In our previous episode on the history of the First Age, we described the Siege of Angband,
the coming of the humans - Edain, and the ever-increasing prosperity of the Elven
realms. While the Elves had enjoyed peace, content with the fact that the Dark Lord was
contained within Thangorodrim, they could not launch more than the most insignificant sorties.
This was all to change with the fourth great battle of the War of the Jewels,
the Dagor Bragollach - the Battle of Sudden Flame.
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go take a look at our link in the description. The Ñoldor defenses had held against all assaults
the Dark Lord had sent their way following their great victory in the Dagor Aglareb.
This forced Morgoth to change tact, as he had realized orcs alone were no match for
the besiegers. Instead, he relied on spies to decide his next significant foray into Beleriand.
The superiority of the Elves at this time was evidenced by the green grass which had begun
to grow even at the gates of Angband. This was purely symbolic, as Morgoth had bred an
innumerable force of orcs and other fell beasts within the expanse of Angband. Still, something
greater than orcs would be required to take on the Elves. And Morgoth created the first dragon.
The Ñoldor, unaware of the creation of a beast of such unprecedented power,
had even considered launching an assault upon the gates of Angband. Yet despite the best plans of
Fingolfin, the Doom of Mandos still hung over the Ñoldor, and even at the height of their powers,
such a victory lay beyond their grasp. While nearly all of the Elven Lords had rejected
this plan due to the immense losses that would be incurred, they remained unaware of the futility of
their continued struggle even when their position was at its most secure. Morgoth had been aware of
his strengths, yet he arrogantly underestimated the combined power of Men and Elves, which
prompted him to assault the Alliance before he had amassed enough force to destroy the free peoples.
The Dagor Bragollach was to begin upon a bitterly cold night in the middle of winter
of the year 455 of the First Age. At this point in the four centuries-long siege, the Elves had
become laxer in their vigilance, which was to prove nigh on catastrophic for their people.
On a night in which the watch was particularly lax, in no small part due to the fierce intensity
of the cold, Thangorodrim and the Iron Mountains loosed a flood of flame and noxious gases.
The green grass which had grown over the past four hundred years across Ard-Galen was consumed to be
replaced by a vast sweeping desert, which was renamed Anfauglith - the Gasping Dust.
“There came a time of winter, when night was dark and without moon;
and the wide plain of Ard-galen stretched dim beneath the cold stars, from the hill-forts
of the Noldor to the feet of Thangorodrim. The watch-fires burned low, and the guards were few;
on the plain, few were waking in the camps of the horsemen of Hithlum. Then suddenly Morgoth
sent forth great rivers of flame that ran down swifter than Balrogs from Thangorodrim, and
poured over all the plain; and the Mountains of Iron belched forth fires of many poisonous hues,
and the fume of them stank upon the air, and was deadly. Thus Ard-galen perished…”
Many of the Elves were killed immediately by this unprecedented attack, while the survivors fled.
The Elven horsemen rode South desperately to warn their brethren of what came in their wake.
Their primary consideration, however, was merely survival.
The legions of Morgoth followed the fires, and their composition primarily consisted
of Orcs of such numbers the Elves had never before witnessed, supplemented with Balrogs and Glaurung,
the Father of Dragons, the most brutal of the Dark Lord’s servants. Morgoth’s strategy was
simple yet exceedingly deadly, even in the face of the formidable defenses, the Elves had erected
during the great peace. The haste of the advance was so great that the ring of fortifications,
which consisted of the individual Elven Kingdoms, was isolated and forced to fight alone.
Though many would have despaired in the face of such darkness, the Elves and their Edain
allies steeled themselves for the fight to come with only valor to provide solace.
Despite their bravery, the highlands of Dorthonion were overrun in short order. The free peoples made
the Orcs pay for every inch of land they took. According to our chronicler: “The sons of Finarfin
bore most heavily the brunt of the assault, and Angrod and Aegnor were slain; beside them
fell Bregolas, lord of the house of Bëor, and a great part of the warriors of that people.”
Upon the plain of Lothlann, many of Maglor’s horsemen were burnt to a crisp by the intense
flames of the Father of Dragons. Now practically undefended, Maglor’s Gap was taken by the legions
of Orcs who followed Glaurung. This gave the Dark Lord passage to Beleriand. Maglor took with
him what warriors had survived the onslaught and retreated to Himring, where they provided vital
assistance to Maedhros. The fortress, supplemented by the bright blades and the ash-stained hauberks
of Maglor’s Riders, withstood the onslaught. Maedhros hefted his blade in his only hand,
cutting a bloody swathe through the legions of the Dark Lord wherever it was required of him.
The situation remained desperate on all fronts, however. The ferocity of the sons of Fëanor
Celegorm and Curufin alone could not hold the Pass of Aglon, and they were forced to retreat
in the face of the black legions of Morgoth. With the sons of the greatest scion of the Elvish race
unable to stand in their way, the Orcs streamed through Mount Rerir and moved into East Beleriand.
They brutally despoiled the landscape and slaughtered the Elves and Edain who resided there.
Glaurung then polluted and defiled Lake Helevorn, permanently marring its beauty.
Caranthir, the darkest and most brutal of the sons of Fëanor, realized the futility of the defense of
his position and retreated back to the hill of Amon Ereb. There he and Amrod, Fëanor’s youngest
son, had constructed formidable defenses to be used as the bedrock of the counter-offensive to
come. This counter-attack allowed for a methodical and slow-paced approach to reclaim the despoiled
lands of Eastern Beleriand and was only made possible through the courage displayed by Maglor
and Maedhros to the North. Here the Dark Lord’s forces broke as a wave upon the clifftop, the
brothers unwilling to bend or break before this tide, allowing their kinsmen the breathing room
necessary to either hold or break forward. The ferocity of Maedhros in those days was unmatched,
allowing him to initiate his counter-offensive, and he reclaimed the Pass of Aglon as a result.
This action plugged a glaring gap in the Elvish lines, which effectively denied
the denizens of the dark entrance into Beleriand through this avenue.
In the Western reaches of the Elvish lines, Minas Tirith’s proud and stoutly built watch
tower stood its silent vigil upon the Pass of Sirion. King Finrod Felagund built this tower,
and its command lay with Orodreth, son of Finarfin. Having been made aware of the breaking
of the Siege of Angband, Finrod hastily amassed a mighty host and marched to reinforce the Pass.
The King was caught at unawares by an innumerable orcish rabble and ambushed at the marshy Fens of
Serech, where the Orcs inflicted a heavy toll upon the Elves, which effectively avenged the
brutal destruction of their ancestors during the Dagor-nuin-Giliath. The numbers of Orcs
were so great that the King himself was almost slain if not for the timely intervention of King
Barahir and the men of Dorthonion. Barahir had become aware of the plight of his Elvish allies
and descended upon the Orcs, reaping a brutal harvest of black blood and misshapen bodies,
which allowed him to rescue the King. Finrod, who had barely escaped with his life,
owed a debt of gratitude to this man of the House of Bëor, one which he could never truly repay.
Yet as a form of immediate compensation for the bravery of the Edain, Finrod bestowed upon
Barahir one of his rings. This would become known as the Ring of Barahir and was passed down through
generations of man, eventually reaching a certain Aragorn son of Arathorn, the future King Elessar.
In conjunction with the ring, Finrod also swore a solemn oath
on that bloody day that he would answer if Barahir or his kin called for aid.
After this exchange, Finrod led what remained of his host and people South to Nargothrond.
Barahir would not so quickly leave his home to the vile machinations of the servants of Morgoth.
This great king of the Edain fought with every ounce of his being against what seemed to be the
great doom of the alliance of men and elves. The struggle was brutal, with the men of Dorthonion
unable to match the seemingly endless tide of Orcs which continued to sew death and destruction. The
Edain of the House of Beor slowly died almost to a man, which left a band of twelve men to Barahir
with which he would continue the fight. The remaining women and children fled to the forest
Brethil though their path was long and dangerous. Fortunately, however, the mountain forts of the
mountain range of the Ered Wethrin surrounding the region of Hithlum were able to hold.
The assault upon these well-wrought and valiantly defended bastions was a horrifying sight to
behold, and the garrisons barely held, in no small part, due to the protections afforded by
the mountains against the fires of Morgoth. The Dagor Bragallach had brought crashing
down the watchful peace and the Siege of Angband. The roiling rivers of flame and
hosts of misshapen cruel orcish warriors, which followed in its destructive wake,
had scattered the sons of Fëanor across the North. These brave warriors harnessed the ferocity and
prowess of their forebearer to hold the line despite near-cataclysmic casualties. However,
this was not the end of the catastrophic losses the Elvish people would suffer during the fourth
great battle of the War of the Jewels, as word had reached the High King of what had occurred.
The High King of the Ñoldor Fingolfin, one who stood upon the very highest echelon of the Elvish
people since their coming in the wake of Fëanor’s fury, was overwrought with grief and despair.
The immense casualties detailed to the High King threatened to overcome him, as he believed
that his people could never recover from the ruination which had been visited upon the Ñoldor.
Yet from the depths of his desperation, Fingolfin emerged bearing a rage of such inexpressible fury
that he was likened to the Vala Oromë. The High King threw all caution to the
wind. In early 456, he mounted as swift a steed as he could find, set his eye upon
the darkness threatening the destruction of the free peoples, and rode North to meet it head-on.
None dared halt his advance as his steed carried him across the once green plains of Ard Galen,
now forever desolated by the malice of Morgoth, until he came to the gates of Angband.
The High King dismounted and, with bravery unmatched since the very artificer of
the Silmarils had drawn his final breath, challenged the Dark Lord to single combat.
Fingolfin smote upon the gates of Angband and cried out his challenge for all to hear,
and although Morgoth remained near the apex of his strength, he hesitated.
In those days, the Dark Lord was deemed to be the “mightiest of all things in this world,” yet he
hesitated and knew the most mortal of emotions in that brief moment. Faced with the righteous fury
and incredible courage of one of the mightiest warriors ever to grace the lands of Middle Earth,
the Dark Lord Morgoth knew the chilling iciness of fear that pierced his very being.
Yet the challenge issued by the High King could not remain unanswered. In the depths of Angband,
Morgoth arrayed himself. He donned black armor and took up his mighty Warhammer Grond, the Hammer of
the Underworld. The massive gates of Angband swung open, and the Dark Lord strode forward to meet his
foe as his servants watched on expectantly. Undeterred by the inescapable Doom of Mandos,
Fingolfin knew no fear and drew from its sheath the blade Ringil. According to the chronicler,
“Fingolfin gleamed beneath it as a star; for his mail was overlaid with silver,
and his blue shield was set with crystals; and he drew his sword Ringil, that glittered like ice.”
The duel commenced with the combatants making a direct tilt for one another. Morgoth hefted Grond,
attempting to end the conflict with a single blow, and each strike of the Hammer of the
Underworld brought with it the fierce intensity of a lightning strike, leaving a smoldering
crater where it struck the ground. Yet Fingolfin displayed the grace and poise characteristic of
his people and avoided each blow. Calmly he struck Morgoth back before nimbly avoiding yet another
killing blow from Grond. Seven such strikes were landed upon the Dark Lord, with Ringil biting with
an icy chill each time it struck, and it is said that the craters left by Grond were filled with
the blood of the warhammer’s wielder. Despite the strength of the High King,
he was just an Elf, and his opponent was one of the mightiest of the Vala. Fingolfin grew weary,
and this weariness was to be his downfall. On three separate occasions, the Dark Lord
made contact with his fearsome strikes, and in each instance, the High King rose to his feet
and continued the fight. None could discredit the strength of character this required, yet each time
Fingolfin rose, his feet were less steady, and his evasions of the hammer strike increasingly ragged.
Courage alone would prove insufficient in discrediting the Doom of Mandos,
and on that day, it was proven true that no power of the Elves alone could defeat Morgoth.
Fingolfin, in his weariness, became less and less aware of his surroundings and, in a desperate
attempt to evade Grond once more, stumbled into one of the craters the hammer had created. Morgoth
now knew that victory was imminent and descended into the crater. Here he placed a great armoured
boot upon Fingolfin’s neck. This ended the life of the High King. However, with what energy remained,
Fingolfin struck out one last time with the icy blade Ringil. This last sword stroke left a brutal
impression upon the heel of the Dark Lord, who had already been weakened by grasping the Silmarils
and in the labors required to corrupt Arda. Elf’s strike left Morgoth with a permanent limp.
Having slain the High King of the Ñoldor, Morgoth’s undeniable malice shone through in
the actions which followed. He took the body and broke it with the vile intent of feeding what had
indeed been a noble challenger to his wolves. Yet this would not come to be. The King of the Eagles,
Thorondor, unwilling to let such an indignity come to pass, swooped down from the skies and slashed
Morgoth’s face with his fierce talons. This caught the Dark Lord at unawares,
which allowed the King of the Eagles to reclaim the High King of the Ñoldor’s broken body.
Thorondor brought the body to a mountaintop that overlooked Gondolin’s hidden city within
its protective valley. Turgon, heartbroken for the death of his forebear, raised a cairn to
guard over Fingolfin’s remains and Fingon, with a deep wrenching sorrow within his heart, took upon
himself the title of High King of the Ñoldor. The Elves would never make songs celebrating
the valiant battle a mere Elf had waged against a being of such unquantifiable power as Morgoth,
for they endured such heartbreak and despair even at the thought of his passing. Nor did the Orcs
ever create crude or boastful songs to jeer the loss of their foes’ great High King, even though
the victory belonged to their master. Morgoth, though victorious, would bear the limp and wounds
inflicted upon him by Fingolfin and by Thorondor, until the very dying days of the War of Wrath
The aftermath of the Dagor Bragallach was a stalemate of sorts. Although Morgoth remained
nominally the victor, the victory threatened to be pyrrhic if he did not proceed cautiously. The Dark
Lord’s losses were significant, and the Elves had already begun a successful, if measured,
counter-offensive. He had underestimated the valour and strength of the Elves, whose spirited
resistance had not been accounted for in his plans. The actions of the Edain and their bravery,
perhaps despite or maybe due to their mortality, had also prevented the complete victory Morgoth
sought so desperately. As a result, he withdrew the main host of his orcish legions within the
gates of Angband and began to devise a strategy to bring the free peoples’ unnumbered tears.
The Dagor Bragallach, although brutal and nigh on cataclysmic for the Elves and Edain,
was little more than a warning of what would come in the grander scheme. 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 continued 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,
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