwindor himself who was taken captive. Fingon,
while charging to the aid of the attacking force, did not arrive in time and Morgoth’s forces were
able to respond out of the secret passages of the Thangorodrim (the
mountains that protected Angband) and engaged with the king's forces. Soon Fingon’s
host was in full retreat back to Hithlim, with many of the Men of Brethil in the
rearguard killed in the process. Indeed, of all the Men of Brethil only three returned from the battle.
Next into
the breach were the Gondolindrum. Emerging from his self-imposed exile in the
heart of Middle-earth, Turgon, had held back his forces from the beginning of
the battle. However, upon seeing the slaughter before him, he sent his army into
the battle and they quickly broke the enemy's lines. When this happened,
he met with his brother Fingon, as well as Húrin, a captain of men, and there
was "renewed hope for the elves". Soon afterwards, Maedhros joined the fight
from the east and the forces of Morgoth looked like they were (again) about to collapse.
But Morgoth
was not finished and just as it appeared the elves, mortals and dwarves were to achieve victory, the entire effort fell apart. At that
point, Angband emptied and Glaurung attacked, preventing the two hosts
of the allied forces from uniting in the middle. Then, Uldor and a large
contingent of his men, betrayed the effort and, turning-coat, attacked the
eastern army from within, almost killing Maedhros before they were finally put down. As the seven Sons of Fëanor gathered what was left of their forces, the dwarves from the eastern Blue Mountains, attacked the dragon in a rearguard action, using their fire resistant armour to cause considerable damage to the monster. Indeed, it was the King of Belegost himself, Azaghâl, whose fatal stab in the dragon's
belly, killed it before it collapsed upon him, killing him in-turn. The dwarves then raised the body
of their lord and carried it away.
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| Fingon, High-King of the Noldor fights Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, in a depiction by Ted Nasmith. |
With the
eastern army destroyed, the forces of Fingon and Turgon soon found themselves
surrounded. Then Gothmog, the Balrong, and the high-captain of the forces of
Morgoth, attacked and made a path between him and the Noldorian brothers.
Gothmog pushed the forces of the elves back to the marshlands called the Fen of Serech,
north of the River Sirion. Then, after killing the host protecting Fingon, he turned his
attention to the king:
That
was a grim meeting. At last Fingon stood alone with his guard dead about him;
and he fought with Gothmog, until another Blarog came behind and cast a thong
of fire about him. Then Gotmog hewed him with his black axe, and a white flame
sprang up from the helm of Fingon as it was cloven. Thus fell the High-King of
the Noldor; and they beat him into the dust with their maces, and his baner, blue
and silver, they trod into the mire of his blood. (The Silmarillion pg. 233)
It was now
over and Turgon, counselled by mortals Húrin and Huor, called for a retreat to
Gondolin, at which time Huor prophesied that it was from Gondolin and the House of
Turgon that "shall come the hope of Elves and Men" although Turgon knew that this
defeat also meant Gondolin would not remain hidden for much longer. When Maeglin,
Turgon’s nephew heard Huor make his prophecy, he took note, yet remained silent.
By the
end the battle became a rout. The Men of Dor-lómin indeed fought to the
very death and won renown, not just for themselves but their entire race. Huor was
killed by a poisoned arrow through the eye, and Húrin, friend and counsellor to elves, was
the only one left standing. Upon being taken prisoner, he was
brought before Morgoth after being bound by Gothmog himself, and was tormented by the Dark One himself for twenty-eight years. The curse that Morgoth placed upon him and his children will feature in the next installmeant of this feature and has been written about extensively in the 2007 book The Children of Húrin.
The Battle
of Unnumbered Tears is a watershed moment in the First Age. Morgoth emerged from the battle controlling most of Middle-earth except for the kingdoms
of Nargothrond, Doriath and Gondolin, whose elves and mortals could only now hide. Moreover, while the mortals who helped the elves would never be forgotten, the treason of Uldor would also not be forgotten and the races of mortals and elves were now estranged. Also in a foreshadowing of future events, upon returning to Gondolin, Turgon asked Cirdan the
Shipwright, to build seven swift ships to go to the Undying Lands to seek help. Of the
seven, only one returned and spoke of a massive storm that prevented them from
getting through.
In Part IV: The Children of Húrin and the end of the First Age.
