War of Wrath

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War of Wrath
File:Perkan Pickman - War of Wrath.jpg
Conflict: War of Wrath
Date: c. F.A. 545 - 587
Place: Beleriand
Outcome: Decisive victory for the Host of the Valar, Drowning of Beleriand, Expulsion of Morgoth from Arda
Combatants

Morgoth and his minions, including Balrogs, Orcs, and Dragons

The Host of the Valar, including the Vanyar and Eärendil

Commanders

Template:Morgoth blazon

Template:Eärendil blazon Template:Finarfin blazon

Strength

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions

Hundreds of thousands

Casualties

Virtually entire force

Unknown, but probably light

The War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, was the final battle against Morgoth at the end of the First Age, and one of the greatest battles ever fought in all of Middle-earth.

Prelude

500 years into the First Age, Morgoth had become mighty in Middle-earth, not least because of the strife among the Noldor. The mariner Eärendil, wearing the Silmaril on his brow, came to Valinor, the first with mortal blood to set foot there, and begged the Valar to help the enslaved Elves and Men of Middle-earth.

The Valar were moved by Eärendil's plea, and along with the Vanyar and Noldor that were in Valinor, riding in the ships of the Teleri, came to Middle-earth in a mighty host. They marched across Beleriand, and met the forces of Morgoth in the plains of Anfauglith.

The Great Battle

The Valar and the Elves destroyed the Balrogs, all save a few who fled and hid themselves, and the armies of Orcs likewise. While the Three Houses of the Edain fought with the Valar, many other Men fought against them and perished. Facing defeat, Morgoth released his ultimate weapon, the winged Dragons, which had never been seen before, and drove the Valar back. The leader of these dragons was the powerful Ancalagon the Black.

Then Eärendil came with his sky-ship Vingilot, along with the Eagles, and they fought the dragons, in the end slaying Ancalagon, the mightiest of dragon horde, who broke the towers of Thangorodrim in his fall.

Morgoth was captured hiding in the deepest dungeon of Angband and bound with his old chain Angainor; the two Silmarils still in his possession were taken by the Maia Eönwë and guarded (whence they were later stolen by Maedhros and Maglor). In the end the Valar thrust him "through the Door of Night, beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void", where he remains until the Last Battle and the Day of Doom. Only then shall he be utterly destroyed.

File:Doors of Night.jpg
"The Doors of Night" by John Howe.

Aftermath

The wreckage of the war was immense; most of the land west of the Ered Luin was laid waste and soon after sank beneath the waves. Most of the Elves went to the West, while others went East. The Valar raised up the island of Númenor in the Western Sea as a new home for the Edain.


War of the Great Jewels
First Battle · Dagor-nuin-Giliath · Dagor Aglareb · Dagor Bragollach · Nirnaeth Arnoediad · War of Wrath