With Morgoth pressing his attack upon the North of Beleriand, Barahir Chieftain of the
House of Beor, refused to leave their homeland of Ladros, sending his wife to lead the women
and children away, while the warriors remained to defend their realm.
Though soundly defeated, Barahir survived alongside 12 companions who went on to live
as outlaws in the wilderness, attacking Morgoth's forces whenever possible.
Unfortunately, they were soon betrayed by one of their own men, Gorlim the unhappy,
resulting in the death of all the companions save for Barahir's son Beren, who was off
on an errand at the time of the massacre.
With his father and friends gone, Beren made his way south into Doriath where he encountered
Luthien Tenuviel, daughter of King Thingol and Queen Melian the Maia, believed to have
been the most beautiful Elven maiden to ever exist.
*with a voice so beautiful snows melted when she sang, and an aura so pure spring followed
her as she walked.* Beren and Luthien fell madly in love, and
so the son of Barahir was eventually summoned before the royal court of Doriath, where he
introduced himself as Chieftain of the House of Beor, presenting the ring of Felagund to
demonstrate the friendship his father had earned from
a daughter would marry a mortal human and therefore devised an impossible task that
he demanded as bride.
Before the entire court the King decreed that Beren must retrieve a Silmaril jewel from
the iron crown of Morgoth, and return it to Doriath in order to be deemed worthy of marriage
to Luthien.
But Beren was not phased by the demand, replying coolly "For little price do Elven-kings
sell their daughters: for gems, and things made by craft.
But if this be your will, Thingol, I will perform it."
Afterwards, Queen Melian warned her husband, that becoming involved with the Silmarils
would doom them, as the sons of Feanor had long ago vowed to retrieve all 3 at any cost,
and would never allow Thingol to have one in his possession.
Nevertheless, the challenge was issued, and so Beren travelled west to Nargothrond, where
he met with King Finrod Felagund, who recognized him as an ally and did not need the ring for
verification.
Finrod, bound by the oath given to Barahir, put his crown aside and agreed to help Beren
in his mission.
However as they travelled towards Angband, Sauron became alerted to their presence and
engaged in a wondersous battle with Finrod, where they each used magic to sing songs of
power, clashing in a piercing and treacherous sway of lethal force.***
Unfortunately, Finrod was ultimately defeated, leading to their imprisonment in a dark dungeon
where the only thing they sometimes saw were the yellow eyes of a werewolf coming to devour
one of the prisoners.
Sauron believed this would encourage them to reveal their purpose for travelling into
these lands, but none of the companions betrayed their king.
When only Finrod and Beren were left, the werewolf again came, but this time then Elven
King summoned the last of his strength and burst forth, breaking his chains to slaying
the beast with his bare hands.
Yet he suffered fatal wounds in the struggle, and so said a final goodbye to his friend
and ally before passing away.
Far from the shadow lands of Morgoth, Luthien felt the terrible pain of her beloved Beren,
and left Doriath to seek him out, though she did not have to journey alone, as she encountered
Huan the wolfhound of Valinor, who became her companion.
Travelling together to Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Huan defeated Draugluin, Lord of werewolves before
facing off against Sauron who took the form of a werewolf and snake before realizing he
was defeated and became a bat to fly away.
Luthien then found beren in a dark prison, and the two were at last reunited, burying
Finrod before departing.
Continuing together, on the quest for the Silmaril, they overcame many hardships such
as a hostile encounter with Celegorm and Curufin, two of the sons of feanor, but eventually
reached the fortress of Angband and snuck into Morgoth's lair.
Entranced by Luthien's magic, the Dark Lord was put to sleep, allowing Beren to successfully
cut a simaril from his iron crown.
Elated by his success, he then attempted to take a second simaril, but the blade broke
causing a shard of steel to cut Morgoth's cheek and stir him awake.
As they ran for their lives, they were confronted by the werewolf Carcharoth, and so Beren pulled
out the simaril, hoping it's brilliant light would scare it away, but instead the creature
bit off his hand, swallowing the jewel and going mad as it burned his insides.
Carcharoth went on a rampage through the forest while Beren and Luthien were then saved by
the Eagles, who were learned of their situation from Huan the Hound.
Although Beren initially failed to recover the Simaril, Thingol saw his value, and deemed
him worthy of marrying his daughter.
Now accepted into the family, the King organized a great hunt to slay the beast Carcharoth,
only for the beast to target them in return, attacking Thingol.
However Beren saw the beast approaching and threw himself between them, suffering a fatal
wound before Huan the Hound charged forth and killed the werewolf.
Yet the Hound also suffered severe injuries, using the last of his strength to walk over
to Beren and lay by his side before dying.
One of Thingol's men then cut open the werewolf and removed the simaril to place it in Beren's
hand as he died, so he might fulfil his vow and present the jewel to the King.
Arriving in the Halls of Mandos, Beren refused to depart for the human afterlife without
saying a final goodbye to woman he loved, and similarly, without him in her life, Luthien
gave into despair and soon followed him into the grave.
She too then arrived in the Halls of Mandos, where she sang a beautiful song of such sorrow
she caught the attention of the Valar, who consulted with Eru the creator and decided
to present her with a choice.
Either Luthien could continue on like other elves, with her fate tied to this world, or
else she could be reborn alongside Beren in middle earth, destined to live a mortal life,
and share in the fate of men.
Rejecting the gift of immortality, she spent the rest of her life with Beren in Tol Galen
of Ossiriand, where they had a son they named Dior, who was named heir to his grandfather
King Thingol.
For thousands of years the tale of Beren and Luthien inspired and enthralled the peoples
of middle earth, as a shining example of a love so strong none could stand between them.
Further it was the first known marriage between a human and elf, creating a bloodline that
would endure until the end of the world.
In the lands of Dor Lomin, where the House of Hador lived in peace next to the Noldor
Elves under High King Fingon, the brothers Hurin and Huor were born to the tribe chieftain
Galdor the Tall.
In their youth they were sent to be fostered with their mother's people in the forest
of Brethil, where they joined a warparty to battle the Orcs encroaching on their lands.
Yet they were soon cut off from their allies and pushed back to the river Sirion, only
able to survive because of the intervention of the Vala Ulmo who sent a mist to cover
their escape.
The eagles then arrived and carried them to Gondolin, where King Turgon welcomed them
and after swearing oaths to keep the cities location secret, were returned to Dor-Lomin.
Sometime later, their homeland fell under attack by the armies of Morgoth, leading to
the death of Lord Galdor to leave Hurin as the new Lord of the territory
Marrying Morwen, Hurin fathered a son Turin and daughter Urwin, though the girl died of
a plague caused by the Evil Breath, a foul wind sent by Morgoth, which was only the beginning
of the misery the Dark One would inflict up this family.
Huor however was spared from many of his brother's hardship, fathering Tuor a great warrior who
went on to marry an elf maiden and father a line of Half Elven heroes which included
such names of legend as Earendil the Mariner, Elrond of Rivendell, and Elros of Numenor.
Yet while Huor's line would thrive for thousands of years to come, the Children of Hurin were
fated for tragedy.
With Morgoth now in control of the North, Maedhros, eldest son of Feanor set out to
unify the remaining realms of elves, humans and dwarves to defeat this threat and reclaim
their lands.
And so began the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in the year 472 of the First Age, seeing the Union
of Maedhros divided into two hosts, with the sons of feanor in the east alongside the Green
Elves of Ossiriand, the human tribes of Bor and Ulfang called easterlings, and the Dwarves
of Nogrond and Belegost.
While High King Fingon led their western army, comprised of Noldor Elves of Hithlum, the
Sindar Elves of the Falas, the men of House Hador from Dor-lomin, and the men of House
Haladin from the Forest of Brethil.
After Finrod's death, his sibling Orodreth became King of Nargothrond, yet he refused
to join the Union due to his hatred for two of the sons of Feanor, Celegorm and Curufin,
who had conspired against his elder brother.
Nevertheless a small company of elven warriors disagreed with the decision and followed Prince
Gwindor to join the western army.
Doriath also refused to take part in the offensive being planned, as Thingol was in possession
of a silmaril jewel making him an enemy of the sons of Feanor, and so only the adventurers
Mablung and Beleg departed the realm to join up with Fingon's forces.
The plan for battle called for those following Maedhros in the east to march directly into
Anfauglith, expecting the Dark Lord to release his armies, so that the western host might
crush them from the other side.
However Morgoth's spies informed him of their intentions, allowing him to prepare
his forces and concoct a plan of his own.
First he sent a great army of Orcs, Trolls, dragons, balrogs and other dark creatures
to waylay the eastern army, and prevent them from arriving on time, while a smaller army
of orcs was sent directly into Anfauglith to challenge Fingon into abandoning his defensive
position and charging forward.
However the high King did not take the bait, and was soon reinforced by the late arrival
of 10,000 warriors under Turgon of Gondolin.
Although the original plan was in shambles, Fingon felt they could still achieve victory
and so continued to keep their full strength hidden.
And so the Orcs brought out an old prisoner they'd held since the Dagor Bragollach named
Gelmir, who happened to be the brother of Gwindor who led the men from Nargothrond.
Gelmir was then slowly dismembered for all to see, causing his brother to go mad with
rage, breaking ranks and charging forward alongside his men.
Fingon, seeing their lines starting to break, authorized a full attack, with Gwindor at
the forefront, leading a slaughter so devastating, the orc army was pushed back all the way into
Angband.
But this was precisely what the Dark Lord wanted, and so finally unleashed his massive
Orc army upon them.
Meanwhile, the Union forces in the east were defeated after the human tribe of Ulfang betrayed
them partway through the battle, making a separate deal with the Dark Lord to be given
control of Hithlum.
Though utterly vanquished, some were able to escape slaughter due to the courage of
their Dwarven allies who proved better able to withstand dragonfire, holding the line
while Elves and humans retreated.
After their victory in the east, Morgoth's army joined the fighting at Angband, where
Fingon's forces were already in retreat.
Overwhelmed by the onslaught of enemies, many perished in the fighting, including High King
Fingon, who fell to Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs.
Upon seeing the death of the king, Hurin, Huor and the men of Dor-lomin charged forward
and sacrificed themselves to allow Turgon and the elves of Gondolin to escape, resulting
in the death of Huor and capture of Hurin.
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