Back in Valinor, the new High King was Feanor, eldest son of Finwe and creator of the Silmarils,
was said to be the most gifted elf to ever live, with a spirit so powerful it drained
his mother’s lifeforce to the point where she lost all joy and voluntarily ended her
physical existence, in order to live as a spirit in the Halls of Mandos, a place where
all spirits went to rest and be judged after the deaths of their mortal bodies.
Outraged by the crimes against his family, the new High King Feanor gave a rousing speech
and swore a powerful oath along with his seven sons, vowing to recover the Silmarils by any
means and at any cost.
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 the sons of Finwe, the younger brothers Fingolfin
and Finarfin 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 when they refused to allow the use of their ships for the voyage
east across the sea.
This divide between the High King’s most dedicated followers and those of his brothers
would, for a time, improve but they never fully mend, as the Feanor Faction’s unending
pursuit of the Silmarils eventually led them to commit two more kinslayings.
In response to their departure and the First Kinslaying, the great Vala Mandos the Doomsman,
who ruled over the spirits of the dead in the Halls of Mandos, foresaw tragedy and devastation
for all Noldor that left the Undying Lands.
Upon hearing the Doom of Mandos, Feanor’s youngest brother Finarfin led roughly a tenth
of their people back to Valinor, while Feanor departed with his supporters across the sea,
abandoning Fingolfin’s factions behind, as he was angered by their criticisms of the
kinslaying and felt they could not be sufficiently relied upon in the coming war.
Yet the remaining Noldor under Fingolfin were determined to reach Middle earth, as many
of them had their own reasons for leaving and held their own hatred for Morgoth, regardless
of their disagreements with the High King.
Therefore, Fingolfin led his people North through the dangerous, icy wastes of Helcaraxe,
where many were lost in the crossing.
Meanwhile, Melkor ruled from his fortress of Angband, gathering together all former
servants, including his chief Lieutenants, the maiar Sauron and Gothmog to spread corruption
across the continent.
In the east, the younger children of Eru started coming into the world, beginning with seven
dwarf clans waking during the years of the trees to claim the Blue, Misty and Red mountains.
The adopted children of Eru, the Dwarves had a unique origin, as they were given life not
by the creator, but rather the vala Aule the Smith, a great craftmen who like Melkor had
a passion for creation and sought to form intelligent beings of his own design.
Yet unlike Melkor, once Aule realized his dwarves would never have independent thought
without the Flame imperishable, he apologized to Eru who forgave him and adopted the Dwarves
as his own, giving them the secret fire and placing them to sleep so they might one day
awaken into the world.
Though they were not given the gift of immortality, with most living two to three hundred years,
they had a unique fate awaiting them after death, as their spirits would return to the
service of their original creator Aule.
A short, squat, resourceful people, often distinguished by their enormous beards, Dwarves
had a passion for craftwork and mining, making the mountains their homes where they largely
kept to their own affairs.
Though the Elves and Dwarves populated many lands, it would be the youngest children of
Eru, Men who spread furthest throughout middle earth.
Waking in the lands of Hildorien, they rose with the sun and moon, created by the Valar
to replace the Two trees and illuminate the entire world, thereby beginning the First
Age of Middle-earth.
Yet as human settlements spread, they came under the influence of the Dark Lord causing
some to depart from their lands in the east, journeying west until reaching Beleriand where
they were known as the Edain.
Over the next five centuries, the Noldor Elves fought the War of Great Jewels alongside their
allies, including the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains, Edain humans and some of Sindar
Elves, losing many great heroes like High King Feanor who died fighting a horde of Balrogs,
and his successor Fingolfin who died in single combat with Morgoth.
Yet the allies also won a number of early victories, allowing the Elves to live in relative
peace for centuries.
But the Dark Lord was cunning and patient, raising great armies filled not only with
his maiar servants and the lowly orcs, but also other corrupted creatures like the trolls
who were once Ents, peaceful, intelligent tree-like beings that watched over the forests
of middle earth.
He also made dragons and other wicked creatures, allowing him to eventually conquer nearly
all of Beleriand.
In the end, total defeat was only avoided when the half elven hero Earendil and his
mixed blood wife journeyed west to the Undying Lands with a silmaril jewel stolen from the
crown of Morgoth.
Begging for their assistance, the Valar decided to intervene and launched the War of Wrath,
a bloody, 40 year struggle in which they defeated and captured Morgoth, with his feet hewn from
under him, before the Valar executed his body, and banished his spirit from Arda, setting
guards to enforce his exile.
Yet prophecies state Morgoth would one day return and wage a final battle to end the
world.
In any case, the end of the first age and dawn of the second age meant the war of the
great jewels was over, with the final 2 silmarils ending up in the hands of Maedhros and Maglor,
the last living sons of Feanor.
Yet they’d done so much evil to fulfill their oath, the jewels deemed them unworthy
and burned their hands.
Unable to live with all he’d done, Maedhros threw himself and his jewel into a fiery chasm,
while Maglor tossed his Silmaril into the ocean, living out his days singing and wandering
aimlessly throughout Middle Earth.
For centuries, the Valar did their best to avoid interfering in the affairs of the east,
and were once again reminded why, as their fighting caused the collapse of Beleriand
into the sea.
Therefore they resolved to return home and never again interfere with the peoples of
middle-earth, issuing a pardon to the Noldor while extending an invitation to any other
Elves who wished to make the voyage west.
Many were grateful and left for the Undying Lands, while others remained behind to found
new realms in middle-earth.
Although the Elves were given the option to enjoy an enchanted paradise, the other races,
including the other children of Eru, were forbidden from travelling west through the
Ban of the Valar, as their mortal forms could not withstand the magic flowing through their
lands and it would end up shorten their lives considerably.
Yet this division then led to a more philosophical arguement between the original children of
Eru, which delved into their specific gifts, as Elves were granted immortality but were
tied to the world, meaning that when this creation ended, so too would their current
form of existence.
Men however were granted the gift of Mortality, meaning they were not tied to this world and
after death would go on to a second unknown destiny prepared by the creator.
For many years these diverging fates caused no major issue between the races, but in time,
some men would object, believing their gift to be a curse, envious of the immortal Elves
living in paradise.
As for the human Houses of the Edain who fought for the Valar, they became the Dunedain, rewarded
with increased wisdom, longer lifespans, enhanced abilities and a new island homeland raised
in the middle of the Sea of Belegaer.
Establishing the Kingdom of Numenor, Elros, a son of Earendil ruled as their first King,
blessed with even greater abilities and a longer life then his people, as he and his
brother Elrond were descended from a powerful bloodline which included Elven Kings, Chieftains
of men and even a Maia Queen.
The Valar therefore granted them the right to chose their own fate among the Children
of Eru, causing Elrond to take the life of an immortal elf, while Elros chose to be a
man, granted the gift of mortality.
Yet while Elros was destined to die, his extraordinary bloodline allowed him to live five centuries,
establishing the foundations of a mighty human kingdom that rose to become the most powerful
realm in the world east of Valinor.
Among the many heroes descended from the lineage of Elrond and Elros, were important, famous
figures of history, like Ar-Pharazon, the High King Elendil, High King Isildur, Arwen
the Evenstar and the ranger Aragorn who became High King Elessar.
Back in middle-earth, survivors recovered as best they could, with the Dwarves of the
blue mountains joining Durin’s Folk in Khazad Dum, while the non-Edain humans of the west,
known as middle-men, for the most part retained good relations with their neighbours, though
some spoke a different language then the rest and over time were no longer considered kin
becoming known as Dunlendings.
As for the Elves, they largely abandoned their old divisions and lived together in the newly
formed Kingdom of Lindon under High King Gil-Galad, one of the last surviving descendants of High
King Finwe.
Among those in Lindon, was Lord Cirdan who ruled over the port city of Mithlond, still
on his mission to make ships for his people.
Then there were those Elves with more adventurous spirits who journeyed into the lands of the
east, coming into contact with their ancient kinsmen descended from those Teleri who abandoned
the great journey to Valinor early on, and now populated the forests east of the Misty
Mountains.
These Teleri now called Silvan welcomed the more advanced western Elves with open arms,
even accepting the Sindar noble Amdir as King of Lothlorien and the former Lord of Doriath
Oropher as King of the Woodland Realm.
Around 750 SA, Celebrimbor, the grandson of Feanor, founded the realm of Eregion near
the Misty mountains, where they specialized in smithwork.
Though Morgoth was defeated and could no longer directly influence the world, some of his
Orcs, Trolls, Dragons, Balrogs and other servants fled east, as did his Lieutenant Sauron who
became the new Dark Lord
of Middle-earth.