War of the Elves and Sauron
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In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Elves and Sauron was a great conflict fought in the Second Age.
The war began in 1693 S.A., almost a century after Sauron had deceived the Noldor smiths of Eregion and had secretly forged the One Ring to rule over the other Rings of Power. When Sauron put on the One Ring, Celebrimbor, lord of Eregion, realized that the Elves had been betrayed and revolted against the Dark Lord's influence. With his disguise uncovered, Sauron then demanded that all of great rings in Eregion to be surrendered to him, as all of them were made with Sauron's counsel, except the Three Rings of the Elves. Celebrimbor refused and sent the Three to Gil-galad and Galadriel, while Sauron raised a great force to invade Eriador.
Messages of the invasion were sent north to Lindon where the High King Gil-galad ruled, and he began amassing his forces, preparing for war. He also appealed for help from Tar-Minastir of Númenor and the latter obliged, but the Númenóreans were delayed.
In 1695 S.A. Sauron had reached Eregion, though his vanguard was temporarily driven off by Celeborn's sortie. (While Celeborn's wife Galadriel had entered Moria to reach Lórien, Celeborn himself refused to enter the mansion of the dwarves, and he was disregarded in Eregion by Celebrimbor until the One Ring.) Elrond had been sent to Eregion by Gil-galad but Sauron's host was great enough to ward him off while concentrating on the assault upon Eregion. In 1697 S.A., Celebrimbor tried to make a last stand at the doors of the Ost-in-Edhil, the main fortress of Eregion where the Noldor's chief works were held, but he was overwhelmed and taken captive. Placed under torment, he revealed the location of the Nine and Seven rings but would tell nothing about the Three, to which Sauron put him to death. It is clear that Sauron seized the Nine from Eregion, though it is less sure whether he or Celebrimbor had given the Seven to the Dwarves.
Elrond gathered with Celeborn and the survivors of Eregion and they were almost overwhelmed by Sauron's pursuit, but the Dark Lord's host was unexpectedly assailed in the rear by Durin of Moria and some Elves of Lórien. Sauron then halted his advance and drove the Dwarves back but he could accomplish little as Khazad-dûm's gates were closed. Afterwards, Sauron harboured deep hatred for Moria and ordered his Orcs to trouble the Dwarves at every turn. Elrond managed to escape to the north and established Imladris.
By 1699 S.A. all of Eriador fell under Sauron's control. Imladris was besieged, and Lindon cut off from Imladris and Khazad-dûm.
The next year, the great army of Númenor which was sent by Tar-Minastir landed in Lindon, at Tharbad on the Gwathló, and south near Pelargir. The intervention at Lindon was in the nick of time, as Gil-galad and Círdan were desperately holding Mithlond, but the arrival of the Númenorean turned the tide and Sauron was heavily defeated and driven back. The Dark Lord was subsequently forced on the retreat after the great slaughter on the Brandywine. The Númenorean admiral Ciryatur landed forces futher south at Lond Daer and hurried up the river to Tharbad, catching Sauron in the rear for the second time. At the resulting Battle of the Gwathló, Sauron was utterly routed and he fled back to Mordor with only his guard. His remaining army besieging Imladris was caught between the allies and destroyed. The war ended in 1701 S.A. but Eregion was gone, and most of Eriador was in ruins.
[edit] Aftermath
Sauron was at his absolute prime when he initiated the war, though the strength of Elves was then great enough to resist him, and he was no match for Númenor. It would take a long time before Sauron could build up his former strength, while the power of Gil-galad spread east of the Misty Mountains to Greenwood the Great and even towards Mordor, becoming too strong for Sauron to attempt to move out of the black land.
Sauron exacted his revenge against the Númenóreans by corrupting Ar-Pharazôn and causing the downfall of Númenor. However a remnant (the Lords of Andúnië) escaped the ruin and Sauron underestimated the strength of the exiles and Elves, striking Gondor before his own power was rebuilt, and he was overthrown by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.
In the Third Age when Sauron returned, he was a shadow of his former power as he has lost the One Ring; however he was relatively more powerful than the Men and Elves who had declined precipitously.
[edit] References
Though this is one of the great wars of Middle-earth, Tolkien himself did not name this conflict, and it is often informally referred to as the Invasion of Eriador, and also as the war caused by the forging of the One Ring.
A detailed account of this war is given in the chapter "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in Unfinished Tales. Around the end of the war, the great forests in Enedwaith and Minhiriath, which the Gwathló flows through, have been completely destroyed. The Númenóreans since Tar-Aldarion had already been felling many trees for shipbuilding, incurring the wrath of the locals when the extent of the devastation become known. Sauron allied himself with some of the tribes to harass the Númenóreans', setting fire in the woods and burning their wood-stores; the Númenóreans responded by ruthlessly felling timber without any thought of conservation or replanting.
This conflict is perhaps the only time that Sauron managed to (for a short while) master most of Middle-earth. Near the end of the Third Age, as told in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Frodo Baggins that Sauron needed to recover the One Ring in order to "cover the lands in a second darkness"; implying that the first darkness was when Sauron forged the Ring.
