Blind Read Through: J.R.R. Tolkien; The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Doriath, Part 2

“Thus it came to pass that when the Dwarves of Nogrod, returning from Menegroth with diminished host, came again to Sarn Athrad, they were assailed by unseen enemies; for as they climbed up Gelion’s banks burdened with the spoils of Doriath, suddenly all the woods were filled with the sound of elven-horns, and shafts sped upon them from every side. There very many of the Dwarves were slain in the first onset; but some escaping from the ambush held together, and feld eastwards towards the mountains. And as they climbed the long slopes beneath Mount Dolmed there came forth the Shephers of the Trees, and they drove the Dwarves into the shadowy woods of Ered Lindon: whence, it is said, came never one to climb the high passes that led to their homes.”

Welcome back to another Blind Read! This week we come back to the tragic conclusion of the Ruin of Doriath and understand how the races came to hate each other.

Last week we left off with the murder of King Thingol in his very chambers. The power of the Silmaril, which the Dwarves forged into Nauglamir, was too great and created envy that overrode their memory and senses. They were suddenly angry because they felt Thingol didn’t deserve Nauglamír, as it was a gift to Finrod made by the Dwarves. So when Thingol asked them to reforge it with the Silmaril, they did so without hesitation. Still, after giving it back, the absence of the light of Valinor made them regret their decision, so they struck Thingol down, took Nauglamír, and fled Menegroth.

But they were “pursued to the death as they sought the eastward road, and the Nauglamír was retaken, and brought back in bitter grief to Melian the Queen.” Her thoughts grew dark, “and she knew that her parting from Thingol was the forerunner of a great parting and that the doom of Doriath was drawing neigh.”

In her grief, her magic waned, and the Girdle protecting Doriath fell, “and Doriath lay open to its enemies.” So she gave Nauglamír, inlaid with the Silmaril, to Mablung and asked him to send word to Beren and Lúthien, then “she vanished out of Middle-earth, and passed to the land of the Valar beyond the western sea, to muse upon her sorrows in the gardens of Lórien, whence she came.“

Two dwarves escaped the attack on the murderers of Thingol, however, and went back to their kin in Nogrod. These Dwarves vowed vengeance and gathered a great host to march on Doriath, “and there befell a thing most grievous among the sorrowful deeds of the Elder Days.”

The Dwarves lost many of their kin in the battle in Menegroth, but they sacked the city; “ransacked and plundered.” Finally, they killed Mablung and took back Nauglamír and the Silmaril.

Word spread quickly of the terrible act the Dwarves perpetrated, and soon Beren and Lúthien heard of it. So Beren gathered his son Dior and a host of Green Wood Elves and went after the Dwarves; their confrontation is the opening passage of this essay.

They slaughtered the Dwarves, Beren himself killing the King of Nogrod. Then, finally, the Elves and Beren drowned the treasure of Menegroth in the river Ascar, all that is, but Nauglamír and the Silmaril.

Now the Silmaril was back in his hands, the item he fought so hard to win Lúthien’s hand in marriage by cutting it out of Morgoth’s crown. He took it to Lúthien, and she wore it for protection, and “it is said and sung that Lúthien wearing that necklace and that immortal jewel was the vision of greatest beauty and glory that has ever been outside realm of Valinor.”

Dior, Thingol’s heir, took it upon himself to bring the glory of Doriath back. So he brought his wife Nimloth, his boys Eluréd and Elurín, and his daughter Elwing to Menegroth, and there he became the new King of Doriath and raised a new kingdom there.

There, in Menegroth, Dior brought greatness back until one day a group of Green Elves came calling. They brought with them Nauglamír and the Silmaril. Proof that Beren and Lúthien, his parents, had passed from the world of Men and Elves. “But the wise have said that the Silmaril hastened their end, for the flame of the beauty of Lúthien as she wore it was too bright for mortal hands.“

Dior knew this, but the call of the Silmaril was too strong, so he began to wear it, and in doing so, the Silmaril called for another end of Doriath.

The Sons of Fëanor laid a new claim to the Silmaril and demanded that Dior relinquish the jewel. When he refused, “Celegorm stirred up his brothers to prepare an assault on Doriath.”

They fought a battle that all would remember. Celegorm, Curufin, and dark Caranthir all died by Dior’s hand, but they, in turn, killed the new king of Doriath and Dior’s wife, Nimloth. The “cruel servants of Celegorm” also took Dior’s boys Eluréd and Elurín and set them to be lost and starve in the woods. The only survivor of the household was Elwing, who was given Nauglamír, and fled to the sea at the mouth of the River Sirion.

“Thus Doriath was destroyed, and never rose again.”

The sons of Fëanor sought, all the way back when they were still in Valinor, to gain the three gems known as the Silmarils their father made. The light of the trees of Valinor infused within them gave a longing call to the life they once had lived. So they spent more time on Beleriand than they did in Valinor, pining for the gems which reminded them of the world they left behind.

The Murder of the King of Nogrod also had a lasting effect on the Dwarves, and because of their stubbornness was something their race never forgot, even though the whole war was pretty much their fault in the first place. Beyond that, the Elves have proven time and time again that they can’t trust anyone, not even their own kin.

I find it fascinating that the whole world was turned upside down because of these artifacts that were only sought because of their beauty. They were created to be an homage to the light of Valinor, and they became the destruction of Beleriand. The strange part about that is that they don’t hold any specific power; it’s just that they are beautiful, which shows the ignorant and selfish nature of the Elves. They are called the Children of Ilùvatar, and that is precisely how they act, like petulant children who can’t share.

Only two chapters are left, and one has to wonder where the Valar are. Will Melian inform them about how bad the infighting had gotten? How will Morgoth be handled? Where will Elwing and the Silmaril end up next?

Let’s find out next week as we dive into “Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin.”