The Nírnaeth Arnoediad, also known as the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, was the fifth major battle in the War of the Great Jewels that took place in the late First Age and fought between the Union of Maedhros and Morgoth's forces. The battle was a pivotal moment in the war as the northern power of the Elves was effectively eliminated, allowing Morgoth to exercise his dominance over Beleriand.
History[]
Background[]
By John Howe, from A Middle-earth Traveler
Almost twenty years after the defeat of Elves and Edain in the Dagor Bragollach, the Ñoldor had lost control of the entire north of Beleriand, and held only the strongholds of Hithlum, Himring, and Nargothrond. Gondolin was still hidden and could not yet be assailed. However, the deeds of Beren and Lúthien, defeating Sauron at Tol-in-Gaurhoth and retrieving a Silmaril from Angband, convinced Maedhros that Morgoth was not invincible. In the year 468 of the Years of the Sun, Maedhros conceived of an alliance that he believed capable of taking the war to Thangorodrim.
Under the command of Maedhros, all the Elves of Beleriand, as well as the Edain, Dwarves, and newly arrived Easterlings, were invited to combine in arms and fight against Morgoth in what would come to be known as the Union of Maedhros. Unfortunately, the Oath of Fëanor and the evil deeds done by the Sons of Fëanor to fulfill it caused the Union to have less strength than it could have had. For Orodreth, the King of Nargothrond, remembering the deeds of Celegorm and Curufin that indirectly resulted in the death of Finrod Felagund, sent no aid to the alliance. Against Orodreth's will, however, a small company under the command of Gwindor went from Nargothrond. Their hope was to avenge the capture of Gwindor's brother Gelmir during Dagor Bragollach. Worse yet, from Doriath there came only Mablung and Beleg, who wished to take part in the great deeds they knew were to come. For Thingol, King of Doriath, had in his possession the Silmaril recovered by Beren and Lúthien, and the Sons of Fëanor sent to him a haughty demand for its surrender. Thingol however, was both insulted by the demand and had begun to lust for the Silmaril. Thus, against the counsel of Melian, he refused to surrender it. As a result, Celegorm and Curufin vowed openly to destroy Doriath should they emerge victorious from the battle against Morgoth. Therefore Thingol enhanced the guard at his borders and sent no troops to aid the Union.
The Union's commanders chose to divide their strength into two separate forces to attack Angband. Under Maedhros in the east were gathered the remainder of the Sons of Fëanor, the Elves and Men of Himring under Maedhros and Bór, the men of Amon Ereb under Caranthir and Ulfang, and the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost. Under Fingon in the west were gathered the Elves and Men of Hithlum, the Elves of the Falas, the Haladin of Brethil, the companies sent from Nargothrond and the two Elves of Doriath, Beleg and Mablung. The plan was for Maedhros's host, the slightly greater of the two, to march openly across Anfauglith and draw out the main army of Angband, after which Fingon's host would attack from the Ered Wethrin and crush the armies of Morgoth between the two forces. They would then seal the doors of Angband and, hopefully, drive Morgoth underground forever. The Union first cleared Beleriand and Dorthonion of Orcs, and then gathered to assault Angband. However, these attacks alerted Morgoth to the existence of the Union, and he took counsel against it.
Morgoth learned of the battle plan of the Eldar from his spies, and sought to prevent Maedhros's army from meeting with Fingon's. To that end, he sent a gigantic force of his own, one which included Glaurung and his numerous fire-breathing brood, to destroy Maedhros's host. Fingon's troops eventually settled in the woods surrounding the Ered Wethrin to await the coming of Maedhros's forces, not knowing that they had been attacked. Upon the arrival of Fingon's forces to the Ered Wethrin, smoke and fire poured forth from Thangorodrim and the Iron Mountains. Fingon took this as a sign that Morgoth knew of his army's location, and doubt began to grow in him. At that moment however, Turgon arrived unexpectedly with an army ten thousand strong from Gondolin, and hope was renewed in the heart of the Elven host.
Maglor slaying Uldor, by Jenny Dolfen
The battle[]
Aware of both the location of Fingon's troops and the strategy the Elves hoped to employ, Morgoth sent a great force of Orcs, Wolves, and Wolf-riders from Angband to meet Fingon's host. Though great, this force was but a small portion of the armies Morgoth had prepared, and was ultimately little more than bait. For Morgoth intended for this decoying force to draw out Fingon's army, and then to strengthen it when Fingon came from the hills to meet it. But Fingon, wary of the guile of Morgoth, ignored the taunts of the Orcs and kept his forces hidden. Seeing that the Elves would not be so easily drawn out, the captain of the Orcish host sent out riders with tokens of parley. With them was Gelmir, Gwindor's brother of Nargothrond, whom the Orcs had blinded. To provoke the Elvish host, they dismembered Gelmir within sight of the Ered Wethrin and then killed him, threatening to do the same with their other Elvish thralls.
Unfortunately, Gwindor himself was in the forefront of the Elvish host, and he witnessed the cruel murder of his brother. Insane with grief and rage, he broke ranks and charged the heralds with the company from Nargothrond and slew them, then drove deep into the center of the Orcish host. Seeing that his troops could not be restrained, Fingon sounded the charge, and committed his entire force to the battle. Here, Morgoth's designs nearly went astray, for the onset of the Ñoldor charge was so swift and terrible that the Orcish host was destroyed before it could be strengthened. At the forefront of the battle were Gwindor and his company, and their wrath was so great that they burst through Morgoth's outer gates and slew the guard in the very courts of Angband.
It was said that Morgoth trembled as Gwindor's company pounded upon his gates, but surrounded by a sea of enemies they became trapped in the court, and all were slain except Gwindor who was taken, for Fingon could not come to their aid. Then, from many hidden doors in Thangorodrim, Morgoth let forth his main host. Fingon's army was driven back from the walls of Angband with great loss. The Men of Brethil that comprised the rearguard were nearly all slain, along with Haldir, Lord of the Haladin. The fourth day of the conflict was the official beginning of Nírnaeth Arnoediad, and Fingon's forces continued to retreat with their casualties mounting. At the start of the fifth day however, Fingon's forces were joined by Turgon, who had withheld most of his troops from the foolhardy assault. The phalanx of Turgon broke through the lines of the Enemy, and met with the guard of Fingon, along with Húrin son of Galdor. With Turgon's help, Fingon's forces managed to beat back the host of Angband enough to begin an orderly retreat.
The Golden dragon with the Dwarves of Belegost, by LyntonLevengood
However, the fortune of the Eldar then took another turn for the worse. For while Fingon's armies had been fighting Morgoth's forces on the plains of Anfauglith, Maedhros had been defeated by the armies that Morgoth had sent against his host. To make matters worse, Maedhros had been betrayed by Ulfang, one of the sons of Uldor, who had summoned a great force of evil men from the surrounding hills to attack the Elven host. Reeling from the unexpected treachery and the continual assault of Morgoth's dragons, the eastern host would have been utterly destroyed if not for the valor of the Dwarves of Belegost. For they were naturally able to withstand the dragons' fire better than Elves or Men, and moreover they wore great iron masks that gave them additional protection. These Dwarves formed the rearguard of the eastern host, and allowed the remaining Elves and Men to escape the dragons. Azaghâl, King of the Dwarves of Belegost, gathered his forces and formed a ring around Glaurung to keep him at bay. Such was their strength and the keenness of their axes that even Glaurung's armored hide was not invulnerable to their blows. Enraged, Glaurung struck down Azaghâl and crawled over him, but with his last strength Azaghâl ran a dagger through Glaurung's belly, and the dragon fled in pain. With him fled all the beasts of Morgoth. In a solemn ceremony the Dwarves picked up their fallen leader, forgetting about the battle, and they marched his corpse home. Their wrath was so great that none troubled them. Their sacrifice allowed all seven of the Sons of Fëanor to escape, though their host was routed and scattered throughout Ossiriand.
The Host of Huor and Húrin and Men of Dor-lómin standing ready for battle, by Wouter Florusse
After defeating Maedhros, Morgoth's eastern host had made haste to join the battle against Fingon's forces, and arrived as they had begun to withdraw. As they engaged the retreating Elves, the first lord of Balrogs Gothmog himself arrived on the field with his Troll guard and engaged Fingon in single combat. Fingon managed to hold his own against the High Captain of Angband, until the second Lord of Balrogs named Lungorthin restrained Fingon from behind with a flaming whip. Gothmog then split Fingon's head with his black axe, and the field of battle was soon utterly lost. Seeing this, Húrin begged Turgon to escape to Gondolin, and told the King that he and his men would cover the Elven retreat. Huor, Húrin, and the remaining Men of Dor-lómin then formed a living wall across the Fens of Serech, buying time for Turgon to escape with most of the surviving Elves of the north. The warriors of Dor-lómin were slain to a man, and and Huor fell to a poisoned arrow through his eye. Finally Húrin was left to fight alone, wielding the great axe of an Orc captain two handed. He managed to slay seventy of his foes, including so many of Gothmog's troll guard that his axe withered away from their caustic blood, which was ultimately his undoing. Once unarmed, Gothmog captured him and took him to Angband.
Aftermath[]
After Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the ability of the Elves and Men of Beleriand to make war against Morgoth was broken. Morgoth's victory was essentially complete, as he had destroyed all the people of Hithlum and had scattered the sons of Fëanor away from Himring. Morgoth's Orcs razed all of Beleriand except for Doriath, which was still protected by the Girdle of Melian, and sacked the havens of the Falas. Nargothrond was also still free, but Morgoth gave little thought to either it or Doriath, knowing that the two remaining Elven kingdoms were no threat to him.
Morgoth betrayed his servants the Easterlings and trapped them in Hithlum under penalty of death, denying them the fertile lands of Beleriand. Still Morgoth knew fear, for Turgon, now High King of the Ñoldor after the death of Fingon in the battle, had survived, and his city of Gondolin was still unknown to Morgoth. Hoping to discover the whereabouts of Turgon, Morgoth summoned Húrin to him, seeking from him the location of Gondolin. Gothmog dragged Húrin back to Angband, where the man was subjected to intense levels of torture by the whistling fiery whip of Lungorthin. Despite the intense torment, Húrin mocked Morgoth and refused to betray Turgon. Morgoth then laid a terrible curse upon him and his kin, and bound Húrin to a chair upon Thangorodrim to witness the curse unfold.[3][4]
Other versions of the legendarium[]
A first and older version of the story was drawn by Christopher Tolkien primarily from a text called the Grey Annals, although the Quenta Silmarillion was used as well. But in the writing of the long Narn i Chîn Húrin, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a new version of the battle which postdates both the GA and QS accounts. Christopher Tolkien did not incorporate the major changes of the new version into the Silmarillion text, although he did take some phrasing and description from it.
In the earlier version of the battle, Morgoth sent no armies against the forces of Maedhros, and instead Uldor delayed Maedhros's host with a treacherous warning of a false assault from Angband. Maedhros eventually realized what he believed to be a mistake on Uldor's part, and his host at last arrived to aid Fingon in the fifth day as Turgon's forces did. Maedhros's forces assailed the armies of Angband in the rear, and Morgoth was forced to release his reserves, including his Balrogs, Glaurung and his brood, and Gothmog the first Lord of Balrogs. It was said in this version that the Elves might still have won, but Ulfang and his Easterlings betrayed Maedhros, and summoned a great strength of evil Men from the surrounding hills, routing the host of Maedhros.
The major difference was that Morgoth defeats the Elves much more handily in the newer version than he did in the old one. The entire element of the "Machinations of Uldor" delaying Maedhros's march is removed, and Morgoth sends a second force to meet Maedhros and prevent him from joining with the other elf lords. This version also lacks the nearly explicit statement that the Elves could have won had it not been for the treachery of men.
Christopher Tolkien did not venture a guess on why his father made these changes, but it may be that he felt the Elves did much better against Morgoth than they reasonably should have (especially since Mandos himself had proclaimed that no force of the Noldor could overthrow Morgoth). This is all speculation, however. It was explicitly stated several times both by in-universe characters and Tolkien in The Silmarillion that the Elves had absolutely no chance of defeating Morgoth unaided, so it is possible that the changes were made to concur with this line of thinking.
Etymology[]
Nírnaeth Arnoediad was Sindarin for 'Tears Unnumbered'.[5] The name may be a reference to the Doom of Mandos, which begins with the same two words.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Arabic | مَعركة الدُموع الاْتُحصى |
| Armenian | Նիրնաետհ Արնոեդիադ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Нірнаэт Арнаэдыяд (Nírnaeth Arnoediad)
Бітва незлічоных слёз (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Bengali | নেরেন্থ আরনোদিয়াড |
| Bosnian | Nirnait Arnoidad |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Нирнает Арноедиад |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 尼南斯·阿農迪亞德戰役 |
| Czech | Bitva nespočetných slz (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Danish | De utalte tårers Kamp (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Dutch | Slag van de Plotseling Vlam (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Galician | Batalla de Innumerábeis Bágoas (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Georgian | ნირნაეთ არნოედიადი |
| Greek | Νιρναεθ Αρνοεδιαδ |
| Gujarati | નિરનેથ આર્નોઈડિયાદ |
| Hebrew | נירנת ארנודיאד |
| Hindi | निर्नाथ अर्नाईडियाड |
| Japanese | ニアナイス・アルノイディアド (Nírnaeth Arnoediad)
涙尽きざる合戦 (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Kannada | ನಿರ್ನೇತ್ ಆರ್ನೊಡಿಯಡ್ |
| Kazakh | Нірнаетһ Арноедіад (Cyrillic) Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Latin) |
| Korean | 니르네스 아르노 디아드 |
| Lithuanian | Nesuskaičiuojamų Ašarų Mūšis (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Нирнаетх Арноедиад |
| Marathi | निनायेथ अरोनीदियाद |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Нирнает Арноедедад |
| Nepalese | णिर्नएथ आर्नोएदिअद |
| Norwegian | Slaget ved Utallige tårer (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Persian | نیرنائت آرنوئدیاد (Nírnaeth Arnoediad)
نبرد اشکهای بیشمار (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Punjabi | ਨਿਰਨਾਥ ਅਰਨੀਡੀਅਡ |
| Russian | Нирнаэт Арноэдиад |
| Sanskrit | णिर्नएथ् आर्नोएदिअद् |
| Serbian | Нирнаит Арноидиада (Cyrillic) Nirnait Arnoidiada (Latin) |
| Sindhi | نناھت آرنودياد |
| Sinhalese | නර්නෙත්ට් අර්නිවීඩ් |
| Spanish | Batalla de Lágrimas Innumerables (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Нирнаетҳ Арноедиад |
| Tamil | நீராத் அர்னீதியட் |
| Telugu | నిరనాథ్ ఆర్నోడియద్ |
| Thai | เนียร์นายธ์อาร์นอยดิอัด |
| Turkish | Sayısız Gözyaşı muharebesi (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Нірнаед — Аноедіад |
| Urdu | نرناتھ آرنوادیڈ |
| Yiddish | נירנאַעטה אַרנאָעדיאַד |
| Battles of Beleriand |
|---|
| First Battle • Dagor-nuin-Giliath • Dagor Aglareb • Siege of Angband • Dagor Bragollach • Nírnaeth Arnoediad • War of Wrath |
References[]
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, The Shaping of Middle-earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta, and The Annals, pg. 302, "There came afresh a hundred thousand Orcs..."
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. I: The Book of Lost Tales Part One, pg. 241: "Nearly half of all the Gnomes and Men who fought there were slain."
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XX: "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
- ↑ The Children of Húrin The Tale of the Children of Húrin, Chapter II: "The Battle of Unnumbered Tears"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Index of Names