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Vinyarion

2009-01-21T19:45:25Z

Gondolin:

'''Vinyarion''' (1391 - 1621) was the son of King [[Aldamir]] of [[Gondor]]. In his father's time, war erupted between Gondor and the southern lands, and Aldamir was slain in that war. Vinyarion led Gondor's armies to avenge Aldamir's death, and overran the [[Haradrim]]. In token of this great victory, Vinyarion ruled under the name [[Hyarmendacil II]], a name meaning '[[South-victor]]'.

[[category:Rulers of Gondor]]
[[category:Dúnedain]]

Battle of Dale

2007-10-11T17:19:53Z

Gondolin:

{{battle
|name=Battle of Dale
|image=
|conflict=Sauron attempting to expand his power.
|date=March 17th - March 25th, [[Third Age 3019|T.A. 3019]]
|place=Outside Dale and then the [[Lonely Mountain]]
|result=Easterlings were driven out of Dale after a long siege.
|side1=[[Men]] of Dale and likely [[Esgaroth]], and [[Dwarves]] of Erebor and maybe the [[Iron Hills]]
|side2=[[Easterlings]]
|commanders1=[[Brand]] and [[Dáin Ironfoot]] then [[Bard II]] and [[Thorin III Stonehelm]]
|commanders2=[[Sauron]], probably some Easterling chieftain.
|forces1=Possibly 4,000 Dwarves from Erebor and maybe some from the Iron Hills and some from the Grey Mountains; Somewhere around 600 hundred Men of Dale and probably Men from Esgaroth as well.
|forces2=Estimated 70,000 Easterlings.
|casual1=[[Brand]] and [[Dáin Ironfoot]] and many Dwarves and Men, we know that.
|casual2=Thousands, almost the entire force.
}}
The [[Dwarves]] of the [[Lonely Mountain]] and the [[Men]] of [[Dale]] refused to acknowledge the Overlordship and alliance of Sauron. While his southern armies menaced Gondor, he sent an army north to extend his dominion to prevent the armies of his enemies joining together under one banner, which could have proved disastrous for [[Mordor]].

On March 17th of the year 3019 in the [[Third Age]], [[Sauron]] sent a large contingent of [[Easterlings]] to attack Dale. The combined forces of the Men of Dale under King [[Brand]] and the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain under King [[Dáin II Ironfoot|Dáin Ironfoot]] marched out to meet the Easterlings in battle. Sauron's forces were probably more numerous, though the army of Dale would have possessed an advantage due to their superior Dwarven-made weaponry. After three days of heavy close-quarters fighting, they were forced to retreat to the Lonely Mountain.

A few sturdy warriors led by Brand and Dáin fought bravely before the [[Gate of Erebor]], which was not taken. In the end, Dáin was killed as he stood defending the body of his ally Brand. Meanwhile, the defenders of the Mountain were able to withstand the siege, until the Easterlings broke into Erebor, than the Dwarves and Men of Dale were overthrown.

However, to the misfortune of the southern Easterlings, the forces of [[Gondor]] and Rohan defeated the main power of Sauron in the Morannon theatre on March 25th, causing the northern army to lose patience. Seeing the morale of their foes being sapped by news of victory in the south, the Army of Dale under the new Kings — Bard II and [[Thorin III Stonehelm]] — managed to lift the siege on March 27th and drove the Easterlings out of Dale.

The battle was incredibly important in the course of the [[War of the Ring]]: if Sauron's Easterling armies hadn't had the Dwarves and Men of Dale to fight, they would have been able to join up with Sauron's forces from [[Dol Guldur]] in their attacks on the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood and Lothlorien, tipping the scales in favor of Mordor. This would have enabled the Mordor-armies to flank the forces of Gondor and Rohan from the North and rear. [[Gandalf]] himself commented that had the Battle of Dale been lost this way, the forces of the West would have been crushed regarless of the victory at the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]].

{{wotr}}

[[Category:Conflicts of the Third Age]]

Orcrist

2007-06-16T17:41:57Z

Gondolin:

[[Image:Audrey Corman - Orcrist.jpg|thumb|''Orcrist'' by [[Audrey Corman]].]]
'''Orcrist''' was the weapon of the king of [[Durin's folk]] [[Thorin Oakenshield]] from [[Tolkien]]'s novel, ''[[The Hobbit]]''. The only description of it is in the above mentioned book, that it had a fancy scabbard and a jeweled hilt.

In [[Sindarin]] Orcrist is said to mean "[[Goblin-cleaver|Goblin Cleaver]]", ([[Goblins|Goblin]] being a synonym for [[Orcs|Orc]] used mainly in The Hobbit). Goblins called the blade '''[[Biter]]'''. Many of the famed weapons in Tolkien's stories had names, such as [[Glamdring]], [[Narsil]] and [[Sting]] (see chart below). It was crafted by the [[Elves]], who not only made it a valuable weapon, also a feared one, particularly among traditional enemies of the Elves: Orcs and other evil creatures of Middle-earth. Like Glamdring and Sting, the blade could detect the presence of Orcs and warn its bearer by glowing blue.

As the "mate" to King [[Turgon]]'s sword [[Glamdring]], Orcrist was likely borne by a high ranking lord in the King's entourage. Ten possibilities present themselves: [[Maeglin]], [[Tuor]], [[Ecthelion of the Fountain]], [[Penlod]], [[Egalmoth of the Heavenly Arch|Egalmoth]], [[Salgant]], [[Duilin of Gondolin|Duilin]], [[Galdor of the Tree|Galdor]], [[Rog]], and [[Glorfindel of Gondolin|Glorfindel]]. Since Maeglin presumably still had his father's sword, Anguirel, it was not his. Duilin bore a bow, while Galdor carried a club and Rog a mace. Tuor seems to have come to [[Gondolin]] after [[Glamdring]] had been forged (see Unfinished Tales), and if this was the mate it should have been forged before his arrival as well. In any case, Tuor bore an axe, not a sword. Glorfindel died outside of the city; Ecthelion perished in Gondolin as he slew [[Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs]]. Because he is the only one of the four lords mentioned in the Silmarillion that seem possible, the most accepted assumption is that Orcrist belonged to Ecthelion, but this is never stated explicitly in any of Tolkien's writings. The other remaining ones, Penlod, Egalmoth, and Salgant, are also possible, though none are mentioned in the Silmarillion and are only found in the [[Fall of Gondolin]].

In ''The Hobbit'', Thorin is mortally wounded at the [[Battle of Five Armies]]. After his death Orcrist is placed upon Thorin's tomb and that it "gleamed ever in the dark if foes approached" (''The Hobbit'' Chapter 18, "The Return Journey").

{{weapons}}

[[Category:Weapons]]
[[Category:Swords]]
[[Category:Gondolin and Turgon]]