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The Dagor Bragollach or Battle of the Sudden Flame was the fourth of the great battles of the War of the Great Jewels. It marked the end of the Siege of Angband and beginning of Morgoth's crushing of the Elves and Men of Beleriand.
History[]
Background[]
The burning of Ard-galen at the beginning of the battle, by Marya Filatova
In the years after Dagor Aglareb, the Ñoldor set up a siege-like guard over the southern gates Angband. The watch was not a true siege however, as the Iron Mountains prevented the Elves from encircling Angband, and thus its flanks and rear were unguarded. The Dark Lord had therefore occasionally sent out sorties of Orcs through the passes of the Iron Mountains to test the Elven defenses, but each time they had held with relative ease. These failed raids taught Morgoth that the Orcs unaided were simply not a match for the Ñoldor in anything less than completely overwhelming numbers. As such, he halted his attacks but sent out many spies and agents to gather information for him. With the Orcs contained, four hundred years of peace and prosperity reigned in Beleriand, to the point where green grass came to grow even to the very doors of Angband. The strength of the Elven kingdoms, and that of their Edain allies, became such that Fingolfin, High King of the Ñoldor, began to toy with the idea of assaulting Angband itself. He was even known to have boasted that Morgoth would never again break from the Elven leaguer save by treachery amongst the Ñoldor. However, the idea of assaulting Angband never gained any real traction, for the vast majority of the Elven lords were content with the situation as it stood. Their kingdoms were more idyllic than they had ever been, and they were not eager to begin an assault which, even in victory, must come at considerable cost.
Depiction by JovanDarkArt
The Elves, confident in their ability to defeat mere Orcs, had not yet realized the true fullness of the power of Morgoth, nor that assaulting Angband was simply beyond their capabilities. As such, the Dark Lord labored undisturbed in Angband during the siege, breeding countless legions of Orcs and other evil creatures, as well creating the first dragon. He intended to use this new, unprecedentedly powerful force to utterly destroy those who had opposed him. However, in the furious haste of his malice, he decided to strike before his designs were complete, cynically underestimating the valor of the Elves, and not accounting for the Edain at all. This haste was credited as the reason why resistance against Morgoth was able to continue after the conclusion of the conflict. Had Morgoth waited for a short time longer to truly complete the buildup of his forces, his foes would have been utterly annihilated.
| First Battle – Dagor-nuin-Giliath – Dagor Aglareb – Dagor Bragollach – Nírnaeth Arnoediad – War of Wrath |
The battle[]
Mounted Ñoldor warriors fleeing the burning of Ard-galen, by Marya Filatova
On a cold winter's night when the Elven watch was at its least vigilant, Morgoth sent out rivers of flame and poisonous fumes from Thangorodrim and the Iron Mountains. The plains of Ard-galen were consumed by the fire and transformed into a barren desert which was renamed Anfauglith, "the Gasping Dust". The Elves had never faced an assault of this sort before, and many perished as they fled from these flames. Behind the rivers of fire and magma came the Balrogs, Glaurung the Father of Dragons, and legions of Orcs and other monsters in such numbers as the Elves had never imagined.
Morgoth's primary aim was an onslaught so rapid and overwhelmingly powerful that the various kingdoms of the Elves would not be able to consolidate their forces or come to each others' aid. Each of the Elven kingdoms had to fight Morgoth's forces on their own, and so many of his strongest enemies were destroyed in the opening days of the battle. The Orcs quickly overran the highlands of Dorthonion, and slew Angrod and Aegnor. Maglor's horsemen were burnt alive on the plain of Lothlann, and Maglor's Gap was taken, giving Morgoth an entry into Beleriand. Maglor retreated with heavy losses to Himring, where he and his remaining men helped defend the fortress of Maedhros. Though grievously besieged, the heavily fortified hill did not fall, and Maedhros himself accomplished deeds of surpassing valor during the fighting.
The Pass of Aglond was also breached, and Celegorm and Curufin fled from the north of Doriath to Nargothrond. Morgoth's Orcs took the mountain forests of Mount Rerir, and defiled Lake Helevorn, scattering south through Thargelion into East Beleriand. Caranthir fled to Amon Ereb, where he and Amrod built defenses. From there they slowly freed East Beleriand of the Orcs, while Maglor and Maedhros held the northern border. Eventually, Maedhros even managed to re-secure the Pass of Aglond, denying the forces of Morgoth continued entry into Beleriand from that route.
Glaurung and Dwarves in combat, by Viking-Heart
In the West, Minas Tirith, in the Pass of Sirion, held under the command of Orodreth, and Orodreth's uncle and king Finrod Felagund came north from Nargothrond with a large army. However, Finrod was ambushed by a huge number of Morgoth's forces at the Fen of Serech. The Ñoldor found themselves trapped, and Finrod would have been killed or taken but for a sortie by Barahir and his men, who descended from Dorthonion to rescue the Elven king. The cost in lives was heavy, but Finrod escaped the Orcs. In profound gratitude, Finrod gave Barahir his ring, which would become known as the Ring of Barahir, and pledged that he would aid Barahir and his kin in any time of need.
Finrod and his folk fled south to Nargothrond, while Barahir continued defending Dorthonion until both his forces and his people dwindled to nothing. The mountain forts of the Ered Wethrin around Hithlum were heavily assaulted but managed barely to hold, as the mountains themselves provided protection from the fires Morgoth had released from Thangorodrim.
Morgoth raising Grond to smite Fingolfin toward the end of the Dagor Bragollach - by Ted Nasmith
Thus, the Siege of Angband was broken, the Sons of Fëanor scattered, and the forces of Morgoth roamed at will throughout the north.
When Fingolfin, the High King of the Ñoldor, learned of the deaths of so many of his people, he became consumed by despair. He saw the ruin of the battle as surpassing the ability of the Ñoldor to ever recover, and his despair became a wrath so terrible that Fingolfin, in its grip, was likened to Oromë himself. He rode openly, unhindered by even Morgoth's most powerful servants, across the dust of Anfauglith to Angband. There, he smote upon Morgoth's gates and challenged the Dark Lord to come forth to single combat. At the very doors of Angband, they fought a great duel, and Fingolfin wounded Morgoth seven times. Yet, Fingolfin was ultimately no match for the Dark Lord and was crushed beneath Morgoth's foot, but not before stabbing Morgoth in the heel with his last stroke. Thorondor, king of the Great Eagles, then swooped down and retrieved Fingolfin's body and scarred Morgoth's face. Though Morgoth's wounds would never heal and he was left with a permanent limp, Morgoth and his forces were nevertheless victorious.[1]
Aftermath[]
Despite his great victory, Morgoth remained cautions, for his foes had inflicted upon him losses as great as their own. As his initial onslaught had abated, his foes had begun to recover and had made small advances into the fringes of the territory he had conquered. He had not expected the Elves to resist him so strongly, and the aid of their Edain allies had been a completely unforeseen variable in his plans. As such, he checked his assault and recalled the main host of the Orcs to Angband.
Two years after the battle, the isle of Tol Sirion, held by Orodreth, nephew of Finrod, came under assault by Morgoth's most terrible servant, Sauron. His coming caused a dark cloud of fear to grip the hearts and wills of the defenders, and the fortress of Minas Tirith upon the isle was taken. This secured for Morgoth the western pass of the river Sirion. After another five years had passed, Morgoth renewed his assault against Hithlum and very nearly destroyed it. Fortunately for Fingon, now High King of the Ñoldor, his forces were reinforced by a host under the command of Círdan, and the Orcs were repelled.
Etymology[]
Dagor Bragollach is Sindarin for 'Battle of Sudden Flame'.[1]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ዳግ ብራጎልክ |
| Arabic | ضاعور براجولاتش |
| Armenian | Դագոր Բրագոլլակ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Дагар Браголах (Dagor Bragollach)
Бітва раптоўнага полымя (Battle of the Sudden Flame) |
| Bengali | দাগ ব্রাগোল্লা |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Дагор Браголах (Dagor Bragollach)
Сражението Дагор Браголах (Battle of the Sudden Flame) |
| Burmese | ဍဂောရ္ ဗ္ရဂောလ္လဆ္ |
| Catalan | Dàgor Bragollach
Batalla de la Flama Sobtada (Battle of the Sudden Flame) |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 班戈拉赫戰役 |
| Danish | Den Pludselige Flammes Slag (Battle of the Sudden Flame) |
| Georgian | დაგორ ბრაგოლახი |
| Greek | Ντάγκορ Μπράγκολαχ |
| Gujarati | ડેગર બ્રેગોલેક |
| Hebrew | דַאגוֹר בּרַאגוֹלַאך (Dagor Bragollach)
קרב להבת הפתע (Battle of Sudden Flame) |
| Hindi | दगर ब्रैगोलाच |
| Japanese | ダゴール・ブラゴラッハ |
| Kannada | ಡಾಗೋರ್ ಬ್ರಾಗೋಲಾಕ್ |
| Kazakh Cyrillic | Дагор Браголлач (Cyrillic) Dagor Bragollaç (Latin) |
| Korean | 다 고르 브라 고착 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Дагор Браголлацh |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Дагор Браголлач |
| Marathi | डॅगर ब्रॅग्लॉच |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Дагор Браголлач |
| Nepalese | डगोर ब्रगोल्लछ |
| Pashto | ضاګور براګوللاچه |
| Persian | داگور براگولاک |
| Punjabi | ਡਗੋਰ ਬ੍ਰਗਾਲੋਚ |
| Russian | Дагор Браголлах (Dagor Bragollach)
Битва Внезапного Пламени (Battle of Sudden Flame) |
| Sanskrit | डगोर् ब्रगोल्लछ् |
| Serbian | дагор Браголлацх (Cyrillic) Dagor Bragollach (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ඩගෝජ් බ්රාගොල්ලච් |
| Tamil | டாகோர் ப்ராகோலாக் |
| Telugu | డాగోర్ బ్రగొల్లచ్ |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Далер Брайтолач |
| Thai | ดากอร์บราโกลลัค |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Даґор-Браґоллах |
| Urdu | داگاور برگوللاچ |
| Uzbek | Дагор Браголлач (Cyrillic) Dagor Bragollach (Latin) |
| Yiddish | דאַגאָר בראַגאָללאַטש |
| Battles of Beleriand |
|---|
| First Battle • Dagor-nuin-Giliath • Dagor Aglareb • Siege of Angband • Dagor Bragollach • Nírnaeth Arnoediad • War of Wrath |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVIII: "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"