There is perhaps no story more central to Tolkien’s lore yet to appear in the films adapted from his work than The Silmarillion. The story predates the hobbit in the timeline and discusses many of the events before and during the First Age of Middle-earth. While The Silmarillion Often associated with the epic love story of Beren and Luthien, the span of the book (and of the subsequent information that both Tolkien and his son released about this period) is much broader, covering a whole series of events.
One of these (which actually encapsulates many of the others in it) is The War of the Jewels, also known as the Battles of Beleriand. These were conflicts that were fought over the Silmarils in the early Middle-earth. Since there is a chance that some of the First Age events will be covered in: The Silmarillion under which The War of the Jewels could be featured – or at least mentioned – in Amazon’s upcoming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerit might be good to take a quick crash course on what all these ancient events are, starting with the battles at Beleriand.
These conflicts took place during the Elderly Days, a term that refers to the time before the First Age. These battles specifically consisted of the Noldor (the second clan of Elves to come to the world) trying to reclaim the Silmarils from the clutches of Morgoth, the embodiment of evil in the world. The Silmarils were three gems made by Fëanor, a noted Noldor craftsman. These jewels were very beautiful, and in them was held something of the Light of Valinor from the Two Trees of Valinor. They were sanctified so that no mortal or evil hands could touch them without burning and withering. Unfortunately, they became infected with arrogance and lust when someone desperately desired them, which started with Morgoth and even led to Fëanor himself longing for them.
When Morgoth (first named Melkor) destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor, the Silmarils were the only things left that contained the light of the Two Trees. The Valar wanted Fëanor to give up the Silmarils to restore the Two Trees, but he refused. Shortly afterwards, the news came that Melkor had murdered Fëanor’s father and stolen the Silmarils, fleeing to his fortress in Angband. Fëanor was clearly furious with Melkor (whom he now called Morgoth), as well as with the Valar for believing that they also wanted to steal the Silmarils. He and his sons swore to go to war against anyone who withheld the Silmarils from them.
Fëanor, along with many of the Noldor, went to Middle-earth in search of Morgoth to fight with him for the gems. There were five massive battles fought against Morgoth, causing much loss to both men and elves, but the Noldor continued to fail and were unable to defeat Morgoth. Finally, one of the Silmarils was taken by Beren and Luthien, who then gave it to Eärendil (the husband of their granddaughter Elwing), who took him to the Valar in the West. Then they placed this Silmaril in the sky as The Star of Eärendil, of which Galadriel caught the light in her mirror and put some of it in a vial as a gift to Frodo in Under the spell of the Ring.
The other two Silmarils were still held by Morgoth and were not recovered until after the War of Wrath, the final of the Battles of Beleriand. This battle, often called the Great Battle, was waged against Morgoth by the men, elves, and dwarves of Middle-earth. It resulted in the end of Mogroth’s reign when he was eventually defeated, as well as the end of the First Age. It is one of the greatest battles ever to take place in Arda, devastating Beleriand, the northwestern part of Middle-earth, to the point that it sank beneath the ocean. Though Morgoth was defeated, some of his troops remained, such as Orcs, and they eventually grew in power under Sauron’s reign only to cause trouble later.
The two Silmarils taken from Morgoth were then stolen (or reclaimed, from their perspective) by the two sons of Fëanor. However, the jewels burned their hands just as they had burned Morgoth’s hands, refusing to be possessed by the sons. One son threw himself and one of the Silmarils into a fiery pit, while the other son threw his gem into the ocean. Poetically, this meant that the three Silmarils now each lived in one of the three realms of Arda: the sky, the earth, and the sea. In a way, it almost seems that all the battles and losses were in vain when the Silmarils were finally held by no one. But perhaps this was the best plan for them all along: that the Silmarils be totally out of reach of anyone else who might covet them, so that no more conflict would be fought over the gems.
0 Comments