From armies of dragons to tragic heroes, legions of balrogs, massive wars, foul treachery, and a
trio of superpowered gems that make the One Ring feel like your great-grandmother's pearl necklace,
here are the epic events that shaped the First Age of Tolkien's Middle-earth.
The First Age comes on the heels of the Years of the Lamps and the Years of the Trees.
The Years of the Lamps lasts for millennia and finds the Valar,
the spirit guardians of Middle-earth, squaring off against the Dark Lord Morgoth,
whose second in command, Sauron, will be the scourge of the Third Age.
This world-shaking conflict leads to the Years of the Trees, which starts after the Valar withdraw
to the Blessed Realm. Here two mighty glowing trees take turns illuminating the continent.
In the following millennia, the Elves "awaken" for the first time. Fearing for the safety of
these new creatures, the Valar defeat and capture Morgoth, and encourage the Elves to come and live
with them in the West. Many Elves heed the call, while others remain in Middle-earth.
The next few thousand years are a time of peace as Morgoth serves a three-age-long prison sentence,
and the Elves that went West flourish in the Blessed Realm. It's at this early
date that both Galadriel and Fëanor are born.
With some help from Shelob's distant mother, Ungoliant,
Morgoth destroys the Two Trees and hightails it back to Middle-earth where many of his
servants — including Sauron — have been hiding.
On his way out of the Blessed Realm, Morgoth kills Fëanor's father and steals the Silmarils.
Artifacts even more sacred than the light of Eärendil,
the Silmarils are jewels that contain the living light of the destroyed trees.
In the fallout from Morgoth's betrayal, Fëanor rallies his Elves, known as the Noldor,
and convinces most of them to disobey the Valar and leave the Blessed Realm to reclaim the jewels.
This rebellion is cast in disarray when Fëanor convinces a loyal subsection of his people to
attack other Elves as they leave, seizing their boats to sail back across the sea to Middle-earth.
As Fëanor sails back to Middle-earth with a handful of the Noldor,
the majority of the Elves are left to find their own way on foot. This group,
which includes Galadriel, didn't participate in seizing the boats. They decide to head into
the frozen north and cross the water at a pass where the two continents are closer together.
Roughly marking the beginning of the First Age, the Noldor Elves arrive in Middle-earth. This is
also the moment when the Valar, saddened by the rebellion of the Elves, still show their support
for them by launching the Sun and the Moon into the sky to replace the light of the Two Trees.
In the eastern regions, Men awaken. While it will take centuries for them to make their way to the
Elves, they exist, and they'll eventually wander right into the First Age action.
"Out of the frying pan."
"And into the fire. Run! Run!"
Led by Fëanor, the smaller group of Noldor return to Middle-earth, catching Morgoth by surprise.
The villain has set up shop in his fortress. Known as Angband,
Morgoth's seat of power is even more foreboding than Sauron's.
Unprepared for an attack by the Elves, Morgoth's forces are decimated. Despite Morgoth's resounding
defeat, Fëanor is mortally wounded by a balrog, a tough foe for even the mighty Gandalf.
After a 75-year pause in the battle, Morgoth attacks again, but, like Sauron after him,
faces defeat at the hands of the Elves. Emboldened, the Elves attack his mountain
fortress. Known as the Siege of Angband, the battle lasts close to 400 years.
As the Siege of Angband drags on, the Elves that aren't fighting on the front lines
establish the hidden cities of Nargothrond and Gondolin.
This pair of fortress-kingdoms becomes crucial in holding off Morgoth.
While the primary focus of the First Age follows the Noldor as they build cities and
battle with Morgoth over the Silmarils, another branch of Elvenkind is also important. Known
as the Sindar or the Grey Elves, they're the Elven race of Thranduil and his son, Legolas.
Initially, the Elves continue to deal with occasional attacks from Morgoth's forces. Two
hundred years into the siege, the first dragon, Glaurung, ancestor to Smaug, appears. Still young,
it doesn't take much for the Elves to send him scampering back to his master. After this,
the "Long Peace" begins, during which Morgoth remains quiet and the Elves remain vigilant.
The Long Peace is a time of great prosperity and optimism. Believing that the Silmarils
will soon be back in their hands, the kingdoms of the Elves thrive.
During the Long Peace, Men enter Middle-earth history. Wandering in from the Eastern lands,
many of these Men are seduced by Morgoth just as King Théoden will fall under Sauron's
spell in The Lord of the Rings. However, three clans befriend the Elves and join their cause.
These Men are known as the Edain or "The Three Houses."
"I am no man!"
The Long Peace ends when Morgoth unexpectedly unleashes rivers of fire from his mountain
fortress. Leading armies of orcs and balrogs, a now-fully-grown Glaurung attacks the Elves.
Known as the Battle of Sudden Flame, the assault leaves the Noldor reeling.
While the Battle of Sudden Flame is a solid defeat for the forces of good, it does lead to
two of the most epic events in all of Tolkien's writings. First, the Noldor King, Fingolfin,
becomes so enraged that he rides to Angband to challenge the dark lord Morgoth to single combat,
just as Eowyn will one day face the Witch King alone.
The duel is intense as the Elf-lord dodges Morgoth's deadly mace and manages to wound
him seven times. Despite his valiant efforts, the brave Fingolfin dies by Morgoth's hand.
Nearly 20 years after their initial defeat,
the Elves gather their forces and attack Morgoth in one final,
massive bid for victory. One of the most glorious First Age battles, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears,
leaves the Elven armies in ruins and Morgoth virtually unchallenged in Middle-earth.
While the Battle of Unnumbered Tears makes Morgoth the most powerful being on the continent, that
doesn't mean his enemies are completely defeated. The kingdoms of Nargothrond, Gondolin, and Doriath
remain. Well hidden, these kingdoms are reluctant to resist the resurgent Dark Lord in the open.
The Elves never fully recover from the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Weak and divided, they're
slowly consumed by the forces of darkness. Morgoth discovers Nargothrond and Gondolin,
the first by stupidity, and the second by treachery, and destroys them both.
"I will not stand down before any Elf! Not least this faithless, woodland sprite!"
Romance in Tolkien's writing isn't limited to Aragorn and Arwen. One of the author's
most celebrated First Age epics is a love story. The Tale of Beren and Lúthien begins when Beren,
a Man, escapes into the enchanted kingdom of Doriath after his lands are devastated
by the Battle of Sudden Flame. There, he meets Lúthien, the daughter of the Elf king Thingol,
and the two fall in love. However, the king is appalled at the thought of his
daughter marrying a fugitive and a mortal man. He jokingly tells Beren
that if he can personally get one of the three Silmarils from Morgoth's iron crown,
an act even more daring than Bilbo's theft of the Arkenstone, he can marry his daughter.
Beren departs on his quest, but soon finds that Lúthien has come to help him. Side by side,
the lovers travel to Angband and steal a Silmaril.
Throughout the adventure, Lúthien pulls most of the weight with her magical abilities.
As they return home, the great wolf Carcharoth, who makes The Hobbit's wargs look like mere pups,
steals the Silmaril, biting off Beren's hand in the process. Eventually, they hunt Carcharoth
down and recover the jewel, but Beren dies of his wounds. Grief-stricken, Lúthien also perishes.
Their tragic romance is so moving that the couple is returned to life. Lúthien is made mortal and
the pair are allowed to return to Middle-earth, where they live for a while longer together.
An epic tragedy, the tale of The Children of Húrin is the story of a brave chieftain of Men
captured during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Morgoth, in an act more cruel than
even anything conceived by The Lord of the Ring's Witch King, tortures Húrin hoping
he will reveal the location of the hidden city of Gondolin. Húrin is unyielding. Angered, the
Dark Lord curses Húrin's family and forces him to witness the destruction of his wife and children.
Húrin's son, Túrin, is at first raised by the Elves in Doriath, but he flees after he
accidentally kills a mocking Elf in a brawl. From there, he launches into a heroic career to rival
that of the Third Age's Boromir. Repeatedly, he rises to glory only to face utter ruin.
Túrin heads to the hidden kingdom of Nargothrond, where he convinces the Elvish leadership to
fight in the open, leading to the utter destruction of the cavernous underground realm.
Unfortunately, Glaurung the Dragon, deceitful as The Hobbit's Smaug,
brainwashes both Túrin and his sister Níniel. Under the dragon's enchantment,
the two meet and, not knowing they're related, marry, and conceive a child. Eventually,
Túrin kills Glaurung. Realizing what they've done, the siblings take their own lives.
The third great epic of the First Age is the tale of Eärendil,
the Mariner. Distantly related to all three of the Houses of Men as well as the Elves,
Eärendil is born in Gondolin and flees the city's destruction as a child.
Escaping to the western shores of Middle-earth, where a group of exiles has settled in the wake
of Morgoth's resurgent power, Eärendil marries Elwing, the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien
who herself will be the grandmother of Gondor's future queen Arwen. The parents of Elrond,
and his brother Elros, who begins the line of kings that leads to Aragorn,
Eärendil and Elwing are a Tolkien power couple.
Eärendil becomes famous in his own right when he builds a ship and heads out in search of
the Blessed Realm. Eventually, Elwing joins him. Together, they reach the Blessed Realm and ask the
Valar to return to Middle-earth and help their relatives, who are on the brink of destruction.
The guardians, moved by the personal sacrifice, forgive the Elves and respond to the call.
Once the Valar receive Eärendil's plea for aid, they gather a massive army and head to
Middle-earth to face down Morgoth once and for all. Morgoth has grown even more powerful, and,
unlike his lieutenant Sauron, doesn't need a magic ring to inflict his will. Known as the War of
Wrath, the conflict that ensues makes the Battle of the Five Armies look like a barroom brawl.
Elves, Men, gods, eagles, dragons, balrogs, and orcs enter the fray in an
all-out battle of good versus evil. Morgoth's armies are powerful,
but ultimately, they can't overcome the host from the Blessed Realm.
Facing a defeat as total as Sauron's future fall, Morgoth is dethroned and his armies vanquished.
However, the fight is so intense that it breaks the land, causing a flood. As water rushes in,
the region is completely submerged. This event creates the familiar map of Middle-earth we know
from The Lord of the Rings. With the land sinking beneath their feet, most of the Elves and Valar
head back to the Blessed Realm. However, many others, both good and evil, choose to head
east. Here, the First Age ends and the Second Age begins, and with it comes a new threat in
the form of Morgoth's second in command, Sauron, who will prove to be an even more powerful foe.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Looper videos about The Lord of the Rings are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.