With the Silmaril stolen from Morgoth in possession of Dior Eluchîl ruler of the restored kingdom
of Doriath, the Sons of Feanor gathered demanded the surrender of the jewel, still bound by
the Oath of Feanor spoken centuries earlier.
Hearing no reply from the King, Celegorm rallied his brothers and together they marched an
Army into Doriath, slaughtering their fellow Elves in the Second Kinslaying
Among those who perished, were King Dior and his wife Nimloth, while their Twin Sons Elurin
and Elured were captured and left in the woods to die.
Though the sons of Feanor were victorious, they suffered heavy losses, with the death
Curufin and Caranthir as well as Celegorm who was slain by the King.
They also failed to complete their objective, as Elwing, daughter of Dior and Nimloth, managed
to escape with the SIlmaril, leading a party of survivors to seek refuge in the Mouths
of Sirion.
With Doriath fallen, Gondolin became the last great Elven Kingdom in Beleriand, though the
Dark Lord Morgoth was already scheming to bring about their downfall.
Within the walls of the secret city, two influential factions were at odds, as Meaglin of the House
of the Mole grew increasingly jealous and angry towards Tuor of the House of the Wing,
over his marriage to the beautiful Idril, daughter of the king.
Meaglin was the son the King Turgon’s sister, who found her way to the forest of nan elmoth,
where she married Eol the Dark Elf, and raised their child.
Tuor meanwhile was a mortal man but descended from the Chieftains of the House of Hador,
and was the son of the mighty hero Huor and Grandson of the legendary Hurin Thalion.
Despite being born in other lands, both came to live in Gondolin, and were made Lords by
the King, forming 2 of the 12 Great Houses of the Kingdom.
Yet Maeglin fell madly in love with his cousin Idril and was outraged to learn she would
marry Tuor, growing increasingly jealous of the human.
With discontent clouding his judgement, Maeglin unwisely decided to break the law and left
the city to scavenge for metals only to be captured by orcs and brought before Morgoth.
Under threat of torture, Maeglin revealed the location of the secret city and offered
details about their defenses, pleasing the Dark Lord who then promised him the Kingship
of Gondolin with Idril as his bride, in exchange for betraying Turgon, and killing Tuor.
Agreeing to his term, Maeglin soon returned to Gondolin, where he feigned a new positive
attitude in order to avoid suspicion, laughing and joking with his fellow elves.
Having learned much from his Elven servant, Morgoth knew that the armies of Gondolin were
prepared for invasion, and so cleverly withdrew his spies and scouts from the area, tricking
king Turgon into believing the Dark Lord had cancelled his plans to attack.
And so it would be on a night of celebration, with defenses reduced, that Morgoth gathered
his mighty host, and marched upon the city.
Though the Elves were ultimately defeated, they fought to the bitter end, performing
deeds of great valor like when Ecthelion of the House of the Fountain fought Gothmog the
Lord of Balrogs, driving the beast into a fountain, where they both drowned.
There were also the action of the human, Tuor who led the House of the Wing against Maeglin
and the House of Mole, killing the traitor and tossing his body over the walls of the
city.
Tuor then rescued his wife Idril and son Earendil, before leading a retreat out of Gondolin,
under orders from the king who remained behind with his soldiers to hold off the enemy.
As Tuor and Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower, led their people through a
secret escape, they were confronted by a Balrog.
Glorfindel then sacrificed himself, using the weight of his body to drag the creature
over a cliff, allowing Tuor to lead the remnants of their people west, taking refuge in the
Mouths of Sirion, alongside the survivors from Doriath.
As the years went on and Tuor grew older, he longed to explore the western sea, eventually
sailing away from Middle Earth alongside his wife Idril, with their ultimate fate unknown.
Back in the Mouths of Sirion, Tuor’s son Earendil remained behind, ruling over those
who settled in Arvernien, alongside his wife Elwing daughter of King Dior, who still possessed
the Silmaril of Doriath.
Together they had 2 sons naming them Elrond and Elros.
Unfortunately, it was not only the forces of Morgoth who sought to do them harm, as
the remaining sons of Feanor continued to search for the jewel of their father, still
bound to the Oath they swore.
Marching their army to the Mouths of Sirion, they launched the Third Kinslaying, once again
slaughtering their fellow elves.
Though the Sons of Feanor won the battle, and even apprehended the princes Elrond and
Elros, Amrod and Amras were killed in the fighting and they once again failed to capture
the Silmaril.
With their settlement destroyed, Elwing threw herself into the sea, where she was saved
by the Vala Ulmo who transformed her into a great white bird.
Flying through the air, she then found her husband Earendil escaped aboard the ship Vingilot
and together they sailed west, using the Silmaril to light there way, hoping to find the Valar
and beg for their assistance.
When they arrived in Aman, Manwe was moved by their plea and assembled a great army of
Valar, Maiar, Vanyar Elves and those Noldor who remained behind when Feanor and Fingolfin
journeyed to Middle Earth.
The Teleri Elves also contributed to the mission by providing ship to take them east, however
they refused to participate in the fighting, as they still resented the Noldor of Feanor
who slaughtered their people in the First Kinslaying.
Arriving in Middle Earth, they were joined by the surviving Elves of Beleriand as well
as the remaining Men of the West, while many Easterlings fought for the Dark Lord whose
armies had grown vast after conquering nearly all of Beleriand and included Orcs, Trolls,
Balrogs, Dragons, and other wicked creatures.
They then engaged in the War of Wrath, a long and bloody struggle that went on for 40 years
as the Host of the Valar carved their way through enemy, to at last reach the bulk of
their forces in the north.
Desperate to turn the tide battle, Morgoth unleashed his deadliest weapon, releasing
his Winged Dragons for the first time, quickly devastating the armies of Light and threatening
to defeat their forces.
Yet as the fighting intensified, Earenedil the Mariner flew into battle aboard a sky
ship, accompanied by a mighty host of eagles under Thorondor, destroying many of the dragons
including Ancalagon the Black, largest and greatest among them.
When at last the forces of the Dark Lord were defeated, Morgoth was captured and taken to
Aman where he was beheaded and his spirit sent through the Door of Night into the Timeless
Void, unable to return to Arda until the final battle of Dagor Dagorath at the end of the
world.
With Morgoth was captured, the final 2 silmarils were recovered by the Maia Eonwe, however
when the last 2 surviving sons of Feanor, learned of their location, they snuck into
their camp and killed the guards to take possession of the jewels and at last fulfilling their
oath.
Surrounded by enemies, Maedhros and Maglor were prepared for a fight to the death, but
Eonwe, instead allowed to leave unharmed so no more blood would be shed.
Though they finally held the jewels of their Father, the Sons of Feanor found no joy or
peace in their victory, as they’s commited so many evil deeds the Silmarils burned in
their hands as they held it, bringing them only pain and misery.
Unable to live with all that they’d done, Maedhros threw himself and the jewel into
a fiery chasm, while Maglor tossed his Silmaril into the ocean, and lived out his days wandering
alone through Middle Earth, singing songs of lament.
With the War of Wrath at an end, the lands of Beleriand collapsed into the sea, and so
the Valar issued a pardon to the remaining Noldor who had left Valinor, allowing many
of the Elves to return to the Undying Lands.
Yet not all were willing to abandon Middle, with leaders like Gil-Galad, Galadriel, Celeborn,
Elrond and Oropher choosing to remain behind and found new homelands further east.
As for the Edain who fought with the Valar, they were rewarded with the island of Numenor
in the middle of Sea of Belegaer, founding a new glorious kingdom under the rule of Elros,
who was born half elven but chose to live the mortal life of a human, as opposed to
his brother Elrond who chose to live as an immortal Elf.
Though Morgoth was at last defeated and could no longer directly influence the world, many
of his followers continued on, with Orcs, Trolls, Dragons and Balrogs fleeing into the
east, as well as his Lieutenant Sauron, who rose to become the new Dark Lord of the Second
and Third Ages.