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The First Battle of Beleriand, or the First Battle, was the first great battle of the War of the Great Jewels, fought between the forces of Morgoth and the Elves and Dwarves in Beleriand.[1]
Background[]
While Melkor was imprisoned in Valinor, there was peace in Beleriand. The Dwarves passed over the Blue Mountains into Beleriand and established the cities Nogrod and Belegost. They came in contact with the Sindar and a friendship grew between the two races. Melian, having the foresight of the Maiar, advised Thingol that the peace of Arda would not last forever. Thus, Thingol set out to build a strong dwelling for himself and his people in case evil would awaken again in Middle-earth. Together with the Dwarves, they built Menegroth.[1]
Later the Dwarves came to Thingol and told him of the sighting of evil creatures roaming far and wide in Beleriand, learning the ways of the land and awaiting the return of their lord. Thingol then ordered his people to be armed and the Dwarves smithied weapons and armour for the Elves. Together they drove out the evil creatures, and for a time there was peace.[1]
East of the Blue Mountains in Eriador dwelt some of the Nandor that wandered around the Anduin. They were troubled by the fell beasts of the north so Denethor, son of Lenwë, led much of the Nandor west across the Blue Mountains after hearing rumor of the might of Thingol's realm. Thingol welcomed them as long lost kin and they dwelt in Ossiriand.[1]
After Melkor served three ages of imprisonment, he was released, but soon turned to evil again, and destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor with the aid of Ungoliant. While the Ñoldor still toiled through Araman, Morgoth had already returned to Middle-earth well ahead of them with the Silmarils and rebuilt his old fortress of Angband.
History[]
Prelude[]
Shortly before the Return of the Ñoldor to Middle-earth, Morgoth launched his attack upon Beleriand, desiring to gain the mastery of the land quickly. The Orcs had long been breeding and multiplying and Morgoth filled them with purpose. From the gates of Angband issued a great army which broke into two hosts, passing west between Sirion and Narog and east between Celon and Gelion.[1] Some of the bands even scaled the Pass of Anach and the Pass of Aglond, for the Orcs were said to have "passed silently into the highlands of the north".[1]
The battle[]
Well-armed, having defended Beleriand from the evil and savage things of the north, King Thingol was prepared for war but faced multiple setbacks. In West Beleriand, the bulk of the western Orc host camped on the plain between Narog and Sirion, hurrying throughout West Beleriand; and the forces of Thingol were cut off from Círdan at Eglarest.[1] Led by Círdan, the Falathrim countered but were defeated and forced to retreat back to Eglarest and Brithombar, which were then besieged.[1]
When detachments from both Orc hosts entered his domain, King Thingol took the offensive, leading out the Sindar of Menegroth and the Forest of Region. His main focus, however, was on the bulk of the eastern Orc host. He called upon Denethor who led a host of Laegeldrim from Ossiriand. The eastern host of Orcs were assailed on both its sides by the Eldar and a battle ensued north of the Andram. While Denethor's forces attacked the Orcs, he and his people were lightly-armed and were no match for the iron-clad and heavily-armed Orcs. Eventually, he and his forces were pushed back onto Amon Ereb where they were cut-off and surrounded. Here, Denethor and his lightly-armed company made their last stand against a sea of foes, and he was slain before Thingol's host could rescue him. When Thingol's forces arrived, the Elves routed the Orcs of Morgoth. The few Orcs who escaped scattered east but were later slain by the Dwarves of Mount Dolmed. The battle was over and the armies of Thingol stood victorious over Morgoth's forces in East Beleriand.[1]
This was the only battle against the Dark Lord in which the Sindar took an active role.[2]
Aftermath[]
Though battle was held to be over, the cities of the Havens remained under siege by the forces of the western host.[1] After learning of this, Thingol summoned all the Sindar that wished to live in peace to the lands within the Forest of Region and the Forest of Neldoreth. Melian used her power to encircle this dominion, which were ever after known as Doriath, with an invisible wall of shadows and bewilderment known as Lest Melian.[1] As no aid came from Thingol, Círdan and the Falathrim had to hold out against his attackers alone. The Orcs of Morgoth remained free to wander Beleriand, except in the Falas and Doriath.[1] The Havens were only freed when the Orcs withdrew northeast to fight the Ñoldor under Fëanor.[3]
After the death of their king and the heavy losses they took in this battle, the Laegeldrim pledged to never again name a king or participate in the wars between other Elves and Morgoth.[1] After that time, many of Denethor's people left Ossiriand for the guarded forests of Doriath: these settled in Arthórien and became known as the Guest-elves, others merged with the Sindar.[4][5][1][2] Those few that remained took up a secretive existence, camouflaging themselves in green.[1]
In other versions[]
An early description of the battle first appears in The Earliest Annals of Valinor, though it was pencilled hastily later on the manuscript.[6] In the later development of the story it is part of The Later Annals of Valinor and Quenta Silmarillion.[7]
The battle was never considered to be one of the "major battles" in the War of the Great Jewels until later it was mentioned as one in The Grey Annals.[8] The first encounter between the Orcs and Ñoldor in Beleriand was originally considered to be the "First Battle of Beleriand", however, Tolkien seems to have changed this idea overtime and had Morgoth's battle with the Sindar in Beleriand, before the Return of the Ñoldor, as the "First Battle" which would retroactively move the Dagor-nuin-Giliath (Battle-under-Stars) as the second battle.[9] It is unclear whether Tolkien was considering having an Elvish name for the new "First Battle" or overlooked it but it is notable that an alternative name is absent when compared to the other battles. In The Silmarillion, Christopher Tolkien simply left it as it is.
A literal Sindarin translation of the name would be Dagor Minui or Dagor Ned.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Eerste Slag van Beleriand |
| Albanian | Beteja e parë e Beleriand |
| Amharic | የመጀመሪያው ቤልሪየን ውዝግብ |
| Arabic | الأولى معركة بيليرياند |
| Armenian | Առաջին Բելերիանդ ճակատամարտ |
| Assamese | বেলেৰিয়াণ্ডৰ প্ৰথম যুদ্ধ |
| Azerbaijani | Birinci Beleriand döyüşü |
| Basque | Beleriandeko lehen bataila |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Першая бітва Белерианда |
| Bengali | বেলেরিয়েন্ডের প্রথম যুদ্ধ |
| Bhojpuri | बेलेरियांड के पहिला लड़ाई |
| Bosnian | Prva bitka od Belerianda |
| Breton | Kentañ emgann Beleriand |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Първа битка при Белерианд |
| Catalan | Primera Batalla de Beleriand |
| Cebuano | Unang Gubat sa Beleriand |
| Chinese | 第一次贝尔兰会战 |
| Corsican | Prima Battaglia di Beleriand |
| Croatian | Prva bitka od Belerianda |
| Czech | První bitva o Beleriand |
| Danish | Det Første Slag i Beleriand |
| Dutch | Eerste Slag van Beleriand |
| Esperanto | Unua Batalo de Beleriand |
| Estonian | Beleriandi esimene lahing |
| Filipino | Unang Labanan ng Beleriand |
| Finnish | Beleriandin ensimmäinen taistelu |
| French | Première bataille de Beleriand |
| Frisian | Earste Slach fan Beleriand (Western) |
| Galician | Primeira Batalla de Beleriand |
| Georgian | ბელერიანდის პირველი ბრძოლა |
| German | Erste Schlacht von Beleriand |
| Greek | Πρώτη Μάχη του Βελεριανδ |
| Gujarati | બેલેરીઆન્ડની પ્રથમ યુદ્ધ |
| Haitian Creole | Premye batay nan Beleriand |
| Hebrew | ה קרב הראשון של בלריאנד |
| Hindi | बेलेरिअन्द की पहली लड़ाई |
| Hmong | Thawj Tsov Rog ntawm Beleriand |
| Hungarian | Első Beleriand-i csata |
| Icelandic | Fyrsta orrustan af Beleriand |
| Indonesian | Pertempuran pertama Beleriand |
| Irish Gaelic | An Chéad Cath Beleriand |
| Italian | Prima Battaglia del Beleriand |
| Japanese | 原書の最初の戦い |
| Javanese | Peperangan pisanan saka Beleriand |
| Kannada | ಬೆಲೆರಿಯಂಡ್ನ ಮೊದಲ ಕದನ |
| Kazakh | Белеріандин Бірінші шайқас (Cyrillic) Beleriandïn Birinşi şayqas (Latin) |
| Konkani | बेलेरियांडाचें पयलें झूज |
| Korean | 벨레리안드의 첫 전쟁 / 제1차 벨레리안드의 전쟁 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Алгачкы бэлэрианд боюнча согуш |
| Latin | Primo Proel ex Beleriandi |
| Latvian | Pirmais Beleriandas kauja |
| Lithuanian | Pirmasis mūšis Beleriando |
| Luxembourgish | ֹÉischten Schluecht vu Beleriand |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Прва битка кај Белерианд |
| Maithili | बेलेरियांड की पहली लड़ाई |
| Malagasy | Ny ady voalohany nataon'i Beleriand |
| Malayalam | ബെലേരിയാൻഡിന്റെ ആദ്യ യുദ്ധം |
| Malaysian | Pertempuran Pertama Beleriand |
| Maltese | Ewwel Battalja ta 'Beleriand |
| Marathi | बेलेरिअँडची पहिली लढाई |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Бэлэрианд-ийн анхны тулаан |
| Nepalese | बेलेरियाको पहिलो युद्ध |
| Norwegian | Det Første slaget i Beleriand |
| Occitan | Premiera batalha d'Beleriand |
| Pashto | لومړی جګړه بېلېریاند |
| Persian | نبرد اول بلریاند |
| Polish | Pierwsza bitwa o Beleriand |
| Portuguese | Primeira batalha de Beleriand |
| Punjabi | ਬੈਲੇਰੀਂਡ ਦੀ ਪਹਿਲੀ ਲੜਾਈ |
| Romanian | Prima bătălie de la Beleriand |
| Russian | Первая битва за Белерианд |
| Samoan | Muamua Taua o Beleriand |
| Scottish Gaelic | Ciad Blàr de Beleriand |
| Serbian | ֿПрва битка за Белерианд (Cyrillic) Prva bitka za Beleriand (Latin) |
| Sesotho | Ntoa ea pele ea Beleriand |
| Sindhi | بيلرينڊ جي پهرين جنگ |
| Sinhalese | පළමු බෙලෙරියන්ඩ් සටන |
| Slovak | Prvá bitka z Beleriande |
| Slovenian | Prva bitka pri Beleriandu |
| Somali | Dagaalkii ugu horreeyay ee Beleriand |
| Spanish | Primera batalla de Beleriand |
| Swahili | Kwanza vita ya Beleriand |
| Swedish | Första slaget om Beleriand |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Аввалин ҷанги Белерианд |
| Tamil | முதலாம் பெலேரியாண்ட சண்டை |
| Tatar | Беренче сугыш Белерианд |
| Telugu | బేలేరియాను మొదటి యుద్ధం |
| Thai | การรบครั้งแรกของเบเลริอันด์ |
| Tigrinya | ቀዳማይ ውግእ ቤለርያንድ |
| Turkish | Beleriand'in İlk Savaşı |
| Turkmen | Beleriandyň ilkinji söweşi |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Перша битва за Белеріанд |
| Uzbek | Белерианднинг Биринчи уруши (Cyrillic) Beleriandning Birinchi urushi (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Trận thứ nhất Beleriand |
| Welsh | Brwydr gyntaf Beleriand |
| Xhosa | Imfazwe yokuqala yaseBeleriand |
| Yiddish | ערשטער שלאַכט פון בעלעריאַנד |
| Yoruba | Ogun akọkọ ti Beleriand |
| Battles of Beleriand |
|---|
| First Battle • Dagor-nuin-Giliath • Dagor Aglareb • Siege of Angband • Dagor Bragollach • Nírnaeth Arnoediad • War of Wrath |
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 10: "Of the Sindar"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "The Battles of Beleriand"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter 13: "Of the Return of the Ñoldor"
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part One: The First Age, II: "Narn i Hîn Húrin (The Tale of the Children of Húrin)", Túrin in Doriath
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One: "The Grey Annals", pgs. 112-3 (Note on §38)
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. IV: The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals, II: "The Earliest 'Silmarillion' (The 'Sketch of the Mythology')"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Two: Valinor and Middle-earth before The Lord of the Rings, VI: "Quenta Silmarillion"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One: "The Grey Annals", §38
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, Part One: "The Grey Annals", Note on §36)