Thousands of years before the maia Sauron attempted to conquer Middle-earth, the First
Dark Lord Melkor, most gifted and powerful of the Valar, became a force for chaos, violence
and destruction, disrupting and delaying the shaping of lands and seas.
Denied absolute mastery over the world, Melkor declared an eternal war against the other
Valar and all who served them, seeking to destroy of all of creation.
Fighting a number of wars over the years, Melkor seemed to suffer his final defeat in
the War for the Sake of the Elves, when he attempted to twist and corrupt the newly awakened
Elven race, turning them into monstrous orcs that obeyed his every command.
Wanting to protect the Elder children of Eru, the Valar and Maiar sent their armies east
from their homeland of Valinor, defeating Melkor’s forces in the initial fighting
at Angband and capturing their enemy after the Battle of Utumno.
Seeking a swift end to the conflict, the Valar held Melkor with the special chain Angainor
before returning west, making little attempt to eliminate the remaining servants of the
Dark Lord which escaped the battle or remained hidden in the lowers levels of his fortresses.
Servants that included the orcs, Balrogs and his chief Lieutenant Sauron, all of whom remained
in Middle-earth awaiting the return of their master.
Imprisoned for 3 ages, Melkor feigned repentance, asking pardon from the Valar while declaring
himself changed and seeking redemption.
The brother of Melkor, Manwe, King of the Valar believed his lies, releasing him from
prison over the objections of others.
At first Melkor tried to be helpful and kind, convincing many, including some of the Elves
who now lived in Valinor, that he was sincere, but eventually everyone learned the truth
when he allied with the Ungoliant, mother to the great spiders, in order to launch a
devastating attack that destroyed the two trees of light, plunging the continent into
darkness.
They then moved north to the Fortress of Formenos where Melkor killed Finwe, ruler of the Noldor
Elves, and stole the 3 silmaril jewels of the High King’s eldest son Feanor, before
fleeing east to Middle Earth.
Outraged by the crimes against his family, the new High King Feanor gave a rousing speech
of vengeance, swearing an oath along with his seven sons to recover the Silmarils by
any means and at any cost.
To begin, this meant sailing east to fight the War of the Great Jewels against Melkor,
renamed Morgoth meaning Black Enemy.
Superseding the history of hostility between Noldor factions, they temporarily unified
under the new High King, but soon enough fractured once more, when Feanor and his most loyal
followers committed the first kinslaying, slaughtering the Teleri Elves of the coast
to steal their ships for the voyage east across the sea.
Of the Noldor who participated, some later repented as they merely sought to defend comrades
and did not know the cause of the fighting.
Angered by their criticisms, Feanor departed with his faction across the sea, promising
to send the ships back for the others once they reached Middle-earth.
But this was a lie, as Feanor burned the vessels to prevent the other factions, led by his
brother Fingolfin and Finarfin, from following, feeling their opposition to the kinslaying
meant they could not be sufficiently relied upon in the coming war.
Realizing they were abandoned, the remaining Noldor endeavoured to journey north through
the dangerous icy wastes of Helcaraxe, but first were visited by the Vala Mandos, who
revealed a prophecy of doom, promising tragedy and devastation for all Noldor that left the
Undying Lands.
Upon hearing the Doom of Mandos, Finarfin and roughly a tenth of their people returned
to Valinor, while the rest pressed on towards middle earth, following Fingolfin north through
Helcaraxe.
Meanwhile, the War of the Great Jewels already began before a single Noldor even stepped
foot in the Beleriand region of Middle-earth, as Morgoth, ruling from his ancient fortress
of Angband, was determined to conquer, enslave and ultimately destroy the continent.
Seeking a quick victory, Morgoth gathered the Orcs, Balrogs and other wicked creatures
that survived earlier wars and launched a large scale invasion of Beleriand.
Unaware of the larger reasons for the conflict, King Thingol of Doriath, ruler of the Sindar
Elves who chose to stay in middle-earth rather than head west to Aman, amassed armies from
his own lands of Doriath, the Havens of the Falas led by Lord Cirdan in the west, the
Nandor Elves from Ossiriand, led by King Denethor, and the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.
Fighting the First Battle of Beleriand on two fronts, their western forces under Cirdan
were defeated, leaving the cities of the Falas besieged, while King Thingol led their eastern
armies to victory, though at a heavy cost, with King Denethor fallen and his people returning
home vowing never to name another king or fight in another of these wars.
Becoming secretive forest dwellers who painted their body for camouflage, the followers of
Denethor became known as the Laiquendi, or green elves.
Having suffered heavy casualties and lost large portions of their army, Thingol made
the difficult decision not to rescue their forces in the west, returning home to Doriath
to recover as best they could.
It was in the aftermath of this battle that the Noldor Elves first returned to the lands
of Middle-earth, with Feanor and his followers landing in Lammoth before making camp at Lake
Mithrim.
Hoping to catch them unprepared, the Orc armies of Morgoth attacked the Noldor in the Dagor
Nuin Giliath, or Battle under stars, but suffered a terrible shock when Feanor mounted a defence
that utterly annihilated the advancing armies.
Needing reinforcements, the Orcs sent for their southern forces to break off the siege
of the Falas and journey north.
But they too were slaughtered, this time by Celegorm, a son of Feanor who anticipated
this attack and cut them off at the river Sirion.
After ten days of fighting, the Noldor won a complete and total victory, with the last
of the enemy retreating to Angband.
But this was not enough for Fenaor, who was consumed by rage and battle lust, charging
forward after the survivors, pressing his counter-attack all the way to the gates of
Angband, where he found himself surrounded by viscous Balrogs.
Undeterred, Feanor fought valiantly, slaying many foes until finally cut down by Gothmog,
Lord of all Balrogs and Lieutenant of Morgoth.
Feanor’s sons then arrived with reinforcements and drove the enemy back, but were to late
to save their father, who used the last of his strength to curse angband 3 times before
passing away.
Perhaps the most gifted Elf to ever live, Feanor’s spirit was so powerful it burned
his body to ash when he died.
Though Elves were immortal and entitled to another physical body after their spirits
went through a period of self reflection in the Halls of Mandos, it was said Feanor would
not be reborn until Dagor Dagorath at the end of the world, when he would finally reclaim
the silmaril jewels and give them to the Vala Yavanna so she might use their essence to
restore the Two trees of light.
As if to further underscore the significance of this moment, two other extraordinary, history
altering events occurred at the exact moment of Feanor’s death, including the first rising
of the Sun, created by the Valar to replace the two trees, and the arrival of Fingolfin
in middle earth, successfully leading a second, larger noldor faction out of Helcaraxe.