The Dark Lord Melkor not only slayed his father Finwë, but also stole his precious Silmarils,
making Fëanor swear a dark oath to hunt down the Dark Lord, who he called Morgoth - the Dark Foe.
Although the mighty Valar were against it, Fëanor and his Ñoldorin Elf subjects were
eager to avenge Finwë and decided to go to Middle-Earth, which lead to the Kingslaying,
Curse of Mandos, and the war between the elves and the hosts of the Dark Lord. Welcome to our
video on the Beginning of the War of Jewels! Travelling to middle earth requires a lot of
preparations as we’ll see, but at least the elves didn’t have to worry about their data situation
once away from home. Whereas we actually do, and that’s why we recommend our sponsor NordVPN.
Because when you’re out and about, using public wifi, computers,
or any network with other people snooping about, you might expose key data like credit
card details to thieves. That’s not going to be a problem though if you’ve got NordVPN.
It’s a system that routes your activity through servers of your choice all over the world, and
encrypts everything, making it not only hard for hackers to steal valuable information like your
banking details, but more broadly for ISPs and data sellers to monitor your activity for profit.
And even while you’re at home, say you encounter something on the internet
that’s been region-locked. Well, NordVPN lets you change your region to whatever you need,
so the world’s tv shows, games, and even prices on goods are at your disposal.
Then consider the whole Nord package, with their Threat Protection system that blocks malware (at
no extra cost for a limited time); NordPass for creating, managing and applying the toughest
passwords for everything; and NordLocker, cloud storage that protects your files with encryption.
Take a look and get an exclusive deal with a thirty day money back
guarantee at nordvpn dot com slash wizardswarriors
As the Oath of Fëanor against him was being sworn, the newly renamed Morgoth set about strengthening
his position by restoring his mighty fortress of Angband. Preparing for the expected backlash of
the Elves, Morgoth hastily rebuilt his armies breeding a vast innumerable horde of Orcs and
other foul denizens, while simultaneously mounting the Silmarils into his Iron Crown.
Despite these preparations, the fury of the Ñoldor would surprise even the fallen Valar.
The oratory skills of Fëanor had swayed the majority of the Elves gathered, however,
it was not long before dissent broke out as to who should lead such a host to Middle Earth.
Although Fëanor was technically the High King, many Ñoldor disliked him and his younger
half-brother Fingolfin was seen as a greater unifying force due to the love which the vast
majority of the Ñoldor bore him. Fingolfin was not eager to embark on an expedition
but he had already sworn an oath to uphold his brother’s rights as the eldest and also feared
that Fëanor’s rash and selfish actions would lead his people to a disaster. At the same time,
his son Fingon had been utterly swayed by Fëanor and urged his father to join in the expedition.
So they set out with Fëanor leading the first host, Fingolfin marching at the head of a second
larger host, and Finarfin commanding the third much smaller and more reluctant group. Every
tenth Ñoldor decided to stay in Tirion either for the love of their home or the love of the Valar.
Fëanor’s just now realized that he had no way of transporting his army. Middle-Earth and Aman
were at this point connected by Helcaraxë - a region which was immensely treacherous and
bitterly cold even for the resilient Elves at the height of their power, and the shifting ice was
deemed to be impassable for a force this size. Thoughts then turned to the construction of a
mighty fleet to ferry the Ñoldor, however, there were no shipwrights among them and even if this
had not been the case, the construction process would have given Morgoth too long to prepare for
their coming. Fëanor instead made his way to the home of the sea-faring Teleri Alqualondë.
The Teleri didn’t want to leave Aman and would not part with their ships as they prized these
finely wrought white vessels above all else. Fëanor lectured the Teleri that they owed the
Ñoldor for instructing them in the correct manner to construct buildings and cities,
but the Lord of the Teleri Olwë would not be swayed and urged Fëanor to remain in Aman.
A furious Fëanor refused to accept this and understanding that much of the Ñoldor
had been easily manipulated by his oratory, he once more made use of his charismatic presence
and convinced the host to aid him in taking the ships by force. The Teleri resisted putting up
a staunch defence of their home, throwing many of the Ñoldor into the sea and driving back the
far more heavily armed host three times. It is at this point the less impassioned second
host led by Fingolfin came upon the battle as it continued to rage before Alqualondë.
Believing the Teleri were the aggressors his larger force joined the fray, allowing
the ships to be wrested from their owner’s control. Many of the mariners were slaughtered.
A Maia of the Inner Seas Ossë associated with the Lord of Waters Valar Ulmo was deeply outraged due
to her love of the Teleri. Although she was prevented from intervening directly
in the battle, Ossë summoned terrible storms in retribution causing many Ñoldor casualties.
This divine retribution was furthered by the emergence of a figure which is
believed to have been Mandos himself, who uttered the words that would
be later known as the Doom of Mandos in response to the First Kinslaying:
"Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you,
and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains.
On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East,
and upon all that will follow them, it shall be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them,
and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue.
To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin,
and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Dispossessed shall they be for ever. ..."
This exiled the Ñoldor from Valinor and placed a curse upon them that the war against Morgoth
would bring nothing but misery to their people. The Ñoldor were now utterly forsaken and would
no longer receive either welcome or aid from Valinor. Fëanor and his house were cursed with
Mandos foretelling a great degree of suffering and hardship to be their lot in no small part
due to the oath sworn to regain the Silmarils at any cost. The figure also made it clear to all
gathered there that the war against Morgoth was to be hopeless, as the combatants being merely Elves
could not help to overcome a Vala. Listening to the Doom of his people, a heartbroken Finarfin who
had not participated in the Kinslaying turned his host back cursing Fëanor. This smaller
host was pardoned by the Valar with Finarfin now serving as the High King of the Ñoldor in Tirion.
Meanwhile, Morgoth made his first move in what came to be known as the First Battle of
Beleriand wherein the Sindarin Elves who had not travelled to Valinor had to fight the forces of
Morgoth while the Ñoldor still remained in Aman. Morgoth sent forth two great armies to seize the
Southern territories of the Sindarin Elves, and these hosts passed through the vale of Sirion
and East between Aros and Gelion. King Thingol of Doriath maintained a well-armed force having
defended Beleriand from countless horrors coming from the North, but despite his preparations,
he faced a number of setbacks. The Western host of Orcs plundered much of West Beleriand ravaging the
countryside and Lord Círdan of the Havens of Falas marched out to meet them but was soundly defeated.
He was then forced to retreat behind the walls of Eglarest and Brithombar which were besieged,
effectively cutting Thingol off from his allies in the West.
Detachments from both of Morgoth’s armies then entered Thingol’s territory, but the
Elven defenses held here. King of Doriath’s main focus was placed upon the bulk of the
Orcish forces which were assaulting his ally King Denethor of the Laiquendi who was hard pressed to
hold them at bay. Denethor had answered Thingol’s call to arms, but his people were lightly armed
and no match for the arms and armour of Angband. Laiquendi were soon pushed back to the Amon Ereb,
where they were to make their last stand against a swirling sea of vicious Orcs. They gave a good
account of themselves but were slain to an Elf before they could be relieved. When Thingol’s
forces arrived, they were so enraged by the destruction of their allies that the Orcs
stood no chance against their might and they were slaughtered with only a small number surviving
only to be slain by the Dwarves of Mount Dolmed. Although this was nominally a victory, the Havens
remained under siege and Thingol summoned all the Sindar who wished to live in peace to the forests
of Region and Neldoreth. Thingol’s wife Maiar Melian, had some power and she used her magic:
hereafter the lands of Thingol became enclosed under her protection by the magical barrier
which came to be known as the Girdle of Melian in a land forever after known as Doriath. With
no aid forthcoming the Havens remained under siege and with the Laiquendi King dead, the remainder of
his people returned to their forests in Ossiriand pledging to live in secrecy, distrusting outsiders
and never naming another King, while some would go to Doriath merging with the Elves residing there.
Meanwhile, Fëanor had defied the Doom of his people and continued onwards, heading northwards:
the temperatures dropped off steeply and the skies continued to darken indicating that they were now
approaching Helcaraxë. At this point, many of the already reluctant Ñoldor began to express their
discontent. Ossë’s storms had destroyed much of the fleet and there were no longer enough ships
to bring all of the Ñoldor to Middle-Earth at once. the Doom of Mandos still hung over them
and none among them wished to be left on Aman while the rest crossed. Fëanor noticed this
bubbling discontent as well as the logistical issues which now plagued his mighty force,
so he took counsel with the only Elves he truly trusted at this point, his sons.
Those loyal to Fëanor still maintained control of the remaining fleet,
therefore as the dissension continued to grow the High King simply left all those
whose loyalty to him was not absolute in Aman, slipping away quietly one night with the ships.
This force arrived at Losgar in a land known as Lammoth to the far west of Beleriand.
Upon their arrival Fëanor eldest son Maedhros asked who was to bring the ships back to ferry
the remainder of their people. In response, his father cruelly decided to burn the ships
and abandon the rest of his kinsmen. Maedhros was not happy with this course of action but
refused to speak up to his father. He stood stoically gazing upon the burning fleet.
The world at this point was still flat and as such Fingolfin’s host could see the flames in
the distance making them aware of the treachery of their kin. The choice was presented to them
to either return to Tirion in disgrace or make the treacherous crossing over the Helcaraxë.
They decided upon the latter in order to give them the opportunity to confront the errant Fëanor.
A further contributing factor to this decision was the unwitting participation
of Fingolfin’s warriors in the kinslaying: they remained unsure as to how they would
be judged should they return to Valar. This brutal journey across the grinding
ice sheets was a lengthy and costly affair that took the lives of many of the Ñoldor,
increasing their animosity towards their supposed High King and his followers.
With the arrival of the Ñoldor to Beleriand, the War of the Jewels began with the first battle
coming as a pre-emptive strike on the part of the Dark Lord. He became aware of the coming
of Fëanor and his host: the gates of Angband were swung open and a vast horde of the foul
denizens of the Dark emerged, with Morgoth’s orders to assault the Elves before they could
attain a proper foothold and erect effective defences. This battle came to be known as the
Battle under the Stars or Dagor-nuin-Giliath, as the Sun and the Moon had not yet been created.
The battle started when the Ñoldor arrived unexpectedly at the Firth of Frengist, passing
through the Gate of the Ñoldor into Hithlum and encamping upon the Northern Shore of Lake Mithrim.
Although the Orcish horde far outnumbered the Elves, the Ñoldor were still empowered
by the light of Valinor and easily beat them back, leading to a hasty retreat.
The ever-rash Fëanor was not happy with such a victory and led his host in hot pursuit of the
Orcs who retreated North through Ard-galen. In an attempt to take the vengeful Fëanor
by surprise, Morgoth’s forces which had been besieging the Havens of Falas since the First
Battle of Beleriand marched North to attack the Ñoldor from the rear. However, a force
led by Fëanor’s third son Celegorm the Fair intercepted and ambushed them at Eithel Sirion,
trapping the Orcs between two Ñoldorin hosts. The Orcs fought with all the vicious brutality of an
entrapped rodent for ten days while encircled at the Fens of Serech, but they could not hope to
match the gleaming host of Elves that descended upon them. The Orcs were slain until only a
minuscule group of them persisted and fled and the reckless Fëanor whose wrath reached its zenith at
this point pursued even this small group. His anger overrode his wisdom and, in his attempts,
to catch the remnants of Morgoth’s army he passed too far from the main portion of his
own force and seeing this the Orcs turned and faced the High King of the Ñoldor at the very
edge of Dor Daedeloth. With the proximity of the field of battle to Angband, the Orcs were soon
reinforced by a group of Balrogs who quickly slew the Elves who stood with their High King.
Despite his faults, Fëanor faults embodied much of the power and glory which defined his race
and stood alone against the very greatest of the Dark Lord’s servants refusing to bend or break
in spite of their fell power. While his struggle was heroic in every sense of the word, it remained
doomed as he took many wounds yet continued onward undaunted. Fëanor’s ferocity required
the very Lord of the Balrogs and the strongest of its kind to ever walk the lands of Middle-Earth
Gothmog to mortally wound the High King. Just as this fiery beast looked set to
slay Fëanor, his sons came to his aid, driving off the Balrogs and Orcs rescuing their father.
They hurried from the battlefield carrying their father to safety, however, Fëanor asked them to
stop, knowing that the wounds he had sustained would take his life. Looking upon Angband he
cursed Morgoth thrice, but his defiance would die with him as when gazing upon the immensity
of the fortress he finally realized the truth of Mandos’ words that the Ñoldor alone could
not overthrow the Dark Lord. Still, he instructed his sons to maintain their oaths and avenge him.
As he passed on, the fiery spirit which had so defined him left his body burning it to ash.
Immediately after this skirmish ended, the Moon rose, and with the rising of such light among
the skies came Fingolfin and his second even larger force of Ñoldor arrived in Lhammoth.
Here they were attacked by a large force of Orcs which had initially been sent by Morgoth to attack
Fëanor’s host from the rear in what came to be known as the Battle of Lhammoth. Fingolfin was
caught unawares by this ambush and before he managed to drive off the Dark Lord’s force,
his son Argon was slain, spurring the Ñoldor to pursue the Orcs and completely destroy them.
With the passing of Fëanor and the ascension of his son Maedhros to the position of High King
of the Ñoldor, the War of the Jewels had begun in earnest. The Dagor-nuin-Giliath and Battle
of Lhammoth were mere precursors to the true consequences of the Doom of Mandos. However,
this is the story for our next documentary on the history of the First Age.
The next few videos in this series will be dedicated to the battles of the War of the Jewels,
but we are planning to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera universes,
so make sure you have subscribed and pressed the bell button! Please, consider liking and sharing,
as it helps immensely, and don’t forget to comment - we will try to read and respond to every comment
as we want to know what you think about this video and which videos you hope to see in the future!
This is the Wizards and Warriors channel and we’ll catch you on the next one!