🚀 go-pugleaf

This is another monster chapter in the Silmarillion, not quite up there
with "Of Turin Turambar", but there is a lot of information.  To
start with, the title seems to be a bit misleading.  After Dagor
Bragollach Beleriand was hardly "ruined".  The Falas, Doriath,
Nargothrond, Hithlum, Dor-lomin, Gondolin and Brethil remain
unconquered, and the Feanorians remain as a viable fighting force.  The
only losses are the destruction of the Elven forces of Dorthonion and
the destruction of the First House.  It wasn't until after the
Nirnaeth that Beleriand was ruined, in my opinion.

Fingolfin (as High King) thinks it could be time to assault Angband -
the Noldor have increased in numbers, they have allied with the Sindar,
and with the recently-arrived Men.  But "most of the Noldor" have
grown accustomed to and somewhat indolent in their new realms in
Beleriand, and so generally do not want to go marching off to fight
[1].  Only those lords of the Noldor that live within sight of
Thangorodrim pay him any heed [2].  But during the Long Peace Morgoth
has been biding his time, building his forces and stoking his hatred.

In the middle of winter the assault begins.  We get some very evocative
description of the moments just before the start of the attack.  The
plain stretched "dim beneath the cold moon, from the hill-forts [3]
of the Noldor to the feet of Thangorodrim"; "the watchfires burned
low and the guards were few"; " few were waking in the camps of the
horsemen of Hithlum" [4].  Morgoth sends forth great rivers of fire
from Thangorodrim and poisonous fumes.  Ard-galen is consumed and
henceforth become Anfauglith, the Gasping Dust [5].  Many of the Noldor
are killed on the plains by the rivers of fire before they could flee
Thus begins Dagor Bragollach, or simply "the Bragollach", the
Battle of Sudden Flame.

Glaurung leads the assault, with Balrogs in his train and multitudes of
Orcs [5].  The battle lasts until the start of spring.  Many of the
stoutest of Morgoth's foes are killed at the very beginning of the
war [6].  Most of the Sindar flee south and sought refuge in Doriath,
Nargothrond and the Falas [7].  Others flee to the Green-elves in
Ossiriand and even over Ered Lindon into "the wild".  Thus the
rumour of the fighting reaches Men in the east of Middle-earth.

Finarfin's sons bear the brunt of the attack; Angrod and Aegnor are
slain, along with most of the warriors of the First House of the Edain
[8].  Finrod Felagund is trapped with a small company in the Fen of
Serech, but is rescued at great cost by Barahir.  Barahir gets the
all-important Ring of Barahir and is now lord of the First House.  Most
of his people flee to Hithlum [9].  In Hithlum, the forces of Fingolfin
are driven back behind the Ered Wethrin, which they barely hold against
the assault.  Hador and his son Gundor are slain.  Fingolfin and his
forces are penned in their land and cannot aid the other Elven realms.

In the east, the war has been going Morgoth's way.  Celegorm and
Curufin are driven out of their lands (at great cost to Morgoth), and
seek refuge in Nargothrond.  Maedhros manages to defend Himring, and
retakes the pass of Aglon - many of the survivors of the other
Feanorian realms and Dorthonion rally there to him.  But the Feanorian
horsemen were overwhelmed on Lothlann; Glaurung is there and he ravages
all of Maglor's land east of Himring.  Thargelion is taken by Orcs,
who "defile" [10] Lake Helevorn.  Caranthir flees to Amrod and
Amras with "a remnant of his people".  Maglor joins Maedhros on
Himring.

When Fingolfin learns of the loss of Dorthonion, the defeat of the
Feanorians and the overthrow of the sons of Finarfin [11], he is filled
with despair and rides to Angband to challenge Morgoth to single
combat.  Now we get some of the best descriptive prose in the entire
Silmarillion.  We are told that Morgoth had to accept, even though he
was afraid - "he could not now deny the challenge before the face
of his captains".  Morgoth is clad in black "like a tower,
iron-crowned" and his shield "sable unblazoned, cast a shadow over
[Fingolfin] like a storm cloud".  Fingolfin "gleamed beneath it
like a star.. and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice".
 Amazingly beautiful stuff.

The outcome though is inevitable.  Fingolfin manages to wound Morgoth
seven times, but eventually Fingolfin grows weary.  Morgoth manages to
whack him just three times, but eventually Fingolfin stumbles in one of
the pits that Grond has made in the ground.  Morgoth places his foot on
Fingolfin's neck to crush him, but with his last stroke, Fingolfin
slashes off the foot [12].  Thorondor rescues the corpe before Morgoth
feeds it to the wolves - in the process managing to slash Morgoth's
face.  Fingolfin is buried by Turgon in a cairn in the Echoriath.
Fingon becomes the High King of the Noldor, but he sends his son
Ereinion (Gil-galad) to the Havens [13].

Barahir and his remaining forces conduct a guerilla campaign against
Morgoth in Dorthonion, which gradually turns into Tarn-nu-Fuin.
Eventually Barahir's wife Emeldir leads the women and children over
the mountains and down into Brethil [14].  Some of the Beorians stay in
Brethil, but the rest press on to Hithlum - including Rian, future
mother of Tuor, and Morwen, future mother of Turin.  The men who
remained in Dorthonion are gradually killed until only twelve remain
[15].

Now we finally get to hear of Sauron actually doing something during
the War of Beleriand - he has been conspicuously absent from the
preceding chapters.  Tol Sirion is attacked "nigh on two years
after" the main assault by Morgoth.  Orodreth "warden" of Minas
Tirith is beaten and flees to Nargothrond [16].  Tol Sirion then
becomes Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves, as Sauron is
identified as "a sorcerer of dreadful power...master of phantoms..
lord of werewolves" [17].  With the western pass open to Morgoth, his
forces gradually overrun Beleriand - "he...took their strongholds
one by one" [18].

Any Sindar and Noldor that are captured are taken to Angband and made
thrall; Morgoth sends out his spies to spread propaganda amongst his
foes, and because of the Kinslaying, his lies are more readily
believed.  Even if any of the Noldor did in fact escape, they are
treated as being spies anyway [19].  Morgoth also tries to cozen the
Edain, but without success.

"At this time" other Men enter Beleriand - some of them already
in service to Morgoth, other because they have heard of the wealth of
Beleriand.  Maedhros allies himself (and the other Feanorians) with two
of their chieftains: Bor and his sons prove faithful, but Ulfang and
his sons prove false [20].

The First House of Men is "well-nigh" destroyed and the Third House
is shut in Hithlum.  But the Halathrim of Brethil are still intact, and
they destroy an army of Orcs that came through the Pass of Sirion.  In
the battle they are assisted by Beleg, who comes out of Doriath with
"great strength of Sindar armed with axes" [21].  Hurin and Huor
take part in the battle, as they are staying with their uncle at that
time.  Fostering children with their kindred is "the custom of Men in
that time" [22].  The two boys are cut off from the main army, wander
across Sirion and are picked up by the Eagles of Thorondor and
deposited in Gondolin [23].  The boys get to stay in Gondolin, living
in Turgon's house for "well nigh a year", but eventually they
wish to return home.  Turgon allows them to leave, even though his law
is that anyone finding their way to the city cannot leave again.
Maeglin is predictably a little ticked off that the Men can leave when
his father couldn't.  The Eagles take the two brothers back to
Dor-lomin, but they will not reveal to their family where they have
spent the last year.  Eventually Morgoth's servants learn of their
peculiar adventure.

Meanwhile Turgon thinks that the breaking of the Siege signals the
beginning of the end for the Exiles, and so he sends "companies" of
Gondolindrim down Sirion to the Isle if Balar, where they build ships
and try to sail to Valinor and seek the help of the Valar.  "Many
were lost and few returned" [24].

Seven years after the Bragollach, Morgoth attacked Hithlum again.
Galdor of the Third House is slain defending the walls of Eithel
Sirion, but Hurin drives back the attacking forces.  Fingon though is
fighting on the plains of Hithlum with an army that attacked "from
the north" [25], and is being beaten until Cirdan and the forces of
the Falas sails up the Firth of Drengist and saves the day - just
about the only time that we hear of the Falathrim taking part in any of
the fighting in the First Age [26].

The chapter finishes with a brief summary of the current state of the
lordship of the Third House, which leads into the story of Beren and
Luthien.


Points for discussion

1 - the Feanorians are singled out as least disposed to hearken to
Fingolfin, but this may be more due to their resentment of having lost
the High Kingship, rather than them being unaware of the threat from
Angband.

2 - The Noldor's reaction to Fingolfin's ideas indicate the
High-Kingship seems to be more of a ceremonial role than anything else.
 If the role was more that of an absolute ruler, then Fingolfin could
have just ordered the mobilization of all forces and the rest of the
Noldorin lords would have had to obey.

3 - The use of "hill-forts" has always suggested to me the Iron Age
earthworks of England and Wales, but it is probably meant to indicate
something more permanent, built it stone, like the great Noldorin
fortress of Eithel Sirion - presumably other passes of the Ered
Wethrin were also heavily defended, and the northern slopes of
Dorthonion likewise.

4 - The fact that it is only the horsemen of Hithlum that are mentioned
is noteworthy - where were the Feanorians during the Siege?  Earlier
in the Silmarillion we learn that Maedhros gave many horses to
Fingolfin to atone for his losses while crossing the Helcaraxe, and
they throve and multiplied.  Later in this chapter though we hear of
how the riders of the Sons of Feanor were overwhelmed by Glaurung upon
Lothlann, the plain to the south-west of Ard-galen.   Does this then
indicate that the Feanorians were "in reserve", or were the
Noldorin forces rotated in and out of siege duty and it was
Fingolfin's bad luck that his forces were on the front line when the
battle started?

5 - the rivers of flame and the poisonous fumes are clear evidence
that Thangorodrim and Ered Engrin were volcanic.  Fast-flowing rivers
of flame seem to be pyroclastic flows, defined as: lateral flowage of a
turbulent mixture of hot gases and unsorted pyroclastic material
(volcanic fragments, crystals, ash, pumice, and glass shards) that can
move at high speed (50 to 100 miles an hour.)   Lava just doesn't
move that fast, especially over a flat plain.  Presumably some of the
Noldor died from the poisonous fumes as well, even though the chapter
says "many of the Noldor perished in the burning...[who] could not
fly to the hills".

5 - this is the only time we actually hear of the Balrogs taking part
in the Bragollach - after this one mention they do not get any page
time.  Preusmably their role in the battle was to lead armies that
assaulted the various Elven forces and maybe take on any Elven lords in
one-on-one fighting.  Angrod and Aegnor may well have been slain by
Balrogs leading the assault on Dorthonion, we just don't have any
evidence of Balrog activity.

6 - the Bragollach is called both a battle and a war.  Given that it
lasted something like two months, it seems "war" is a more
appropriate term.

7- Elwe had previously said to the Noldor that they could only settle
in those lands where the Sindar did not already dwell.  However, we
then learn that after the Aglareb, the Noldor and the Sindar "in many
parts of the land...became welded into one people".  The comment in
the current chapter that many of the Sindar fled the northern war
implies that the Grey Elves were still somehow distinct from the
Noldor, thus contradicted the "one people" idea.  It may be that
the Sindar accepted the Noldor as their lords, but maintained their own
separate houses - in Gondolinfor instance, with its large Sindarin
population, one of the gates of the Orfalch Echor is manned mainly by
Sindar, which implies the Grey Elves were distinguishable as a separate
part of the population even after living in the Hidden Kingdom for
almost four hundred years.

8 - since "the sons of Finarfin bore most heavily the brunt of the
assault" and the First House of the Edain was practically wiped out,
this suggests that Morgoth's battle plan seems to have been exactly
the same as in the Aglareb - that is, assault Dorthonion - even
though it was a total failure in the Third Battle.  Presumably though,
the destruction of the Elven forces on Ard-galen meant that the Eldar
could not repeat their winning tactics from the previous battle.

9 - it is not clear if this forced evacuation of the First House is
the same as that mentioned later in the chapter, when Emeldir the
Manhearted leads the women and children out of Dorthonion.  In this
brief passage, there is no mention of the refuges making their way to
Brethil before Hithlum, although this could just be due to summary
nature of the writing at this point in the chapter.

10 - how do the Orcs "defile" and entire lake?  Perhaps they
destroyed its sources (like Glaurung did at Ivrin) or fill it full of
bodies of slain Elves of Thargelion.

11 - the overthrow of the sons of Finarfin seems to be dramatic
licence, since Finrod and Orodreth are clearly still alive after the
initial assault of the Bragollach, and indeed Tol Sirion is defended by
Orodreth for "nigh on two years" after the main war.  Presumably
the meaning is when Finarfin heard of the deaths of Angrod and Aegnor,
ie those sons of Finarfin who had been overthrown, rather then the
overthrow of ALL the sons of Finarfin.

12 - it is never quite clear if Fingolfin dies from having his
neck/throat crushed, or whether it is Morgoth's blood that "gushed
forth black and smoking" from his severed foot that killed him.  I
suspect the latter.

13 - this is the first mention of Gil-galad in the Silmarillion, into
which he was retroactively inserted after the publication of Lord of
the Rings.  The fact that he is sent to the Havens for safety, coupled
with the armed assistance the Falathrim give the Noldor of Hithlum
later in this chapter seems to suggest there was some special bond
between the two realms.

14 - this can only mean that they passed through the Ered Grogoroth
and Nan Dungorthen, but nothing is said of the it except they came to
Brethil "with loss and misery".  Later, the same journey made by
Beren is considered to be "not least amongst the deeds of Beren".

15 - Barahir, Beren, Baragund and Belegund are all descendants of
Beor.  Radhruin ("????-flame"); Dairuin ("great-flame"?);
Dagnir ("bane"); Ragnir (no idea); Gildor ("star-land?");
Gorlim ("dread-light"?); Arthad ("double-????"); Urthel
("hot-spring"?); and Hathaldir ("????") are described as
"nine faithful servants" but presumably they were "servants"
only in the sense of providing armed service to the lords of the First
House.

16 - Orodreth, like all the sons of Finarfin except Finrod, is a bit
of an undeveloped character in the published Silmarillion.  In the Narn
i Hin Hurin, we see him being a somewhat dithering ruler of
Nargothrond, yet clearly he was sufficiently trusted by his brother to
be warden of Minas Tirith.  In JRRT's later work on the legends of
the First Age, he toyed with the idea of changing Orodreth from
Finarfin's son to Angrod's son, and brother of Finduilas (rather
than her father).

17 - "a dark cloud of fear dell upon those that defended [Minas
Tirith]" - this sounds very like the power of the Witch King and
other Nazgul during the War of the Ring.  Where does this fear come
from?

18 - to which strongholds is the text referring?  We know that
Morgoth did not know anything of Nargothrond until it was revealed to
him by the policies of Turin.  Gondolin likewise was hidden from him.

19 - this in fact is not the case when Gwindor returns to
Nargothrond.

20 - it is not clear from the text whether either or both of Bor and
Ulfang entered Beleriand already in the service of Morgoth or not.
Morgoth is said to have been "well content" with both of them
swearing allegiance to the Noldor, which might imply that they were
already on allied with Angband.

21 - the Sindar are generally associated with axes, presumably
because their armories were filled by the Dwarves of the Blue
Mountains.  Their use of axes is also mentioned in Unfinished Tales,
when Tuor is climbing the Orfalch Echor.  The guards of the Third Gate
are armed with axes and are "for the most part" made up of Sindar
of Nevrast.

22 - no explanation given for why this would be the custom.  I assume
that it was started by Hador Lorindol being taken into the household of
Fingolfin.

23 - this seems a rather independent-minded thing for Thorondor to
do, unless Turgon had previously shared with him the "messages and
dreams" that Ulmo had sent him concerning the sons of the house of
Hador.

24 - the number sent out by Turgon stated differently in Unfinished
Tales.  Voronwe says that Turgon sent out "a few only, upon a secret
errand", with no mention of "companies" of Elves being
dispatched.  We never hear of the fate of the "few" that returned
- Voronwe doesn't mention them when talking to Tuor about the
missions to Valinor in Unfinished Tales.

25 - here again is another puzzling reference to the topography of
Hithlum and its northern regions.  If an army from Angband can attack
Hithlum from the north, this implies that either Hithlum is directly
exposed to assault from Angband that direction, or else there are
mountain passes in Ered Wethrin north of Eithel Sirion that an army can
use.  If it is the former, why would Morgoth expend all his forces
constantly attacking Eithel Sirion?  If it is the latter, why weren't
there fortresses similar to Eithel Sirion guarding more northerly
passes?  At the end of the battle, the arhced horsemint of the Elves
pursue the Orcs "into the Iron Mountains" which could imply that
the Ered Engrin were the northern wall of Hithlum.

26 - How did the Elves of the Falas manage to get there in the nick of
time by sea?  Perhaps they had a palantir with which they were able to
foresee the assault (which begs the question why didn't the Elves of
Hithlum do the same thing).  Or perhaps Cirdan was pre-warned by Ulmo,
and was dispatched to save the day.

Neil Anderson