Wonders of the First Age
Menegroth
Probably the greatest city ever to exist in Middle-earth was the ancient Sindarin stronghold of Menegroth. THE SILMARILLION tells us that Thingol and his people originally lived in the
open woods of Neldoreth and Region. It was not until the third age of Melkor's captivity in
Valinor that Melian warned Thingol that Middle-earth would soon again be troubled by Melkor's
evil.
Thingol had by this time welcomed the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost to his domain, and he
was engaged in some trade with them. So he turned to the Dwarves of Belegost and asked them
to help him build a great fortress. THE SILMARILLION says:
...They gave it willingly, for they were unwearied in those days and eager for new
works...Therefore the Naugrim laboured long and gladly for Thingol, and devised for him
mansions after the fashion of their own people, delved deep into the earth. Where the Esgalduin flowed down, and parted Neldoreth from Region, there rose in the midst of the forest a rocky hill, and the river ran at its feet. There they made the gates of the hall of Thingol, and they built a bridge of stone over the river, by which alone the gates could be entered. Beyond the gates wide passages ran down to high halls and chambers far below that were hewn into the living stone, so many and so great that that dwelling was named Menegroth, the Thousand Caves.
There is no mention of any city like this Over Sea in Aman. Tuna upon Tirion rose high, and
Alqualondë was set in a natural harbor. Even Avallonë, built many centuries later, was nothing
like Menegroth. The city was unique to Middle-earth's cultures and history, an inspiration for the later city of Nargothrond and the halls of Thranduil in northern Mirkwood, but neither of these habitations approached the majesty and beauty of Menegroth.
THE SILMARILLION lacks the words to adequately describe the vision Tolkien must have held
of the city. He writes only:
...Elves and Dwarves together, each with their own skill, there wrought out the visions of Melian, images of the wonder and beauty of Valinor beyond the Sea. The pillars of Menegroth were hewn
in the likeness of the beeches of Oromë, stock, bough, and leaf, and they were lit with lanterns of gold. The nightingales sang there as in the gardens of Lorien; and there were fountains of silver, and basins of marble, and floors of many-coloured stones. Carven figures of beasts and birds
there ran upon the walls, or climbed upon the pillars, or peered among the branches entwined
with many flowers. And as the years passed Melian and her maidens filled the halls with woven
hangings wherein could be read the deeds of the Valar, and many things that had befallen in Arda since its beginning, and shadows of things that were yet to be. That was the fairest dwelling of any king that has ever been east of the Sea.
-83-
Parma Endorion
But Menegroth was never wholly finished. In time Thingol built armories for his warriors, and
after Morgoth had destroyed the realms of the Noldor Thingol set aside chambers for the
Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost when their strong companies visited the city.
Menegroth itself was not completely underground. The lands near the hill were apparently
heavily used by the Elves. The great tree Hirilorn stood in a garden on the north side of the river.
Thingol had a house built for Luthien in the branches of the tree, but he and Melian also had sat beneath the overhanging boughs. Turin came to them in this garden when he decided to leave
Menegroth. When Saeros waylaid Turin, the man was on the northern road, seeking to return to
the marches. No one heard their fight, but Turin chased Saeros back toward the river, and then
many Elves did hear them (and came running to see what was amiss).
Luthien prepares her escape from Hirilorn
Copyright © Anke Eissmann. Used by permission.
The greatest hall of Menegroth must have been Thingol's court, of which we see only glimpses in the stories. Beleg brought the Elf-maiden Nellas into Menegroth to testify on Turin's behalf in the death of Saeros, and "she was afraid, both for the great pillared hall and the roof of stone, and for the company of many eyes that watched her."
Beren, a generation before, had been brought into that same great hall by Luthien, and there
confronted Thingol and Melian on their thrones. On both occasions the hall was filled with many of Doriath's mightiest lords and warriors. The King of the Sindar in all his power must have
seemed stronger than any Noldorin king in Middle-earth.
But the time came at last when Menegroth was destroyed. The city was weakened in the feud
between Thingol and the Dwarves of Nogrod, who slew him in the chambers he had set aside for
them. The Dwarves fought their way out of the city but only two ever returned to Nogrod. And
then a Dwarf-army marched on Doriath, and Menegroth was taken and sacked. Its treasuries
were robbed and many of its people slain.
-84-
Essays On Middle-earth
Dior, Thingol's grandson, attempted to restore Menegroth to something of its former glory, but
the Sindar under Dior were much weaker (and fewer) than the Sindar under Thingol and Melian.
Melian had fled to Valinor in the wake of Thingol's death, and her power no longer protected or enriched the kingdom. Many of the great lords and captains had been slain, including Beleg
Cuthalion and Mablung.
It was thus possible for the sons of Fëanor to gather an army of Noldor and take the city in mid-winter, the last winter of Doriath's long existence. The Sindar who survived the battle fled south, abandoning their lands and taking with them a few memories of the greatest of cities. There was never another city like Menegroth in Middle-earth, and probably not in Aman either.
Gondolin
After Menegroth the most famous city of Beleriand was Gondolin. Gondolin's fame, perhaps,
arose only after its destruction, for while he lived Turgon did all that he could to protect the secret location of his beloved city. Only when Gondolin was destroyed could the Eldar begin to
share its secrets, and the memories of Gondolin like those of Menegroth could do it little justice.
Some hints about Gondolin were preserved in other stories, as when Thorondor carried Luthien
and Beren south from Angband, and Luthien "saw far below, as a white light starting from a green jewel, the radiance of Gondolin the fair where Turgon dwelt." Hurin and Huor saw the city but they did not reveal what they knew of it.
Tolkien's vision of Gondolin changed through the years, but in some ways it persisted as a
vibrant dream. He never abandoned the idea that it was built on a great hill in the circular valley of Tumladen; that there were many high towers, great fountains, houses built all around, and
fields of crops spreading across the valley to feed the city.
The Eldar (Noldor and Sindar) of Gondolin followed eleven great lords in the earliest story of
Gondolin, though in THE SILMARILLION we find only two named: Ecthelion and Glorfindel.
In "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin" we meet Elemmakil, friend of Voronwë the mariner.
Egalmoth was said to be one of the lords of Gondolin, and his name was included in the story of Tuor almost until the end (edited out by Christopher Tolkien for a technical reason).
The entrance to Gondolin lay through a dried river bed that flowed under the mountains at one
time. There were seven gates constructed there by the Eldar: The Gate of Wood, The Gate of
Stone, The Gate of Bronze, The Gate of Writhen Iron, The Gate of Silver, The Gate of Gold, and
The Gate of Steel. The first six gates were built when Gondolin itself was built, but Maeglin,
Turgon's nephew, built the Gate of Steel after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.
Turgon's people were skilled in many ways, and they adorned the gates and the city with images
of the Two Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, and of many flowers and creatures
(including a graven image of Thorondor on the fourth gate). Gondolin must have been a shining,
glittering jewel in many ways, adorned with gold, silver, pearl, marble, and even copper that was
"by some device of smithcraft...ever bright and gleamed as fire in the rays of the red lamps
-85-
Parma Endorion
ranged like torches along the wall."
Although not permitted to leave except by special permission of the king, Gondolin's people
ranged through the hills and valleys around the city in their work. Maeglin especially opened
many mines and ranged through the mountains (and so was caught in the end by Melkor's
servants).
Although the plain of Tumladen is described as flat, Gondolin itself seems to have had
"mounds...of mallorns, birches, and evergreen trees." There was a high wall around the city, and the Eldar would gather on it at times to celebrate great festivals. It was during one such festival, the Gates of Summer, when Melkor's forces stormed the city.
Some of the towers of Gondolin were destroyed in the fighting, and many of the great houses and the trees were ruined by fire. The majority of the inhabitants were slaughtered as they tried to escape, or defending themselves. But many were captured and taken into captivity, while nearly
a thousand escaped by Idril's secret path which led into the mountains.
Gondolin must nonetheless have been the strongest of the realms of the Noldor. Melkor sent
many dragons and the Balrogs against Turgon, and despite the ease with which he surprised
them, more of Turgon's people escaped than did of Fingolfin's, Finrod's, or perhaps even
Maedhros' people.
Khazad-dum
We never get to see Khazad-dum in its heyday. By the time Tolkien brings the reader to the great mansions of the ancient Dwarves, the halls are empty, except for Orcs. Gimli's deep voice must
have echoed through the empty tunnels and chambers as he sang for his companions an old
Dwarven folk-song:
The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone,
When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and dells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stooped and looked in Mirrormere,
And saw a crown of stars appear,
As gems upon a silver thread,
Above the shadow of his head.
How long ago was this episode? How old was Durin before he found a wife (as he plainly must
have, since he originally walked alone)? How long was it before he found the Mirrormere and
the entrance to the mighty caverns that he made his home?
We can infer a few points about ancient Dwarven history from what is told of their dealings with the Elves. For instance, we know that the Dwarves first entered Beleriand during the second age of Melkor's captivity in Valinor. According to THE WAR OF THE JEWELS, this was Year of
-86-
Essays On Middle-earth
the Trees 1250, which was 200 years after the awakening of the Elves (a period equal in length
to about 1900 Years of the Sun).
The Dwarven cities of Nogrod and Belegost, the two cities in the Ered Luin, were not founded
by Dwarves of Durin's Line, but instead were the homes of other Dwarves. They were most
likely the ancestral homes of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams, the two kindreds of the
Dwarves who awoke in the northern Ered Luin.
Khazad-dum engaged in trade with Nogrod and Belegost. Tales of Khazad-dum reached
Beleriand, though it is only briefly mentioned in THE SILMARILLION as being the greatest of
Dwarven cities. The ancient Dwarf-road that passed through the forest of Greenwood (later
Mirkwood) and through Eriador apparently carried traffic from Khazad-dum to other Dwarven
cities in the east.
And yet Khazad-dum was far to the south of the High Pass where the ancient road crossed the
mountains. This seems a little strange. One can only imagine the Dwarves had built a road north along the foot-hills of the Misty Mountains to reach the high pass. Or perhaps they followed the Silverlode down to Anduin and crossed the river by raft or boat. And wondering this, one cannot fail to ask whether Durin's folk were friendly with the Nandorin Elves who lived in the Vales of Anduin.
We know something of the life the Dwarves led in the First Age. They were, of course, miners
and stone-masons of exquisite and almost unrivaled skill. They smelted metals such as gold,
silver, iron, and probably copper and tin. They worked with crystal, unearthed gems of many
types, and even learned to make instruments such as trumpets and harps.
The city itself conducted trade mostly with the east. There was no West-gate until around the
year 750 of the Second Age. Dwarven merchants must also have trekked into the distant north.
The road passing through the forest ran to the Celduin and probably crossed the river by a bridge just as it crossed Anduin by a bridge. From the crossing point on Celduin the road turned
northeast and ran toward the Emyn Engrin, and from there ran eastwards to the other Dwarven
realms of the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots.
THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH tells us that Dwarves did indeed live well to the east of
Celduin, and that there was a city or gathering place for all the Dwarves at Mount Gundabad,
where they held enclaves. The lands of Durin's folk were selected for this honor because he was the eldest of the Dwarves and Gundabad was the place where he awoke.
How numerous could Durin's folk have been in the First Age? We can only guess. But the time
from the awakening of the Elves in Cuiviënen to the end of the First Age of the Sun was
equivalent to approximately 4900 Years of the Sun. Yet there was no mention of the Elves
encountering the Dwarves during the Great Journey. On the other hand, the Noegyth Nibin (the
Petty-Dwarves) claimed to have settled in Beleriand before the Elves arrived.
The Dwarves must have awoken soon after the Elves did, but their numbers were few and
increased only slowly. When they made contact with Durin some members of each tribe joined
-87-
Parma Endorion
him in Khazad-dum. As the years passed a few outcasts wandered west into Beleriand. The
Vanyar and Noldor entered Beleriand in Year of the Trees 1115, about 622 Years of the Sun
after the awakening of the Elves. The Teleri arrived in Year of the Trees 1128, or about 124
Years of the Sun after the Vanyar and Noldor.
The Noegyth Nibin could have entered Beleriand before the Vanyar and Noldor. But they could
also have entered after them and before the Sindar. Nonetheless, it is clear there had to be
Dwarves in Beleriand by Year of the Trees 1128, about 747 Years of the Sun after the awakening
of the Elves. If the Dwarves awoke within 10 Years of the Trees after the Elves, they would
have had the equivalent of a few centuries in Years of the Sun in which to find each other and to cast out the Noegyth Nibin.
Since Nogrod and Belegost were not founded until Year of the Trees 1250 (almost 2,000 Years
of the Sun after the awakening of the Elves), it seems evident the Firebeards and Broadbeams
must all have wandered east soon after they awoke. Perhaps all the Dwarves came together in
Khazad-dum with Durin first, and there built the first Dwarven city. When their numbers
became large enough, the six "younger" kings (descendants of the original fathers) could have led their peoples away from Khazad-dum to establish new ancestral homes for their peoples.
This could explain why the Eldar encountered no Dwarves on their journey. The only Dwarves
who would have left Khazad-dum by this time would have been the Noegyth Nibin.
So, what does this get us? Room to estimate a maximum probable population for Khazad-dum at
the end of the First Age of the Sun (some 3900 Years of the Sun after Durin might have
awoken). This would allow 45 - 48 generations for the Dwarves of Durin's Line to increase their numbers. By the time the Second Age started, there could have been upwards of 100,000
Dwarves living in Khazad-dum and more than 120,000 in most of each of the other Dwarven
cities (not including Nogrod and Belegost, which had by then suffered grievous losses in the
wars with Morgoth and the Elves).
Early in the Second Age Durin's folk were joined by most if not all of the Dwarves of Belegost, and many of the Dwarves of Nogrod. The population of Khazad-dum could have swelled to
500,000 or more by the end of the Second Age (but this estimate presupposes some changes in
Dwarven birth rates -- signaling the onset of the decline of the Dwarven race).
Population estimates aside, we know that Khazad-dum grew slowly through the long centuries.
The Dwarves added hall after hall and gradually extended their mines northward, especially after the discovery of Mithril sometime in the 7th or 8th centuries of the Second Age. The west-gate
was built during this time, after the Noldor of Eregion established their great friendship with the Dwarves of Khazad-dum (who undoubtedly were influenced by tales of the friendship between
the Noldor and the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost).
Tolkien wrote that Durin was reborn in his descendants six times. We know that Durin III was
King of Khazad-dum when the Rings of Power were made, and he led an army against Sauron in
the War of the Elves and Sauron. So it must have been Durin II who was king when Narvi and
Celebrimbor built the west-gate. The king at the end of the Second Age may have been Durin IV.
He marched with the Host of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.
-88-
Essays On Middle-earth
Khazad-dum continued to flourish in the Third Age even though the Eldar were in decline. The
west-gate may have been re-opened to allow trade with Arnor and, later, the peoples of Dunland.
When the realm of Angmar arose in the distant north and Amroth of Lorien sent armies over the
mountains to help the Dunedain, it may be the Dwarves gave aid to the Elves, or even permitted
Amroth's warriors to pass through Khazad-dum.
But in time the Dwarves awoke a Balrog with their tunneling. It must have tried to drive them
away at first, for they spent a year fighting it. Two Dwarven kings of Durin's Line perished
before the city was abandoned in Third Age 1981. How many battles did the Dwarves fight with
the Balrog and, perhaps, other creatures they found in the subterranean depths? Durin VI was
slain in 1980 and his son Nain I was killed the next year, the Year of Flight. The Dwarves were destroyed or driven off and their ancient mansions were left deserted but for the Balrog and other creatures which Gandalf described as "nameless things" which even Sauron didn't know, for
"they are older than he."
The Balrog assumed control of Khazad-dum, but some 500 or 600 years later Sauron sent Orcs
and Trolls to inhabit the city, possibly with the Balrog's consent. From that time forward
Khazad-dum was a stronghold and haven for the Orcs and it was known only by its ancient
Elvish name, Moria, "Black Pit". The Orcish army of Moria was destroyed at the Battle of Nanduhirion in 2799, but the Dwarves lacked the numbers after their 7-year war with the Orcs to retake the city (and probably could not have done so had their entire army attacked Moria in the first place).
The breeding Orcs were left behind and Moria's evil creatures recovered their numbers slowly,
but they may not have ever again equaled the great numbers that the Dwarves encountered in
2799. Many of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains perished 142 years later at the Battle of Five
Armies, and when Balin's colony was established in 2989 (a mere 47 years later) there were few
Orcs left to guard the citadel. They must have retreated to deeper caverns until the Balrog drove them to attack the Dwarves, perhaps with reinforcements from other Orcish strongholds.
From 2994 to 3018 Khazad-dum was undisturbed until Gollum entered the fortress to escape
Sauron's spies and the Elves of Mirkwood and Lorien. The Orcs either let him be or did not
know he was there. But they were soon after roused by the Company of the Ring. The Balrog
must have sensed the One Ring when it came into the eastern halls, if not sooner. The Orcs
pursued the Company into Lorien but were destroyed or driven off, and Gandalf was able to
defeat the Balrog in a single combat that lasted 11 days. In the course of the battle part of the mountain and Khazad-dum were destroyed.
Sometime in the Fourth Age (probably by the year 200) the Dwarves of Durin's Line returned to
Khazad-dum, most likely to spend the last of their generations there. Durin VII was the last king to bear that name and perhaps the last of his proud and ancient Line. Or perhaps not. In THE
PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH Christopher Tolkien points out that the life of Durin VII is
poorly documented, but that he apparently had descendants.
-89-
Parma Endorion
Wonders of the Second Age
The Statues of Dunharrow
One of the most amazing passages in THE LORD OF THE RINGS occurs in the chapter titled
"The Muster of Rohan". Tolkien introduces one of his numerous enigmas by allowing the reader to follow Merry's progress through Rohan toward the refuge of Dunharrow (OE Dun-harug, 'hill-sanctuary'). This scene contains one of the few glimpses we are provided of the Rohirrim in their homelands other than as Riders at war. But Tolkien uses the images to draw the reader's attention away from the Rohirrim toward this great mountain where Theoden has commanded Eowyn to
assemble the Muster of Rohan:
The road now led eastward straight across the valley, which was at that point little more than half a mile in width. Flats and meads of rough grass, grey now in the falling night, lay all about, but in front on the far side of the dale Merry saw a frowning wall, a last outlier of the great roots of the Starkhorn, cloven by the river in ages past.
Merry's attention is briefly diverted to the army of Riders, but since he cannot see much in the gloom he is brought back to the road before him:
...While he was peering from side to side the king's party came up under the looming cliff on the eastern side of the valley; and there suddenly the path began to climb, and Merry looked up in
amazement. He was on a road the like of which he had never seen before, a great work of men's
hands in years beyond the reach of song. Upwards it wound, coiling like a snake, boring its way across the sheer slope of rock. Steep as a stair, it looped backwards and forwards as it climbed.
Up it horses could walk, and wains could be slowly hauled; but no enemy could come that way,
except out of the air, if it was defended from above. At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge and clumsy-limbed, squatting
cross-legged with their stumpy arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at them. The Pukel-men they called them, and heeded them little: no power or terror was left in them; but Merry gazed at them with wonder and a feeling almost of pity, as they loomed up mournfully in the dusk.
After a while he looked back and found that he had already climbed some hundreds of feet above
the valley, but still far below he could dimly see a winding line of Riders crossing the ford and filing along the road towards the camp prepared for them. Only the king and his guard were going up into the Hold.
At last the king's company came to a sharp brink, and the climbing road passed into a cutting
between walls of rock, and so went up a short slope and out on to a wide upland. The Firienfield men called it, a green mountain-field of grass and heath, high above the deep-delved courses of the Snowbourn, laid upon the lap of the great mountains behind: the Starkhorn southwards, and
northwards the saw-toothed mass of Irensaga, between when there faced the riders, the grim black wall of the Dwimorberg, the Haunted Mountain rising out of steep slopes of somber pines.
Dividing the upland into two there marched a double line of unshaped standing stones that
dwindled into the dusk and vanished in the trees. Those who dared to follow that road came soon
-90-
Essays On Middle-earth
to the black Dimholt under Dwimorberg, and the menace of the pillar of stone, and the yawning
shadow of the forbidden door.
Such was the dark Dunharrow, the work of long-forgotten men. Their name was lost and no song
or legend remembered it. For what purpose they had made this place, as a town or secret temple
or a tomb of kings, none could say. Here they laboured in the Dark Years, before ever a ship
came to the western shores, or Gondor of the Dunedain was built; and now they had vanished,
and only the old Pukel-men were left, still sitting at the turnings of the road.
Merry stared at the lines of marching stones: they were worn and black; some were leaning, som