Menegroth

Menegroth, also known as the Thousand Caves or Caves of Menegroth, was the capital city of Doriath, which was home to King Thingol and Queen Melian of the Sindarin people during the First Age.
Within it was the beautifully decorated Menelrond where Thingol's throne sat, and where he dispensed his judgments and eventually would be slain in FA 502. In the Ruin of Doriath, the caves were taken by the Sons of Fëanor in their pursuit of one of the Silmarils prior to the War of Wrath.
== History ==
=== Years of the Trees ===
In the years after the Battle of the Powers, the Teleri were scattered throughoutBeleriand in havens such as Falas or in forests of Region and Neldoreth. Their leader Elwë disappeared for a long time, in the woods with Melian, his beloved.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IV: "Of Thingol and Melian" Then, he reappeared with Melian, calling himself Thingol, and was urged to build a home for his people. He had the Dwarves of Belegost aid in the construction of a new fortress, dug into the western wall of the ravine above the river Esgalduin, and with only one entrance, high above the river, accessible by a great bridge of stone. It was named Menegroth or the Thousand Caves because of the extensive number of caverns and chambers, all of hewn stone, and beautifully decorated with carvings of beech trees and birds. These places included armories, treasures, smithies, and living quarters for both the Elves and Dwarves.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter X: "Of the Sindar"The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Menegroth, the Thousand Caves"
=== Years of the Sun ===
Menegroth and Doriath enjoyed peace for a long time as Thingol preferred isolation, ordering his people not to meddle in the affairs of the Ñoldor due to the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and the Quenya language was forbidden in his realm. Only with his kin in Nargothrond did Thingol remain in contact. He took no part in the later Battles of Beleriand relating to the struggle with Morgoth.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIII: "Of the Return of the Ñoldor"
In the fifth century of the Sun of the First Age, Beren Erchamion asked Thingol's daughter, Lúthien, for her hand in marriage, but the King demanded that Beren was to go on a quest to retrieve a Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown. Lúthien accompanied him on the quest to Angband and they succeeded in eventually retrieving the jewel; but the stakes were high. Carcharoth, a wolf guarding the Gates of Angband, bit off Beren's hand in which he was holding the Silmaril. The wolf ventured to Menegroth, ravaging the lands in his path, and broke through its boundaries. He was confronted by the brave Huan, the Great Hound of Valinor, on the north-east banks of Esgalduin and was killed in the brawl. The Silmaril was found in the wolf's stomach, after swallowing it in Beren's hand, and was given to King Thingol.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX: "Of Beren and Lúthien"
=== Sack of Doriath ===
Years later, Húrin Thalion brought the famed Nauglamír as a gift to Thingol. Thingol contemplated a plan to set the Silmaril into the Nauglamír. He offered a reward to the Dwarven craftsmen of Nogrod if they succeeded in setting the stone into the Nauglamír. A great desire for the Silmaril possessed the Dwarves and they formed a greed to own both the jewel and the Nauglamír. They finished the work and subsequently claimed the treasure for themselves, slew Thingol, and fled Menegroth. 
The news spread fast and the Dwarves were hunted for and then slain. Two escaped and and told a tale of lies about their betrayal and their brethren being slaughtered by the Elves. The Dwarves of Nogrod formed a great army and rose in anger at the elves and invaded the now unguarded Doriath. This led to the Battle of the Thousand Caves in which many were slain on both sides. Mablung, the leader of the guard, was slaughtered at the doors of the treasure chamber where the Nauglamír was held. The Dwarves of Nogrod were then waylaid at Sarn Athrad on their return by the Laiquendi led by Beren. Their King was slain by Beren in single combat and the remainder of their host were felled by Ents.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVIII: "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
== Lay of Leithian ==
...through corridors of carven dread
whose turns were lit by lanterns hung
or flames from torches that were flung
on dragons hewn in the cold stone
with jewelled eyes and teeth of bone.
Then sudden, deep beneath the earth
the silences with silver mirth
were shaken and the rocks were ringing,
the birds of Melian were singing;
and wide the ways of shadows spread
as into arched halls she led
Beren in wonder. There a light
like day immortal and like night
of stars unclouded, shone and gleamed.
A vault of topless trees it seemed,
whose trunks of carven stone there stood
like towers of an enchanted wood
in magic fast for ever bound,
bearing a roof whose branches wound
in endless tracery of green
lit by some leaf-imprisoned sheen
of moon and sun, and wrought of gems,
and each leaf hung on golden stems.
Lo! there amid immortal flowers
the nightingales in shining bowers
sang o'er the head of Melian,
while water for ever dripped and ran
from fountains in the rocky floor.
There Thingol sat. His crown he wore
of green and silver, and round his chair
a host in gleaming armour fair...
:―Lay of Leithian, lines 981-1011
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	መነግሮት
Arabic 	مينيجروث
Armenian 	Մենեգրոտհ
Assamese 	মেনেগ্ৰথ
Belarusian Cyrillic	Менегрот
Bengali 	মেনেগ্রথ
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Менегрот
Chinese 	叫明霓國斯
Danish 	Menegroth ("De Tusind Huler")
Georgian 	მენეგროთჰი
Greek 	Μενεγροθ
Gujarati 	મેનેગ્રોથ
Hebrew 	מנגרות
Hindi 	मेनेग्रोथ
Japanese 	メネグロス
Kannada 	ಮೆನೆಗ್ರಾಥ್
Kazakh 	Менегрот (Cyrillic) Menegrot (Latin)
Korean 	메네그로스
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Мэнэгрот
Macedonian Cyrillic	Менегрот
Malayalam 	മെനെഗ്രോത്ത്
Marathi 	मेनेग्रोथ
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Менегрот
Nepalese 	मेनेग्रोथ
Pashto 	مېنېګروته
Persian 	منه‌گروت
Punjabi 	ਮੇਨੇਗ੍ਰੋਥ
Russian 	Менегрот
Sanskrit 	मेनेग्रोथ्
Serbian 	Менегрот (Cyrillic) Menegrot (Latin)
Sinhalese 	මෙනෙග්‍රොථ්
Tajik Cyrillic 	Менегрот
Tamil 	மெநெக்ரொத்ஹ்
Tatar 	Менегрот
Telugu 	మెనెగ్రొథ
Thai 	เมเนกร็อธ
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Менегрот
Urdu 	مانیگروت
Uzbek 	Менегрот (Cyrillic) Menegroth (Latin)
Yiddish 	מענעגראָטה
== References ==
Category:Caves
Category:Doriath
Category:Doriathren words
Category:Elven cities
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ru:Менегрот