Arts
J.R.R. Tolkien
Time
line of the First age of Arda
The Beginning- Valian Years 1-3500
Iluvatar creates Ea (our World)by the Music and by bestowing Being upon
it.
The Ainur descend as Powers (Valar) to the island of Almaren on
Middle-earth.
They wage the first War against Melkor to prevent him from spoiling
their work in shaping Ea.
1500
Morgoth flees from Tulkas
the Strong.
Yavanna plants
the Seeds of all growing things.
1900
Aulë
constructs and sets in place Two Lamps, whose Light brings
Middle-earth's first Spring.
3400
Melkor digs his
underground fortress of Utumno.
3450
Now feeling safe, he destroys the Two Lamps and hides in Utumno. In the
ensuing Darkness the first spring dies.
The Valar move to Aman the Blessed (Valinor) and fortify it.
3500
Yavanna sings up the Two Trees, Telperion the
White and Laurelin
the Golden, to replace Aulë's two broken Lamps (Illuin and Ormal).
The
Reckoning of Time from the Two Trees Years 1-1100
The Count of Time begins on Aman. After an hour of waxing,
Telperion shines at its full for six hours, then wanes for an hour into
darkness. Laurelin, likewise, first has an hour of waxing while
Telperion wanes, and then shines at its full for six hours until its
hour of waning mingles with the hour of Telperion's rekindling. Taken
together, the two six-hour periods of full shining are accounted a
single day of twelve hours.Aulë makes the Seven Fathers of the
Dwarves. For Yavanna's sake the Ents are born; for Manwë's,
the Eagles.
1000-1050
Varda (Elbereth) scatters silver dews of Telperion through the skies to
make new stars and constellations for the expected coming of the Elves,
the Elder Children of Iluvatar. This includes Menelmacar (now known as
Orion).This was to be the sign for Turin
Turambar
and thus foreshadow the Last Battle that shall be at the end of the 1st
Age
1050
The Elves awaken at Cuivienen. Varda creates
the star Valacirca (the Sickle of the Valar) which stands in the
Northern sky above Utumno as a token of the doom of Melkor. Melian the Maia
departs from Valinor.
1050-1085
Melkor transforms captured Elves into Orcs. Oromë
finds the Children of Iluvatar and lingers through.
1086
He then returns to Valinor and informs Manwë of the arrival of
the Elves
1090-1100
The outraged Valar break open Utumno, capture Melkor, and chain him in
the Halls of Mandos
for three Ages, during which a Long Peace lasts.
In
the First Age of Melkor's Bondage 1100-1200
The Valar summon the three Elf tribes (
Vanyar,
Noldor, and
Teleri) to live
with them in Aman. Each tribe has inherent traits of its own.
1102
Ingwë, Finwë
and
Elwë
come to Valinor as Quendi ambassadors. A yearning begins as the behold
the Light of the Two Trees. They return and counsel the Eldar to go to
the Land of Aman.
1130
Elwë (Thingol) of the Teleri meets and marries Melian the Maia
in Beleriand. They found
Doriath.
Melian throws a protective Girdle around Doriath.
1133
The Elves arrive in Aman.
1140
The city of Tirion is full wrought. The Tower of Ingwë is
built.
1142
Yavanna gives to the Noldor the White tree
Galathilion
which was an image of the tree Telperion
1150
Ulmo takes all
the Teleri who would follow
Olwë
on Eressea and, with the aid and some pleading by Ossë, they
fasten the island in the bay of
Eldamar
within sight of Aman. Here they can see the Light of the Two
Trees as it passes throught the cleft in the Pelori mountains.
Kalakiryan
- The Pass of Light. The Teleri that remain in
Middle-Earth stay on the coast of West Beleriand (Falas). They become
the first mariners on the earth and the first ship-builders. Cirdan is
their Lord and their havens are at Brithombar and Eglarest. They become
known as the Falathrim. (
Sindarin - Coast-people)
1162
Olwë, Lord of the Teleri, with Finwë's aid and that
of the Noldor, begins the building of
Alqualondë,
the Swanhaven, upon the coast of Eldamar
1165
The last of the Vanyar leave Tirion for Valinor. The Noldor dwell alone
and converse thereafter with the Teleri.
1179
Fëanor
is born there . His mother
Miriel
dies of his birth. Fëanor's father, Finwë, King of
the Noldor, marries again, his second wife being
Indis of the
Vanyar.
Rumil devises
the Letters and begins recording Eldar writings, songs, etc.
1190
Finwë & Indis' first son Fingolfin is born.
1200
Luthien,
daughter of Thingol and Melian is born
In
the Second Age of Melkor's Bondage 1200-1300
Fëanor marries
Nerdanel
of the Noldor. Their seven sons are born. She is called the wise. For a
time, Nerdanel is able to curb Fëanor's fiery nature.
Fingolfin and
Finarfin marry.
Each has several sons and daughters.
1230
Finarfin, Finwë & Indis' second son is born.
1250
The descendants of Aulë's Dwarves come to the
Ered Luin
mountains and found
Nogrod
and Belegost. Fëanor improves on Rumil's
letters (Tengwar)
1280
Finarfin weds Olwë's daughter Ëarwen. Now his
children become kin to Thingol in Beleriand
1300
With Melian's guidance, dwarves and elves build
Menegroth of
the Thousand Caves for Elu Thingol.
Turgon and
Finrod are born.
In
the Third Age of Melkor's Bondage 1300-1400
Wolves, Orcs, and other evil creatures roam in Beleriand. Menegroth is
fortified against them.
1330
The first of the Orcs are encountered in Beleriand.
1350
Denethor and a
host of elves called the Nandor cross the mountains and reside near
Ossiriand -
The Land of Seven (rivers). Thingol welcomes them as lost kindred. They
are called the Green-elves because their garb bears the colors of
leaves.
1362
Galadriel is
born.
1400
Melkor is unchained. He precipitates quarrels between Fëanor
and Fingolfin by whispering lies about both.
1450
Fëanor fashions the three Silmarils, each enclosing the Lights
of the Two Trees. Varda hallows the Silmarils, so that no mortal flesh
nor any evil or unclean thing might touch them, but will be scorched
and burned with unenduring pain. Fëanor has further quarrels
with Fingolfin. Fëanor draws his sword on Fingolfin and
threatens him
1490
Mandos banishes him for twelve years from the Noldor city of Tirion.
Fëanor builds a stronghold of his own at
Formenos, north
of Tirion, where he is joined by his seven sons and by his father,
Finwë. Nerdanel chooses not to follow her spouse but abides
with Indis instead. Melkor (now called Morgoth, the Black Enemy) is
sought by the Valar as the chief begetter of the quarrels but flees,
apparently northward.
1492
Morgoth circles back to southern Aman and makes a pact with
Ungoliant.
1495
Jointly they kill the Two Trees. On their flight back to Middle-earth
Morgoth kills Finwë and steals the Silmarils at Formenos,
Fëanor being absent, by command, at a feast of the Valar. They
ask Fëanor to restore to Yavanna the Light of the Two Trees by
breaking open the Silmarils. He answers neither aye nor nay. Hearing of
the tragedy at Formenos, Fëanor rushes back to Tirion. Morgoth
escapes from Ungoliant on Middle-earth. He rebuilds
Angband
mustering Orcs and
Balrogs.
It is locate 150 leagues north of the bridge of Menegroth. He raises
the three-fold peaks of Thangorodrim
1495-1500
Fëanor incites the Noldor in Tirion to pursue Morgoth to
Middle-earth both to avenge King Finwë and to recover the
Silmarils. Fëanor and his sons all swear the Oath "that none
should take" to kill anyone who keeps a Silmaril from them. He
disregards a warning from Manwë not to leave Valinor. He leads
the Kinslaying of the Teleri at Alqualonde. Mandos curses
Fëanor and all the Noldor who follow him. Fëanor
steals the Teleri ships to transport to Middle-earth those Noldor most
loyal to him; lands at the Firth of
Drengist,
burns
the ships, abandoning Fingolfin and the main Noldor host in
Araman; encamps
with his followers on the shore of
Lake
Mithrim.
He repulses and shatters an Orc army secretly sent by Morgoth. Pursuing
its remnants to
Ard-galen,
Fëanor is slain by Balrogs. His body instantly crumbles to
dust.
The
First and Second Battles of Beleriand 1497 to the beginning of 1st Age
Year 1
First Battle
Morgoth hurls two Orc armies against Doriath, one to its east, one to
its west. Thingol's Elves rout the eastern army with the help of
Green-elves and Dwarves. This victory is won before any of the Noldor
land in Beleriand. However, Denethor and all his kin perish. The
Green-elves merge with Thingol's people
Second
Battle
Dagor-nuin-Giliath, Battle under the Stars - it is so called because
neither Moon nor Sun has yet risen, although the Valar are preparing
both. The army of Cirdan, ally of Thingol, has been defeated by the
western orc host and pushed far south to the seacoast. This orc host,
marching back northward to aid those Orcs defeated by the Noldor at
Lake Mithrim, is ambushed and wiped out by Celegorm, third son of
Fëanor. Expecting the imminent birth of Men, the Second
Children
of Iluvatar, the Valar resolve to guard them against Morgoth's darkness
by lighting all of Ea with a Moon and a Sun. The Moon (a radiant silver
flower of Telperion transparently encased by Aulë (and guided
by
the Maia Tilion) being ready first, Varda sends it up into the sky from
the Pelori mountains in Valinor. So it seems to rise first in the west,
but its assigned course is to pass under Eä and make its
rising in
the east. At the Moon's first appearance Fingolfin and his host, safe
at last from their crossing of the
Helcaraxë,
set foot on Middle-earth. They greet it with silver trumpets.
The
Solar Years
Seven days later the Sun (one golden fruit from Laurelin and guided by
the Maia
Arien) rises
similarly above the Pelori, but is designed to circle under Ea and
bring morning to the east.
1-4
According to the Sun's coming and going begins the Count of Time on
Middle-earth, its first rising being the first day of the first Year of
the Sun. Its Years are "swifter and briefer than the long Years of the
Trees in Valinor". On the day of its first rising Fingolfin and his
host march into Mithrim, saluting it with horns and banners. On the
same day the race of Men awake in
Hildorien.
Morgoth immediately comes to corrupt them by laying upon their hearts a
darkness of fear and enmity against the Elves which can never be
expunged. But he is called back to Angband, having only partially
completed this task.
5
After the First and Second Battles Morgoth lures
Maedhros into a
conference at which he is seized by Balrogs and nailed by one hand to a
cliff in
Thangorodrim.
His friend
Fingon finds
him and, lifted up by
Thorondor,
King of Eagles, frees him by cutting off his hand. Maedhros, grateful,
begs Fingolfin's pardon for the desertion in Araman. Also renounces in
his favor the office of High King of the Noldor.
7
Angrod comes from Doriath bearing the words of Thingol. Thingol
declares his rule not only over Doriath but also over all of Beleriand;
forbids Noldor settlements anywhere except in wild, unoccupied lands;
denies access to Doriath by any except members of the House of
Finarfin, his kinsman. All the Noldor are dismayed,but Caranthir,
fourth son of Fëanor, angrily attacks Angrod,who becaomes
wrothful and departs the council. To ensure peace Maedhros takes all
six of his brothers far eastward to the Hill of Himring. There he makes
them wardens of the March of Maedhros against Morgoth's incursions from
the north.
20
Fingolfin as High King holds a statesmanlike Feast of Reuniting, Mereth
Aderthad, near the pools of Ivrin, to heal all breaches. All the Noldor
princes attend, notably Maedhros and his brother
Maglor the
Minstrel, with some of their warriors. Also the Sindar leaders, save
only those of Doriath. All swear oaths of friendship. To bring Noldor
and Sindar closer together, the Noldor there speak Sindarin.
50
Warned by Ulmo in their dreams to build cities impregnable to Morgoth,
Finrod and Turgon travel together looking for proper sites. With
assistance from Dwarves, Finrod founds
Nargothrond in
caves dug into the bank of the River Narog, resembling Menegroth.
51
Under Ulmo's guidance Turgon discovers among the mountains the hidden
value of Tumladen, in which stands a hill of rock on which to erect a
city modeled after
Tirion
upon Tuna in Aman.
67
Tales are whispered concerning the deeds of the Noldor before coming to
Beleriand. Cirdan, perceiving that these stories are due to the
jealousies between the princes of Noldor, informs Thingol. He becomes
angry. Having the sons of Finrod there he rebuked them. Angrod
remembers Caranthir's words and speaks out in bitterness telling
Thingol all concerning the Kinslaying at Alqualondë and the
ship burning at Losgar. Thingol decrees that never again shall the
Noldor language be spoken in his realm.
The Third Battle of
Beleriand,Dagor Agloreb, the Glorious Battle
75
A huge legion of Orcs attacking
Dorthonion
is crushed between the forces of Fingolfin and Maedhros, who assail it
simultaneously. The Noldor leaders establish a tight siege of Angband
which lasts nearly 400 years.
100
Turgon builds and secretly occupies the hidden city of Gondolin. Ulmo
promises him that it will be the last of the Noldor strongholds to
fall, and that he will send a warning of peril before that happens.
Thus foreshadowing the coming of
Tuor.
Turgon's people begin the migration from
Nevrast
155
Morgoth probes the defenses of
Hithlum
by sending a brigade of Orcs around it to attack from its west. Fingon
falls upon them at the Firth of Drengist and drives most of them into
the Sea.
265
Perceiving that unaided Orcs cannot prevail the Noldor, Morgoth breeds
Glaurung, the
first Fire-drake. It emerges from Angband prematurely and is driven
back in by a cavalry of Elves, who shoot arrows into its soft scales.
256-450
A Long Peace ensues while Glaurung grows to maturity. The Noldor
find leisure for arts of mind and hand. In many regions they
merge with the Sindar. Sindarin becomes the dominant speech for all the
Elves of Beleriand. But the Noldor princes retain Noldorin, the High
Speech of the West, 'among themselves, and as a language of lore.
304
Aredhel, Turgon's sister, leaves Gondolin. She is befriended by the
sons of Fëanor and is separated from them in Nan Dungortheb.
She survives and is seduced and wedded to
Eöl
the dark elf (
Nan
Elmoth)
305
Men are discovered in Ossiriand by Finrod Felagund.
306
Maeglin, son of
Aredhel is born
310
Finrod meets the
Edain
in Ossiriand
311
Bëor
enters the service of Finrod
345
Through his mother Aredhel, Maeglin gains access to Gondolin.
Eöl follows them and, in a quarrel in front of Turgon's
throne, Aredhel is slain by a poison dart from Eöl.
Eöl is cast over the Caragdur(
a precipitous black
rock formation), cursing Maeglin. Unable to win the love of
Idril, the
King's daughter, Maeglin seeks selfish power there.
350
Three tribes of Men first enter Beleriand: the people of Bëor,
the Haladin, and the Hador.
By invitation of the
Noldor lords Bëor's tribe joins Angrod and Aegnor, sons of
Finarfin, in Dorthonion. The Hador settle in Hithlum under Fingolfin.
355
Death of Bëor
370
The Haladin choose to live in the Forest of
Brethil.
389
The birth of Hador, later Lord of
Dor-lómin.
432
Approximate birth of
Beren
Erchamion.
441
The birth of
Hurin
443
The birth of
Morwen.
444
The birth of
Huor
445
Birth of
Ereinion, later
called Gil-galad.
450
Hurin and Huor of the House of Hador, being fostered in Brethil by
their uncle, Haldir, lose their way after fighting Orcs and are carried
by Thorondor's Eagles into Gondolin. They persuade King Turgon to
release them.Birth of Larnach.
The Fourth Battle, Dagor
Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame
455
Morgoth suddenly succeeds in breaking the Siege of Angband. With swift
rivers of lava he burns Ard-galen into ashes. Then with Glaurung,
Balrogs, and vast battalions of Orcs, he pens Fingolfin and Fingon in
Hithlum; overruns Dorthonion, killing Angrod and Aegnor; smashes open
the whole March of Maedhros except the Hill of Himring, held by
Maedhros and Maglor.
Celegorm
to Nargothrond. Finrod, hurrying his army northward
into the fray, is trapped in the Fens of Serech, saved only by Barahir,
to whom he gives his ring and swears an oath of friendship.
Hador
perishes at
Barad
Eithel defending Fingolfin . Fingolfin
challenges Morgoth to single combat, lames him, but is killed. Fingon
becomes High King.
456
Húrin and Huor return out of Gondolin to
Dor-lómin.
457
Barahir sends
the women and children of Bëor's tribe to the Haladin and the
Hador. He fights on in Dorthonion's highlands with twelve men, among
them his son, Beren.
Sauron
drives
Orodreth
from
Tol
Sirion and, as Morgoth's chief
lieutenant, occupies its tower and dungeons with his Werewolves.
Easterlings enter Beleriand for the first time, many of them already
corrupted by Morgoth. Maedhros allies himself with Bor and Ulfang, the
former faithful, the latter not.
462
Morgoth sends a large force of Orcs against Hithlum. Hurin holds the
pass of Eithel Sirion against one army. With
Cirdan's aid
Fingon slaughters another coming down from the north. Hurin marries
Morwen and rules the Hador in Dorlomin.Capture of Minas Tirith by the
forces of Sauron.
Galdor
is slain in the siege of Barad Eithel.
463
Hurin's son, Turin, is born to Morwen.
465
By a trick Sauron learns the whereabouts of Barahir's band and
dispatches Orcs, who slay them, all except Beren.
467
Maedhros tries to form a Union of all those who will fight against
Morgoth, especially with Fingon, but neither Nargothrond nor Doriath
joins. Fingon has the help of Cirdan's Elves from the Falas and of all
the Edain. Maedhros has to rely on the Easterlings and a contingent of
Dwarves.
468-490
Beren fights on alone for four years, and then goes south to the forest
of Neldoreth, where he and Luthien meet and love. To win Luthien, Beren
is required by Thingol to bring back as a bride price a Silmaril from
Morgoth's crown.
Finrod Felagund dies.
(469)
While saving Beren from a Werewolf in Sauron's dungeon at Tol Sirion.
Luthien and the hound
Huan
rescue Beren by driving Sauron from Tol Sirion. While Morgoth and all
his court slumber under Luthien's spell of sleep Beren pries loose a
Silmaril from his iron crown (469).
Carcharoth
swallows the Silmaril in Beren's hand and, tortured by pain, ravages
Doriath. In hunting the beast Beren is mortally wounded while saving
Thingol's life. Beren gives Thingol the Silmaril, cut out from
Carcharoth, and perishes of his wounds. Luthien dies of grief. In
Mandos' halls Luthien sings so sweetly of her love for Beren that
Manwë, empowered by Iluvatar, allows the lovers to return
together to Ea as mortals, there to share the fate of Men when they die
again. They settle on
Tol
Galen in Ossiriand and have a son,
Dior, who is heir to Thingol's throne.
The Fifth Battle,
Nirnaeth Arnoediad - the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
471
As in Dagor Aglareb, the Glorious Battle, Fingon and Maedhros are to
attack simultaneously from west and east. But Maedhros is delayed on
the Hill of Himring by the false reports of Uldor, his Easterling
scout. And Fingon, leaving his defenses too soon, is surrounded by Orcs
and killed. Maedhros, hastening to Fingon's aid, is betrayed by
Easterlings. The Hador of Dor-lomin, captained by Huor and Hurin, fight
to the last. Hurin is captured alive and taken to Angband. Tuor is
born. His mother, Rian, dies of grief for his slain father, Huor. All
the sons of Fëanor are wounded but escape to Mount Dolmed.
Hithlum has lost all its fighting Men and most of its Elves. Morgoth
repopulates it with Easterlings. He ravages the Falas, driving Cirdan
and his Elves to the Isle of Balar.Seven ships built by Cirdan for King
Turgon, to plead for help from the Valar against Morgoth, are all
wrecked. Morgoth, unable to break Hurin's will and force him to reveal
the location of Gondolin, curses him and sits him, bound, on a high
peak whence he must watch evil overtake his wife and children Morwen
sends Turin, age eight,to Doriath to escape slavery the Easterlings and
to be nurtured by King Thingol. Year of Lamentation for the Battle of
Unnumbered Tears.Birth of Tuor.
472
Siege and capture of the Havens of Brithombar and Eglarest.Morwen gives
birth to
Nienor, Turin's
sister,whom he does not see.
475
Birth of Dior Eluchíl on Tol Galen.
483
Now Turin begins to fight Orcs on borders of Doriath
485-492
Turin returns to Menegroth to rest. Kills
Saeros.
Presuming himself an outlaw,he gathers a band of desperate men on
Amon Rûdh;
is betrayed by
Mim;
kills his friend Beleg by mistake; and is taken by Gwindor to
Nargothrond. Finduilas falls in love with him, in vain.
488
Tuor is fostered secretly by Grey-elves in the Caves of Androth in
Mithrim.
491
Tuor captured and enslaved by Easterlings.
493
Ulmo warns King Orodreth to throw down the new bridge across the River
Narog, to shut his city's gates, and to keep his army safe behind them.
Turin persuades the King to ignore Ulmo's counsels.
494
Approximate date of the reforging of Gurthang.Tuor escapes; returns to
the Caves of Andros; lives there as an outlaw, harrying the
Easterlings. Morgoth looses against Nargothrond a host of Orcs led by
Glaurung. The King, by Turin's bad advice, leads out his army; is
defeated and slain at Tumhalad. Nargothrond is sacked. The paralyzing
spell of Glaurung's eyes holds Turin immobile, then deceives him into
making a vain journey to Dorlomin to save Morwen and Nienor, who have
already fled to Doriath. Under the same spell, Nienor loses all memory
of who she is. Running naked to the Forest of Brethil, she is pitied
and then loved by Turin, who has taken refuge there.Sack of
Nargothrond. Tuor, called by Ulmo, finds in Vinyamar the armor and
weapons left by King Turgon to identify the messenger warning of
imminent peril.
495
Ulmo orders Tuor to seek out Gondolin and deliver his message; saves
Voronwe, a mariner of Gondolin, to guide him there. Thingol has Dwarves
from Nogrod set his Silmaril in
Nauglamir.Tuor
repeats to King Turgon Ulmo's counsel to abandon Gondolin and take its
people to the Mouths of Sirion. Turgon refuses to leave the city.
497
Turin and Nienor are married.
498
Nienor becomes pregnant. Glaurung, about to ruin Brethil, is mortally
wounded by Turin, single-handed. Before he dies, Glaurung tells Nienor
that she and Turin are brother and sister. Nienor drowns herself in the
River Teiglin. When Turin hears the full story, he kills himself by
falling on the point of his sword Anglachel. The Elves of Doriath build
a grave mound honoring Turin as Glaurung's Bane.
499
Morgoth releases Hurin after 28 years. Shunned by his own people in
Hithlum as a servant of Morgoth, Hurin finds Morwen dying on Turin's
grave mound but withholds from her the manner of his and his sister's
death.
500
Hurin seeks vengeance on all who have injured his family; kills Mim in
Nargothrond; selects from Glaurung's treasure only Nauglamir, the
Necklace of the Dwarves; caustically gives it to Thingol for
"safekeeping" his family; casts himself into the Sea. Birth of Dior's
twin sons
Elured and Elurin.
502
Dwarves kill Thingol; are themselves killed by Doriath's Elves, all
save two. Melian, at her husband's death, withdraws her protecting
Girdle and returns to Valinor.Tuor marries Idril Celebrindal, Turgon's
daughter, after seven years in Gondolin.
503
Nogrod sends an army of Dwarves to Doriath. Entering Menegroth, Dwarves
win a bloody battle with the Elves there.
Eärendil,
Tuor & Idril's son, is born in Gondolin.
Elwing, Dior's
daughter is born in Ossiriand
504
Dwarves march eastward with Nauglamir and its Silmaril; are ambushed by
Green-elves of Ossiriand led by Beren, who takes the necklace home to
Tol Galen for Luthien to wear. Ents kill all the Dwarves who survive
the ambush.
505
Dior, son of Beren and Luthien, succeeds to the throne of Doriath.
Beren and Luthien die; go together, like others of the race of Men, to
a future beyond the World, having sent the Silmaril to Dior.
506
The seven Sons of Fëanor attack Dior to recover the Silmaril;
kill Dior and most of his people in a second Kinslaying. Celegorm,
Curufin, and
Caranthir are
slain. Elwing, Dior's daughter, escapes with the Silmaril to the Mouths
of Sirion.
510
Morgoth surprises and overthrows Gondolin,aided by treacherous
information from Maeglin. King Turgon and Maeglin perish.Glorfindel
slays a Balrog in the Encircling Mountains, and is himself slain.Tuor
leads Idril, Eärendil, and the other survivors safely through
perils to the Mouths of Sirion.
525
Tuor, feeling old, sails with Idril into the West,in the ship
Eärrámë never to return; nor is their fate
known. Yet, it has been sung that Tuor was numbered among the Elder
race and was sundered from the Fate of Men. Eärendil becomes
ruler of the remnants of Doriath and Gondolin gathered at Sirion's
Mouths; marries Elwing.
Elros
and Elrond (
the Peredhil)are the
sons of this marriage
528
Eärendil ventures far into the Western Sea in his ship
Vingilot,
hoping to reach Valinor with a plea for help against Morgoth; is
baffled without the Silmaril, which remains with Elwing. Elros and
Elrond are born.
534
The four remaining sons of Fëanor, seeking the Silmaril, swoop
down upon the fugitives near Sirion; kill many. Two sons,
Amrod and
Amras, perish.
Elwing escapes with the Silmaril by throwing herself into the Sea.
Elros and Elrond are taken captive by Maglor and Maedros in the battle.
Ulmo gives Elwing the wings of a seabird, and she flies to Vingilot.
Lighted by the Silmaril, Eärendil is able to reach Valinor.
Before the assembled Valar he is granted the pardon, pity, and help for
Elves and Men he pleads for. Manwë decrees that all the
Half-elven shall be given the choice of becoming either wholly Elves or
wholly Men. Elwing choosing to be wholly Elven; Eärendil for
her sake chooses the same. Vingilot is hallowed and lifted up into the
sky, steered forever by Eärendil wearing the Silmaril on his
brow: the Morning and Evening Star (Venus)
536.
(533 -
597) - The
War of Wrath
Eärendil throws down the new race of flying Dragons sent
against him by Morgoth in the War of Wrath launched at last by the
Valar and the Elves faithful to them. Morgoth is seized, bound, and
thrust out into the Void in permanent exile. The whole of Beleriand,
right up to the Ered Luin mountains, is overrun by the Sea. Many Elves
take ship for the Undying Lands; others prefer to cross the mountains
and dwell on the wide continent of Middle-earth lying behind it. The
two remaining Silmarils taken from Morgoth and entrusted to
Manwë's herald,
Eönwë,
are seized by Maedhros and Maglor. The Silmarils so burn the brothers
that they realize their forfeiture, by their crimes, of any right to
possess the Jewels. Maedhros despairingly throws himself and his
Silmaril into a fiery crevice in the Earth. Maglor pitches his Silmaril
far out into the Great Sea. Ever after, the Minstrel wanders alone on
the shore singing songs of sad remorse. He never returns to Valinor.