Nírnaeth Arnoediad

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Nírnaeth Arnoediad Conflict from Tolkien's Legendarium Artistic depiction of the order of battle (Illustration by Tom Loback) Other names Battle of Unnumbered Tears Location Thangorodrim, Anfauglith Date Year of the Sun 472 of the First Age Result Decisive Angband victory Books The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin Later story in The War of the Jewels Combatants Angband, later Easterlings of Ulfang Union of Maedhros: Himring, Amon Ereb, Easterlings, Belegost, Hithlum, Falas, Brethil, Nargothrond, Gondolin Participants Gothmog, Glaurung, Sons of Ulfang† Sons of Fëanor, Fingon†, Turgon, Gwindor, Húrin, Huor†, Haldir†, Hundar†, Bór with sons†, Azaghâl†

Wars of Beleriand First Battle - Dagor-nuin-Giliath - Dagor Aglareb - Siege of Angband - Dagor Bragollach - Nírnaeth Arnoediad - War of Wrath Middle-earth warfare

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, the (Dagor) Nírnaeth Arnoediad or (Battle of) Unnumbered Tears was the climactic Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand.

Contents 1 The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion 2 Order of Battle 3 Concept and creation 3.1 Later version of the Battle 3.2 Story development 3.3 Etymology 3.4 Influence 4 References 5 See also

[edit] The Fifth Battle as told in The Silmarillion

In the almost two decades since their defeat in the Dagor Bragollach, the Noldor had lost control over the entire north of Beleriand, and were for the most part reduced to holding on defensively in Hithlum, Himring and Nargothrond. Gondolin was shut and unknown. The great deeds of Beren and Lúthien in defeating Sauron, overthrowing his fortress of Tol-in-Gaurhoth and wresting a Silmaril from Morgoth's Crown, as well as the military victories of Thingol on all the borders of his realm of Doriath, gave hope to the Noldor that Morgoth could still be defeated. In the year 468 of the Years of the Sun in the First Age, Maedhros began building an alliance capable of taking the war to Angband and regain the lands of the Noldor.

Under the Union of Maedhros all the Elves of Beleriand, as well as the Edain, Dwarves, and the newly arrived Easterlings were invited to combine in arms and fight Morgoth. The Union first cleared Beleriand and Dorthonion from the Orcs, and at Midsummer of 472 gathered to assault Thangorodrim. Due to the prideful attitude and words of Maedhros' brothers, Celegorm and Curufin, and their sedition against Orodreth, no significant armies from Nargothrond or Doriath joined the Union.

Maedhros' plan was for his main host to attack and draw out the army of Angband and engage their front, after which Fingon's host would attack from the Ered Wethrin in the west, striking the forces of Angband on the flank. Led by Maedhros in the east were gathered the Sons of Fëanor, the Elves and Men of Himring under Maedhros and Maglor, the Elves of Amon Ereb under Caranthir, the Easterlings of Bór and Ulfang and the Dwarves of Belegost. Under Fingon in the west were gathered the Elves and Men of Hithlum, the Elves of the Falas, the Folk of Haleth from Brethil and the companies sent from Nargothrond.

Other potential allies of great strength would not join the Union because of the evil deeds of Celegorm and Curufin, two of Maedhros's brothers. Nargothrond would send only a small company of men under Gwindor for their part in the death of Finrod Felagund, King of Nargothrond. From Doriath, Thingol had sworn never to support any son of Fëanor after they kidnapped his daughter Lúthien and treacherously wounded Beren. Only Mablung and Beleg, two of Thingol's great captains, who did not wish to remain behind, came and joined the western army. However, Turgon unexpectedly came forth with ten thousand Elves from Gondolin.

Maedhros had mustered the largest force of Elves and allies ever, but his failures in statesmanship and diplomacy, combined with the ill deeds of his brothers alienated the single largest Elven force in Beleriand, King Thingol's army of Doriath, some 30,000–45,000 strong.^[1] The actions of Celegorm and Curufin deprived the Union of another 15,000–20,000 Elves of the army of Nargothrond. None doubted that Morgoth had not been idle and when every sword would be needed the loss of potentially 45,000 to 65,000 more warriors would prove crippling to Maedhros' plan.

Morgoth had learned of the battle plan through his spies and his agent Uldor son of Ulfang, who proved to be a traitor, delayed Maedhros and prevented the lighting of the signal beacon on Dorthonion. To further disrupt the coordination of Maedhros's plan a host of Orcs advanced forth from Angband to provoke Fingon's host in the west into a premature attack. When Fingon's host stayed in position, the Captains of the Orc-host brought forth a prisoner, Gelmir, the brother of Gwindor, and he was brutally slain within sight of the Elves. Enraged, Gwindor with the company of Elves from Nargothrond broke ranks, and carried forward most of Fingon's troops as well. The fury of their charge was so great that they overwhelmed the Orc-host driving it back to Thangorodrim and nearly foiling Morgoth's plans.

It is said that Morgoth trembled as Gwindor's company pounded at his gates. They burst through, and slew the guards on the steps of Angband. But then, they were surrounded by great forces, and all were slain or taken. From hidden gates around Angband the main host, thousands on thousands of Orcs erupted, driving back the host of Fingon from the walls. The Elven army was forced back with great slaughter. Many Men of Brethil fell in the rearguard, including their Chieftain Haldir.

Turgon, who had withheld his army from the reckless charge, now came upon the Orc-host. The phalanx of Turgon broke through the Angband lines, and met with the guard of Fingon, along with Húrin son of Galdor and the Fingon's host rallied.

Finally Maedhros and the main host came up, but before he could cut through to Fingon and Turgon, the last reserves of Angband under Glaurung the Dragon and Gothmog, Captain of Angband, Lord of Balrogs met him and drove the Elven hosts apart. Still the Elves might have won, but Uldor the Accursed, turned ranks and attacked Maedhros in the rear, while more of his kin came down from the mountains and attacked. The eastern host was scattered, and only the valour of the Dwarves of Belegost helped them escape, as their forces held off Glaurung, allowing the sons of Fëanor to flee to Amon Ereb.

Azaghâl King of Belegost and his army fought with fierce iron masks on, and they were able to resist the dragon fire far better those of any race, whether Elves or Men. Then Glaurung trampled Azaghâl beneath his feet, but Azaghâl stabbed Glaurung's stomach, and the dragon fled. With him fled many of the beasts of the host of Morgoth. In solemn ceremony the Dwarves picked up their fallen leader, leaving the battle, they marched his corpse home. Their wrath was so great that none troubled them.

The western host was surrounded by many Orcs under Gothmog.^[2] The Balrog broke through the ranks of Fingon's host, killed Fingon's guards. Gothmog fought a mighty duel with Fingon until another Balrog caught Fingon from behind with his whip and Fingon was slain.

In the throes of a battle lost, Húrin and Huor urged Turgon to retreat to Gondolin. At this meeting Huor prophesied to Turgon that out of both their houses a new star shall rise that would be the hope of Elves and Men, with a clear reference to Eärendil the Mariner. Huor, Húrin and the remaining Men of Dor-lómin 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 men of Húrin were all slain, but "of all the deeds of war that the fathers of Men wrought on behalf on the Eldar, the last stand of the Men of Dor-lómin was most renowned."^[3] Huor fell when his eye was pierced by a poisoned arrow and his brother Húrin was captured alive when he was pinned under a mountain of slain Orcs and Trolls after he had slain no fewer than seventy of Morgoth's trolls (and presumably many more enemies).

Morgoth's victory was complete, as he had destroyed all the warriors of Hithlum and had scattered the sons of Fëanor away from Himring. Morgoth's Orcs would soon after raze all of Beleriand except for Doriath, Nargothrond and Gondolin, and sack Himring and the havens of the Falas.

Morgoth betrayed his servants, the Easterlings, trapping them in Hithlum under penalty of death, and denied them the fertile lands of Beleriand. Still Morgoth knew fear, for Turgon, now High King of the Noldor after the death of Fingon in the battle, had survived, and his city Gondolin was still unknown to Morgoth. Also, while Morgoth had achieved a crushing and decisive victory over his enemies, his own forces had suffered heavy losses to achieve it, and it would be some time before his forces recovered to their full strength from it.

[edit] Order of Battle

Hosts of Angband:^[4]

• Vanguard: 80,000—100,000. One to two Orc-hosts, each 40,000–50,000 strong - sent to provoke Fingon into a premature attack from Hithlum in the west.
• Centre: 150,000—300,000. Main Host - three to six Orc-hosts, each 40,000–50,000 strong - sent to overwhelm Fingon as he pursued vanguard.
• Reserve: 100,000 Orcs with many auxiliaries. Two to four Orc-hosts, Balrogs, Trolls, Dragons, wolves and wolfriders. Additionally some Men in the Union change sides.

• Casualties: 200,000+^[5]

Hosts of the Union of Maedhros: ^[6]

• West wing - Host of Fingon = 42,500 to 56,000
  • Noldor of Hithlum: 15,000 to 20,000 Elves
  • Men of Dor-lómin: 12,000 to 15,000 Men of the House of Hador^[7]
  • Sindar of Mithrim: 1,000 to 3,000 Elves
  • Falas: 3,000 to 5,000 Elves of Círdan
  • Nargothrond: 500 to 1,000 Elves
  • Folk of Brethil: 1,000 to 2,000 Folk of Haleth^[8]
  • Gondolin: 10,000 Elves

• East wing - Host of Maedhros = 42,500(32.500) to 60,000(45.000)
  • Sons of Fëanor: 12,000 to 15,000 Elves
  • Men of Bór: 8,000 to 10,000 Men
  • Men of Ulfang: 10,000 to 15,000 Swarthy Men
  • Green Elves (Laiquendi):^{[citation needed]} 2,500 to 5,000
  • Dwarves: 10,000 to 15,000

• Casualties: 65,000+^[9]

[edit] Concept and creation

[edit] Later version of the Battle

The presented version of the story was drawn by Christopher Tolkien primarily from 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 aforementioned accounts.^[10] 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.

The major difference is that Morgoth does much better against the Elves in this version than he did in the old one. The entire element of the "machinations of Uldor" delaying Maedhros' march is removed, and Morgoth sends a second force to meet Maedhros and prevent him from joining with the other Elven lords. This version lacks the nearly explicit statement that the Elves would have won had it not been for the treachery of Men.

Christopher Tolkien does not venture a guess on why Tolkien made these changes, but it may be that he felt the Elves did much better against Morgoth than they reasonably should have (especially given the extreme length and difficulty of the later War of Wrath). This is all speculation, however.

[edit] Story development

The battle was from the beginning conceived by Tolkien to be the decisive point in the history of the Exiled Noldor. In the original outlines already appear the late arrival of the Sons of Fëanor, the escape of Turgon and, most important, the treachery of Men except the faithful folk of Úrin (Húrin), who are all slain. However, the sight of the battle is "the Vale of Fountains" that is from that time called "the Valley of Weeping Waters", and this is the second battle fought, not fifth.^[11] Preceding battle were introduced in stages, as well as particular aspects of the Nírnaeth.

[edit] Etymology

The name was taken from the Doom of Mandos: "Tears unnumbered ye shall shed...",^[12] which prophesied its disastrous outcome for the Elves and their allies. The Elvish form Nírnaeth Arnoediad (pronounced [ˈniːrnae̯θ arˈnœdi.ad]; in this case the digraph oe denotes a rounded variant of the sound [ɛ], more or less like German 'ö') comes from Sindarin, one of the languages invented by Tolkien, and translates to Tears Uncountable: nîn means 'tear(s)', in compound nírnaeth 'tears of woe'; prefix ar- bears the sense of 'beyond' and the root nod- means 'count', with o umlauted to œ by the following i.^[13] J. R. R. Tolkien often omitted the accent over the first vowel (due to haste or neglect), and this spelling was introduced into the published Silmarillion by Christopher Tolkien; in editorial text within later writings, as The War of the Jewels, he used the accented form.^[14]

The Elvish translation of the name itself was one of the most changeful within Tolkien's works. Originally it was given as Nínin-Udathriol, with Quenya variant Nieriltasinwa;^[15] later Tolkien experimented with roots in question and various negative prefixes: Nínin Unothradin, Nirnaith Únoth, N. Ornoth,^[16] N. Irnoth, N. Dirnoth^[17] and finally Nírnaeth Arnediad. The latter spelling is equally "correct" with Arnoediad and represents the pronunciation of the name in later Ages, when the [œ] sound was unrounded to [ɛ].

[edit] Influence

Tolkien survived the Battle of the Somme, where Britain lost a great fraction of a generation, due to unfamiliarity with German Empire tactics. [1] Britain eventually won the war, with help from the West. However, Tolkien has stated his stories contain no intentional allegory.

A possible influence from World War One, if one must be found, can be seen in the terming of the 5 Battles of Beleriand as Battles when each actually contains more than one battle and, like the Battle of the Somme, more properly might be called an Offensive.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Middle-earth warfare
• Easterlings (First Age)

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