Silmarillion – LOTRO Players

The Death of Maglor

Anew I curse my father’s oath
That slew us brothers, causing both 
The Silmarils – our Silmarils! - 
Those jewels whose mere possession spills 
The blood of elven race uncounted!
Yea, our Oath in fine amounted 
To kinslaying and exile
From Valinor, the elven isle
Of Elfinesse, of Elvenhome
To wander far, while drifting roam
Afar over all Middle Earth
Where our fore-fathers had their birth 
Beside a lake far in the East.
Have blood-feuds helped us in the least 
To regain what our Father lost?
What we regained – and at what cost
Of blood flowing in rivers down 
The halls of Doriath to drown 
All Elfinesse in ruin and flame!
All this done in our father’s name -
He who we loved, dear Fëanor!
With bloody hands we did restore
Two Silmarils when Eönwë
Let us depart. I, by the sea 
Held up my jewel. But while I stand.
Its holy fire burnt my hand!
Am I corrupted? Finally 
The Silmaril rejected me!
I clutch it tight despite the burn.
In agony I quickly turn 
To cast the Silmaril away 
Into the waters of the bay. 

All lost! My Silmaril is lost!
How many centuries it cost 
Of blood and plotting, sweat and tears
And endless toil through long years
Of insane slaughter, bitter war 
As elf slew elf by the seashore
Of Balar. All this I have done.
Such fetters circle me, the son 
Of Fëanor! Chained to my word -
The Oath I swore, by deeds abhorred 
I fulfilled all it asked of me.
Now I have cast it to the sea!

What have I done – who can forgive?
Without the jewels – how can I live?
Farewell Noldor and Valinor!
I wander by the wide seashore 
Singing the songs of Elfinesse 
Telling my grief and bitterness
As shackled, burdened by the curse
Of old deeds that I here rehearse.

Love original poetry?

Visit Tolkien Tribute for more.

The Origins of Evil – Part Four – The Death of Morgoth

Hail and Well Met Everyone!

You might have been wondering where in the world I had vanished…. well I won’t lie, it’s been a nice little three week break over the holidays and beginning of the new year. I’m finally back on a regular schedule of writing, planning, and getting new topics lined out for the website. This is a rather long article of lore….So let’s not dilly-dally any longer and get to it shall we.

When we left off last time we had just seen the Battle of Flames and a small band of men called the Edain who were able to withstand the corruption of Morgoth and began feeding the elves information about the dark lords every move.

Siege of Angband

The siege of Angband was broken 455 years after Fingolfin came to Middle-earth, when Morgoth started the War of Sudden Flame or it’s Sindarin name “Dagor Ballogach”. One cold winter night, when the Elves were off guard, Morgoth brought terrible rivers of fire and lava from Thangorodrim and poisonous fumes from the Iron Mountains. The Elves were completely unprepared for such an assault, and many Noldor perished on the Ard-galen, as the fires consumed it and transformed it into a lifeless wasteland, forever after known as the Anfauglith.

With the exception of Maedhros and his fortress upon the Hill of Himring, the sons of Feanor and Finarfin were overthrown and defeated. Fingolfin and Fingon only just barely managed to defend Hithlum from Morgoth’s onslaught, as the mountains surrounding it provided an effective barrier against Morgoth’s fires. The Elves were completely driven from the forests of Dorthonion, and many of the Grey elves forsook the war altogether and went to Doriath. When news came to Fingolfin of the defeat of the Elven forces, a great despair came upon him. Believing the Noldor to have been defeated beyond any hope of recovery, he rode forth from Hithlum to the gates of Angband in a wrath so potent that he was said to have resembled Orome himself. When he arrived at Morgoth’s fortress he challenged the Dark Lord to come forth and fight. Though Morgoth did not wish to, Fingolfin’s challenge was heard by all in Angband, and was given in such an insulting manner that to ignore it would have been to lose face before his captains.

Morgoth came forth dressed in his black armour from Angband to confront Fingolfin. Wielding the terrible hammer Grond in which he attempted to kill the Elven-king repeatedly, but succeeded only in carving many fiery pits in the ground from his missed strikes. Fingolfin managed to avoid Morgoth’s blows, and wounded the Dark Lord seven times. But at last, Fingolfin grew weary, and Morgoth brought him to his knees. Fingolfin arose each time to continue the fight, but eventually he fell backwards into one of the many pits formed by Morgoth’s missed attacks. Morgoth took his foot upon Fingolfin’s neck and killed him, but not before Fingolfin, cut Morgoth’s foot with his sword. Morgoth enraged broke the Elven-king’s body, but Thorondor, the King of the Eagles, swooped down on Morgoth, marring his face with his talons, and rescued the body of the Elf-king.

Fingolfin’s last stroke gave Morgoth a permanent limp, and the pain of his seven wounds could not be healed, nor were the scars ever erased.

After the battle, Morgoth sent out spies to watch over the Edain men, but when the Edain refused his false offers of peace he summoned the Easterlings over the Blue Mountains. However, he soon realized that he had underestimated the resolve and valor of his foes, for the Elves and Edain, recovering from the initial shock of Morgoth’s onslaught, had begun to make small gains against his outlying forces. He therefore checked his advances, and withdrew the main groups of Orcs to Angband. Though Morgoth’s victory had been great, his own losses had been as numerous as the losses that had been accrued by the Elves. Seven years passed before Morgoth renewed his offensive abilities. He assailed Hithlum with great strength but just as he was on the verge of victory, Cirdan and a large army under his command came at the last moment and helped Fingon to turn the Orcs back.

The Quest of the Silmaril

Some time later, the Elven-maiden Luthien and her human lover Beren, seeking to recover a Silmaril, came disguised to Morgoth’s court. Morgoth was able to see through her disguise, but she was undaunted by his eyes, and offered to sing for him. As she sang, Morgoth conceived a lust and an evil more abominable than any he had yet committed, and allowed her to continue singing. This was his downfall; suddenly shadow hid her, and she sang a terrible song of power that cast a spell of sleep.

All Morgoth’s court was cast down in a deep sleep by her song, but the Silmarils burned, and became so heavy that the head of Morgoth sagged upon his chest. He fell from his throne, the Iron Crown rolled away with a clang, and Beren cut a Silmaril from the neck of Morgoth. However, rather than leaving immediately with his prize, he tried to take another of the Silmarils. As he attempted to pry the second jewel loose, his knife snapped. One shard struck Morgoth’s face, and he began to awaken. Beren and Luthien fled, but the dreaded werewolf Carcharoth bit off Beren’s hand. Then Morgoth awoke, and in a rage he and his court roared up in pursuit, only to see Thorondor carrying off the raiders. Morgoth’s rage at the loss of the Silmaril caused the Iron Mountains to begin erupting, but Morgoth wasn’t able to recover the Silmaril.

Soon after, Morgoth became aware that Maedhros was making a great army against him, and driving his orcs off the northern heights. He took council against them and prepared his forces for a major confrontation. When the Elves made it to Angband, the Battle of Nirnaeth Arnoediad, began. Ultimately, the battle was a complete and decisive victory for Morgoth. The power of the Elves and the Edain were broken against Morgoth. The Noldor from the north of Beleriand, and all their great kingdoms besides Gondolin were destroyed. The Edain who did not flee were enslaved by Easterlings, and Hurin was taken captive.

The Cursing of Hurin

Morgoth was also well known for the imprisonment of Hurin of the House of Hador during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. In the last hours of the battle Hurin and his kin defended Turgon, for he was the last heir to the throne of Gondolin and of Fingolfin after his brother, Fingon, died in battle. Turgon narrowly escaped the clutches of the orcs due to the valor of Hurin and Huor and their men.

Unfortunately, all but Hurin fell after the onslaught of Morgoth’s forces. After slaying untold numbers of Trolls and Orcs, Hurin was captured by Gothmog and sent to Angband. Morgoth knew that Hurin had been to Gondolin, and knew of its location. Morgoth sought to extract the information from him but, despite inflicting terrible torment upon his captive, was unsuccessful.

Morgoth sentences Hurin

From a distance Morgoth put the son and daughter of Hurin, Turin and Nienor, under a species of diabolic oppression: his thought followed them and gave them bad luck, though they were not possessed. By this means he drove them at last to madness and despair; though there is doubt as to whether in the extremity of his malice he cheated himself, as their madness saved them from damnation.

Morgoth brought a great curse upon the people – “Behold! The Shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world.” But all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Wherever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death.

And so Hurin stayed and was chained atop Thangorodrim, forever watching his homelands fall under the shadow of Morgoth until he released him. Turin, who was valiant and powerful, nearly escaped the curse, as feared by Morgoth, but could not leave it. He and his sister perished and the curse of Morgoth on the Children of Hurin was fulfilled.

The Fall of Gondolin

Though he had been unable to force Hurin to reveal the location of the last great Elven kingdom, Morgoth eventually captured Maeglin, son of Turgon, the King of Gondolin. Threatened with unimaginable torment, Maeglin offered the secrets of Gondolin’s defenses in exchange for his own wellbeing. Additionally, he made a promise to kill Tuor personally, and was given permission by Morgoth to take Idril for himself. With the promise of having Idril, Maeglin became Morgoth’s servant and sent him back to Gondolin to aid the invasion from within when the time came.

Soon after, Morgoth assaulted Gondolin, the last great realm of the Noldor, and with a superior force and Maeglin’s treacherous information, the city was destroyed without hope and quickly fell.

Final defeat and War of Wrath

However, Morgoth’s triumph was relatively short lived. Due to the plea actions of Earendil, the Valar were persuaded once again to take up arms against Morgoth’s tyranny. Morgoth himself did not expect that the Valar would ever help the Noldor after the terrible sins they had committed, and did not foresee the assault from Aman. But the Valar took pity on the Noldor, and a great battle began between Morgoth and the Host of Valinor. Morgoth emptied all of Angband, and his devices and engines and armies of slaves were so various and powerful the fighting spilled across all Beleriand.

In the end, Morgoth’s forces were completely defeated. The Balrogs were destroyed, except a few that fled and hid themselves in the caverns of the earth, and the Orcs were slaughtered. Morgoth hid in fear, and dared not come forth himself, but he had one last weapon at his command; the monstrous Winged Dragons. From out of the pits of Angband he called them to battle, with great power and fire, they drove back the Valar. But then Earendil came with Vingilot, accompanied by Thorondor and all the great birds, and killed Ancalagon The Black, whose great body fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim destroying them. Morgoth, utterly defeated stood and watched. He fled into the deepest of his mines, but his feet were cut from under him, and he was cast down upon his face. He was bound with the chain Angainor, his Iron Crown was beaten into a collar for his neck, and he was thrust through the Door of Night into the Timeless.

This concludes our lore series on the dark lord, but next week we kick off a brand new series (The Kings of Gondor) so until next weeks episode, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a fine farewell!

The Origins of Evil – Part Three

Hail and Well Met Friends!

I’m back after what seems like ages of not writing since the last episode published and very excited to continue in this lore series!

When we left off last time, Melkor had returned to rebuild his fortress Angband and breed his mass armies of fell beasts. This week we pick up with Melkor in the first age and the Noldor rebelling to recover the stolen Silmarils. I hope you enjoy!

Melkor’s Evil In The First Age

Feanor followed Morgoth to Middle-earth with the greater part of the Noldor in rebellion, hoping to recover the Silmarils. This rebellion and last effort from Feanor to recover the Silmarils caused the massive War of the Great Jewels, in which the elves were completely defeated. Upon learning of the arrival of the Noldor in Middle-earth, Morgoth sent armies of Orcs against Feanor’s and his elves, hoping to destroy them before they could establish any strongholds and well organized defenses. Though the Noldor were outnumbered, they were very skilled in combat and swiftly destroyed the Orcs; though only a handful returned to Angband. But Feanor, in his pride and arrogance, came after Morgoth himself and pursued the Orcs. Soon, the vanguard and Feanor pressed ahead of the main host, and the Orcs and they came to battle at the gates of Angband. The battle was so close to Angband that it alerted a number of Balrogs that came to the aid of the Orcs that quickly defeated the Elves. Feanor fought on alone, but was eventually struck down by Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs. Though a relief force under the command of his sons saved him from being killed on the field of battle, Feanor’s wounds were mortal and he perished soon after.

Shortly after Feanor’s death, Morgoth sent an embassy to the Noldor offering terms of surrender, even promising a Silmaril. Maedhros agreed to the parley, but both sides, expecting treachery, came with greater force than was agreed. Unfortunately for the Elves, Morgoth’s force was the greater of the two, and was accompanied by Balrogs. The Elven company was quickly slain with the exception of Maedhros, who was captured and chained by his right hand to one of Thangorodrim’s cliffs. Morgoth sent word to the Noldor, promising to release Maedhros on the condition that the Elves would depart from the North and cease their war against him. However, the Elves knew that Morgoth would not honor his word, and sent no reply.

It was time that the host of Fingolfin, which had been betrayed and abandoned by Feanor’s group in Aman, came at last to Middle-earth. Tension between the two groups quickly developed and Morgoth, seeing that the Noldor were divided, made plans to destroy his very distracted enemy’s. To his dismay however, the Valar revealed the creation of the Sun and the Moon, which confounded Morgoth and his servants for a time. To counter these new lights, Morgoth sent up clouds of smoke from the Iron Mountains to darken Hithlum.

During the time of confusion and inaction caused among Morgoth’s forces by these new lights, Fingon traveled to Angband, aided by the very darkness Morgoth had set upon Hithlum, and rescued Maedhros. In doing so, he started a series of events that united the Noldor and allowed them to establish great and mighty kingdoms in Beleriand and Hithlum. When Morgoth initiated his next attack, the Noldor swiftly destroyed his forces and set a war upon Angband, hoping to forever contain the evil of Morgoth. After waiting many years, Morgoth tested his enemy’s, causing the Iron Mountains to erupt sending an army of Orcs down through the passes, but the Noldor easily defeated these Orcs. After this failure, Morgoth took to capturing what Elves he could, breaking them with the power of his will and chaining their lives to his. These Elves became his spies among the Noldor, keeping him aware of all there movements and plans.

Battle of Sudden Flame

One hundred years later, Morgoth sent an army into the north to approach Hithlum from the side, but an army under the command of Fingon destroyed them yet again. At this point, Morgoth came to realize that the Orcs unaided were no match for the Noldor, and began experimenting with ways to create more deadly creatures for his armies. Another century passed, and the creation of Glaurung, the first dragon, was the result of Morgoth’s long intense labor. Glaurung’s sudden appearance scattered the Elves around the areas of Angband, but a group of archers under Fingon’s command engaged him before he could attack and merely frightened the Elves. Glaurung was barely half-grown, and his hide wasn’t thick enough to take the Elven arrows so he had no choice but to flee. Morgoth was displeased with Glaurung for revealing himself to soon, but ultimately Glaurung’s sudden attack on the elves was of little consequence.

When Men first arrived in Beleriand, it was revealed that Morgoth left Angband and walked among the fathers of Men. Hoping to corrupt them to his service, he spread his lies among them, and found them to be much easier to sway than the Elves had been. However, the strengthening of the Elven kingdoms worried Morgoth, and he returned to Angband before his labors were complete. Nevertheless, most Men believed or half-believed his lies and either departed from the North or joined with Morgoth’s forces. A small group of Men that became known as the Edain were able to resist Morgoth. They provided the Elves with vital intelligence as to the doings of Morgoth in the North, as many of them chose to live within sight of Angband’s gates.

Until next weeks episode, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a fine farewell!

The Origins of Evil – Part Two

Hail and Well Met Friends!

Last week if you remember we left off with Melkor being captured and held for three ages in the Halls of Mandos. I hope you all are enjoying the series!

Melkor’s Revenge

During the War of the Powers when the Valar took to overthrow Melkor, they in the haste to do so left many of Utumno’s pits and vaults unexplored, and Sauron was still roaming the lands as well. Also, the Valar didn’t capture or destroy the Balrogs, who gathered at the ruins of Angband who had gone into hibernation awaiting Melkor’s return.

After the passing of the Ages, Melkor was brought before Manwe, and played a good act of repentance. Manwe was just unable to comprehend the evil of Melkor, so Manwe ordered him to be released. At first, it seemed as though the evil of Melkor had been cured, for all who sought his counsel and aid in that time benefited greatly from it. However, Tulkas and Ulmo were both very slow to forget Melkor’s evils, and watched him closely. In truth, Melkor was more filled with malice than ever, and began to put his extraordinary cunning to use in devising a way to ruin Aman. Seeing the bliss of the Elves and remembering that it was for their sake that he was overthrown, Melkor desired above all things to corrupt them. Of all the three primary groups of Elves, he found the Noldor to have a perfect balance of usefulness and open ears, and so worked began to work his malice almost exclusively among them.

The Greatest of the Noldor

Over a long period of time he spread lies concerning the intentions of the Valar in bringing the Elves to Aman, telling them, among other things, tales of the coming of Men, the existence of which the Valar had not revealed to the Elves. Due to his carefully crafted lies, many of the Noldor began to believe that the Valar had brought them to Aman so that Men might inherit Middle-earth, taking the lands and the glory that could have been theirs. Eventually, a shadow fell upon the Noldor, and they began to openly rebel against the Valar. Chief amongst the disgruntled Noldor was Feanor, the firstborn son of the Noldor King Finwe. Though he hated and feared Melkor, his overwhelming pride caused him to be the most vocal of the Noldor in expressing discontent. For their part, the Valar remained unaware of Melkor’s work, and saw Feanor as the source of the Noldor’s unrest. Though perturbed, they let the situation continue until Feanor threatened his brother Fingolfin at which point the Valar summoned him to the Ring of Doom in Valinor to explain his unlawful actions.

Feanor’s testimony revealed the lies of Melkor, and Tulkas immediately left the Ring of Doom to recapture him. But Melkor could not be found. After a time, he went to Formenos and struck a deceitful friendship to Feanor, as Melkor was only after the Silmarils. Feanor, knew what he was up to and saw Melkor’s greed, refused him and shut the doors of Formenos in the face of Arda’s mightiest being. Melkor passed unseen to the south, and came upon the great spider Ungoliant, which he promised to satisfy her unrelenting hunger, so she and Melkor together came back to Valinor, intending to destroy the Trees. During a time of festival, Melkor and Ungoliant suddenly attacked and Melkor thrust a great spear into the Trees and Ungoliant drank the sap that poured from the wounds, draining the Trees and poisoning them. The Trees quickly withered and died, plunging Aman into complete darkness for a time.

Killing of the Two Trees

In the fear and confusion that followed, Melkor sped to Formenos and broke into the fortress. There, he killed Finwe, father of Feanor, and stole the Silmarils along with all the other gems that lay there. The Silmarils burned Melkor’s hand, causing him great pain, but he did not release them. He and Ungoliant fled to the North, and the Valar pursued them, but the Unlight of Ungoliant brought great confusion to the Valar and the two escaped. The two thieves crossed the Grinding Ice of the Helcaraxe and entered Middle-earth, completing Melkor’s great revenge.

In Lammoth, Melkor and Ungoliant approached the ruins of Angband, with Melkor hoping to escape and leave his promise to feed Ungoliant unfulfilled. Ungoliant however, saw through his plan and stopped with him before they reached Angband. She demanded that he surrender the treasure of Formenos to satisfy her hunger as he had promised, so he gave her the lesser of treasures he had taken, but he would not give her the Silmarils which lay hidden within his right hand. With his refusal to surrender the Silmarils, Ungoliant attacked Melkor, weaving her dark webbing around him. His resulting cry of pain and anguish woke the Balrogs from their depths of Angband. With a violent windstorm of fire they came to his aid, and drove away Ungoliant, but Melkor recalled them, and allowed Ungoliant to escape. He then began to rebuild Angband, and gather his servants there.

When Feanor found his father was slain, he cursed Melkor and named him Morgoth, meaning “Dark Enemy”, and by that name was he known ever after. The name Melkor was never spoken again by his enemies. As Morgoth finished rebuilding Angband, the slag and debris created by his vast tunnelings was plied into three huge volcanoes, collectively known as Thangorodrim. Once he made these huge volcanoes, he began work on creating his forces, breeding vast numbers of Orcs and other fell beasts.

Until next weeks episode, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a fine farewell!

The Origins of Evil – Part One

Hail and well met everyone!

This week we continue in our lore with a brand new series. We are taking a look at someone who truly is the creator of evil. I hope you enjoy the series!

The First Dark Lord

That’s right I said the First Dark Lord, as Sauron was not the first…

Originally the most powerful of the Ainur created by Eru was Melkor and he rebelled against his creator because of pride and sought to corrupt Arda, becoming Morgoth. After committing many evils in the First Age, such as the theft of the Silmarils and the destruction of the Two Lamps, Morgoth was defeated by the Host of Valinor in the War of Wrath. According to an unpublished portion of Tolkien’s conclusion to The Silmarillion, Morgoth will return at the end of the world to fight against good in Dagor Dagorath, the final battle.

Melkor was made in the beginning as an Ainu created by Eru Iluvatar in the Timeless Halls, at the beginning of creation. Manwe is said to be brother to him, yet Melkor was greater in power than any of the Ainur. Melkor was gifted also with the greatest knowledge of all the Ainur, and had share in all of the gifts given to his fellow Ainur by Eru. Desiring to create things of his own and knowing of but not understanding the Flame Imperishable, Melkor often went forth into the Great Void outside of the Timeless Halls in search of this flame. His quest was in vain; he found not the Flame Imperishable for it lies with Eru alone. Melkor grew ever more impatient of the unclear designs of Eru and the emptiness of the Void, and was often alone and apart from his fellow Ainur. It was during these lonesome periods that Melkor began to have ideas and thoughts of his own that were not in accordance with his fellow Ainur.

When the Ainur sang the Great Music before Eru, some of these stray thoughts he wove into his music, and straightaway discontent arose around him. Some of those nearby attuned their music to his, until two musical themes were warring before the Throne. Then Eru introduced a Second, and then a Third Theme into the music. Melkor succeeded in holding back the Second theme, of which Manwe was the chief instrument. The Third was the theme of Elves and Men, and while it was not overwhelmed by the Discord, it too failed to correct it. When Eru brought the Music to an end, he rebuked Melkor, praising his strength but telling him that all he did redounded only to the glory of Eru’s work. Melkor was ashamed, and resented it; for he thought his Discord an improvement. When the Music was made incarnate as Arda, it was already flawed through the Discord, and immoderate heat and great cold stalked it. He then took in the interest of the World and put his evil wherever he could put it.

Before the Two Trees

When the Valar entered into Arda and began to shape the unwrought matter, Melkor saw the Field of Arda and claimed it for his own, striving against the Valar. He took various shapes. Whenever the Valar did something, Melkor disrupted them. For a long while, Melkor fought alone against the might of all the other Valar and Maiar of Arda, and he long held the upper hand. Then Tulkas came, his strength tipping the balance in favor of the Valar, and Melkor fled before him.

The Dark Lord Chained

The Valar had built for themselves the isle of Almaren in the midst of Middle-earth, between the Great Lamps. Then, Melkor delved a mighty fortress at the very north-most part of the World and named it Utumno. To defend it he raised the Mountains of the East in the northeast of Middle Earth, east of the Sea of Helcar. Decay arose in the North, and the Valar knew that he was there.

When the Valar had built Valinor, Melkor built his second, lesser fortress of Angband in the west, as a defense from the West should they attack. Angband was delved into the Iron Mountains, and was given to Sauron to command. While the Valar were unsure where the Children of Iluvatar would awake, they were reluctant to wage war against Melkor, fearing the clash of powers might result in massive collateral damage. Due to this, Melkor discovered the Elves before the other Valar, captured many of them, and transformed them by torture and other foul craft into orcs.

When it was discovered by the Vala Orome where the elves were, the Valar took immediate action against Melkor. This action was called the War of the Powers. When he saw the Valar winning, he retreated into Utumno and shut the great doors. The Valar smote the doors open and Melkor was cast down by Tulkas. Melkor was bound in Angainor and brought back to the Halls of Mandos for three Ages.

You will have to wait until next week to find out what happens after Melkor was bound in the halls for three ages.

Until next week, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a fine farewell!