War of Wrath
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| War of Wrath | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Host of the Valinor[1]: consisting of the Armies of the Vanyar, the Army of the Noldor of Aman, and the Navy of the Teleri; contingents of the Eldar and the Edain and other peoples of Beleriand; the Great Birds of the Heavens | All the Hosts of Morgoth | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Eönwë, Ingwion, Finarfin, Thorondor | Morgoth, Ancalagon the Black† | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | Most balrogs, uncounted legions of Orcs | ||||||
| Wars of Beleriand |
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| First Battle - Dagor-nuin-Giliath - Dagor Aglareb - Angband - Dagor Bragollach - Nirnaeth Arnoediad - War of Wrath |
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, was the final war against Morgoth at the end of the First Age. The War of Wrath is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings.
Elrond, at his Council, makes comparison to the Last Alliance of Elves and Men of the Second Age saying,
I remember well the splendour of their banners ... It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken...". [2]
In the Tale of the Years[3] it is called the Great Battle and the army, the Host of Valinor. The best known and most poetical account is in The Silmarillion [4], itself closely drawn from the earlier Quenta Silmarillion[5]. The most detailed account of the course of the war is in The Later Annals of Beleriand [6]. Other accounts and fragmentary details about the war are scattered, appearing in the earliest versions of the legendarium. [7]
As it is told in The Silmarillion, five centuries after the rising of the sun, Morgoth had defeated all who opposed him had become mighty and uncontested in Middle-earth. The mariner Eärendil, by the light of the Silmaril on his brow, searched and came to Valinor, on behalf of the two kindreds (that of Elves and Men), asked the Valar to pardon and aid the enthralled Elves and Men of Middle-earth.
The Valar were moved by Eärendil's plea, and sent the Vanyar, the remaining Noldor in Aman to Middle-earth in a mighty host. At the behest of their kinswoman, Elwing, the Teleri carried the host on their ships, but they remained on their ships and did not land. The Host of Valinor marched through Beleriand and met the terrible forces of Morgoth. It is said that the glory of their weaponry illuminated the land.
While the Three Houses of Men or the Edain fought for the Valar, many other Men from the east fought for the forces of Morgoth and were either destroyed or escaped to the far eastern parts of Middle-earth. The host of the Valar completely defeated the Orc armies of Melkor and destroyed most of the Balrogs, except for a few who fled and hid themselves in the deep places of the world. The great force of Aman marched north across Beleriand and pursuing the remnants of the hosts of Morgoth. From Angband Melkor released his last force, the fleet of winged dragons, who had never been seen before, and the terror of that onslaught was like a great storm, and they drove the host of the Valar back.
At that moment Eärendil came with his ship Vingilot, along with the Eagles of Thorondor, Lord of Eagles, and there they contested with the dragons in the air, killing most of them. Eärendil personally slew the dragons' captain, the mighty Ancalagon the Black, who broke the towers of Thangorodrim in his fall.
Morgoth was finally captured cowering in the deepest dungeon of Angband and bound again with the chain Angainor. The two Silmarils still in his possession were taken by the Maia Eönwë, the herald of Manwë. Morgoth's legs were hewn at the ankles and his iron crown was beaten into a collar. In the end, the Valar imprison him in the Void, where he remains until the Final Battle and the Day of Doom, and those doors are forever guarded by Ëarendil. Only then shall he be utterly destroyed.
The wreckage of the war was immense. The River Sirion was destroyed. Much of the north of the land west of the Ered Luin was laid waste and soon after sank beneath the waves. The remaining Elves were bidden by Ëonwë to return with him to the lands of Aman. Most of them did so, but others refused the summons and instead journeyed eastward where they would become lords of the remaining Noldor and Sindar, as well as others remaining in the east such as the Silvan Elves. Galadriel and Celeborn were among these, as was Gil-galad.
To those men of the Edain who fought for the host of the Valar was granted the land of Andor, where the realm Númenor (in the full Quenya form Númenórë) began. This land was neither of Aman nor Middle-earth, but was the nearest to Aman of all mortal lands.
After his master's defeat Morgoth's chief servant Sauron surrendered to Ëonwë and was summoned to Valinor to receive judgement by the Valar. However he evidently reconsidered and fled to the east, to trouble the Men and Elves of the West in later ages.
The Silmarillion account closely follows Quenta Silmarillion and is in agreement with it on the events of the war varying mostly in nomenclature.
Nearly contemporary to the Quenta Silmarillion are the Annals of Beleriand a complementary, separate account with a different point of view. The two main versions, early [8] and late, of the Annals are in agreement with the events but are at variance with nomenclature and dates. They provide a good deal of incidental detail otherwise lacking in the various parallel versions of the Silmarillion. The later Annals are the final version of the War of Wrath in this form. There are versions of events and aspects of the war in the Annals that are in conflict with those in Quenta Silmarillion beyond minor inconsistencies in nomenclature and dates. Most notably, the Annals, in contrast to the Silmarillion traditions, hold that Morgoth leaves Angband passing over Taur-na-Fuin to contest the passage of Sirion.
Other details do not conflict with the Silmarillion, because of the difference in mode between Annal and Quenta they are just not present in the Quentas. The landing of Ingwë's son and the Battle of Eglarest is a significant example.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ History of Middle-earth, Vol. V, p. 328, "march of the host...in his armies..."indicates that a host is made up of one or more armies.
- ^ Lord of the Rings, 1954-5: I, p.256
- ^ Lord of the Rings, III, p.363 Appendix B
- ^ (1977), pp. 250-252; the work published posthumously by the author's son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien
- ^ History of Middle-earth Vol. V, pp.326-331, 336; the poetical Silmarillion account is derived almost word for word from Quenta Silmarillion of the mid 1930's, the main changes are to the later versions of names, e.g.: Fionwë to Eönwë, Lindar to Vanyar, etc.
- ^ History of Middle-earth Vol. V, pp.143-144, 153, the Annals are nearly contemporary and complementary to the Quenta Silmarillion, not an alternative draft of these events. Christopher Tolkien states that this version "only came to light very recently" (p.125), perhaps 10 years after he published The Silmarillion.
- ^ written in the 1920's -1930's and published posthumously in the History of Middle-earth series 1983-1996, Vols. I, II, IV, especially, as well as later volumes.
- ^ History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV, pp. 309-310,
- ^ History of Middle-earth, Vol. IV, p.313: Eldorest>Eglarest>Eglorest - while there is considerable vacillation about the place-name, there is no dithering about the place itself; Cirdan's former haven, or the event: the landing and battle.
