Battle in the Thousand Caves

In the late First Age, the Dwarves of Nogrod fought a battle in the Thousand Caves against the Kingdom of Doriath, attempting to take by force the Nauglamír, along with the Silmaril set in it.
==History==
===Prelude===
After the two treasures were brought together, Thingol sought to take it and set about it in his neck, but the Dwarves withheld it from him, saying that he had not the right to do so as it was a Dwarven heirloom taken from Nargothrond by theft. Then in a gesture of great pride, Thingol scorned the Dwarves as inferiors undeserving in comparison to himself and proceeded to speak ill of them, deeming they should be gone out of his realm forever. Insulted and ever wanting the Silmaril, the Dwarves' hearts kindled to rage. They fell upon him, and there was a great battle within the palace; Thingol was seemingly defeated. The Dwarves of Nogrod took the Nauglamír and the Silmaril but were driven out of the fortress.
The Dwarves left Menegroth, but it did not take long for the alarm to be raised on what had been done, and soon all of Doriath was roused. The Dwarves were pursued to the death with great wrath, and all but two returned home to Nogrod. When they arrived, the survivors lied about what happened, saying their brothers had been slain at the command of Thingol, hoping to cheat them of their reward. The Dwarves of Nogrod then became filled with wrath and desired revenge. They tried to get the Dwarves of Belegost to help them, but they refused.
Later, the Dwarves were allowed past the realm's barrier of enchantment with the help of treacherous Elves under the curse of the treasure. Meanwhile, Thingol was lured out of the fortress on a hunt with only a tiny company of arms. The Dwarves were waiting for him. Finally, an ambush slew the King, and the fortress of the Thousand Caves was taken and plundered, bringing to ruin the glory of Doriath.
Melian, full of grief and pain at her husband's loss and seeing that the doom she had feared had finally come upon Doriath, withdrew her protection of the realm. The Dwarves could neither harm nor seize her, and she went forth.
=== The attack ===
The Dwarves of Nogrod assembled a great host. They marched out of the Blue Mountains, crossing the River Gelion, and headed westward to Doriath. Crossing the Aros River, the Dwarves reached Doriath with no barrier (such as the Girdle of Melian) to stop them. The Elven sentinels and their captains were no match for the Dwarves, quickly being defeated. Then, with few losses, the Dwarves passed over the great bridge of stone and entered the caves. After fierce fighting in which many on both sides were killed, they were victorious. They pillaged, plundered, and destroyed at their leisure, and much was taken from the Menelrond. Then, they came to the treasury, slew Mablung before its doors, and took the Nauglamír and the Silmaril.
===Aftermath===
The Dwarves left Doriath, but at Sarn Athrad were ambushed by an army of Laiquendi led by Beren and his son Dior. The Dwarven host, heavily weighed down with loot, were destroyed, and survivors that fled into the forest ran into the Ents and were killed. Both the Silmaril and Nauglamír were taken by Beren to Tol Galen. This marked the end of the first Kingdom of Doriath until Dior and his wife Nimloth came to claim it, ruling over the surviving Sindar soon afterward.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXII: "Of the Ruin of Doriath"
==Other versions of the legendarium==
In the account given in Beren and Lúthien (2017), Melian sought after Beren and Lúthien to warn them of the Dwarves' approach. Giving them a chance with the help of the Green-elves to stop the Dwarves at the Battle of the Stony Ford. Melian also told Beren about the dangers of the Mîm's cursed treasure and discussed it with her daughter Lúthien. She gave the Silmaril to Beren for safe-keeping. In time, Lúthien faded, and Beren died. Their son Dior became heir to Doriath (taking the Silmaril with him) and helped raise its glory. However, Melian dwelt in that place, and she returned to the Gods.
Alternatively, in a later account (closer to how it appears in The Silmarillion), Dior left later while his family was still alive and became the new King of Doriath. When Green-elves brought him a coffer with the Necklace of the Dwarves, he knew his parents had died. He stared at the Silmaril long with grief that death had come upon his parents so soon.
In the story, as it appears in "Of the Ruin of Doriath", Melian entrusted Mablung to send word to Beren at Tol Galen and gave him the Silmaril for safe-keeping. She then left Middle-earth and returned to Valinor, with Doriath unprotected.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Slag in die Duisend Grotte
Albanian 	Beteja në Mijëra Shpella
Amharic 	በሺህ ዋሻዎች ውስጥ ጦርነት
Arabic 	معركة في الكهوف الألف
Armenian 	Ճակատամարտ Հազար քարանձավներում
Assamese 	হাজাৰ গুহাত যুদ্ধ
Asturian 	Batalla de les Mil Cueves
Azerbaijani 	Min Mağarada Döyüş
Basque 	Mila Kobazuloetan Borroka
Bengali 	হাজার গুহা মধ্যে যুদ্ধ
Bosnian 	Bitka u Hiljadu Pećina
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Битка в Хилядите Пещери
Cambodian 	សមរភូមិនៅក្នុងរូងភ្នំរាប់ពាន់
Catalan 	Batalla a la Mil Coves
Chinese 	千窟之战
Croatian 	Bitka u Tisuću Špilja
Czech 	Bitva v Tisících Jeskyních
Danish 	Menegroths første udplyndring
Dutch 	Strijd in de Duizend Grotten
Estonian 	Lahing Tuhandes Koopas
Finnish 	Taistelu Tuhansissa luolissa
French 	Bataille des Mille Cavernes
Galician 	Batalla nas Mil Covas
German 	Schlacht in der Tausend Grotten
Greek 	Μάχη στις Χίλιες Σπηλιές
Gujarati 	હજાર ગુફાઓમાં યુદ્ધ
Hebrew 	קרב באלף המערות
Hindi 	हज़ार गुफाओं में लड़ाई
Icelandic 	Orrusta í Þúsundhellunum
Indonesian 	Pertempuran di Gua Seribu
Italian 	Battaglia delle Mille Caverne
Japanese 	千の洞窟の戦い
Kannada 	ಸಾವಿರ ಗುಹೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯುದ್ಧ
Kazakh 	Мың Үңгірлердегі Шайқас (Cyrillic) Mıñ Üñgirlerdegi Şayqas (Latin)
Konkani 	हजार लेण्यांतलें झूज
Korean 	1차 도리아스 약탈
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Миң Үңкүрдөгү Согуш
Latvian 	Kauja Tūkstoš Alās
Lithuanian 	Mūšis Tūkstančio Urvuose
Luxembourgish 	Schluecht an den Dausend Höhlen
Macedonian Cyrillic	Битка во Иљада Пештери
Malayalam 	ആയിരം ഗുഹകളിൽ യുദ്ധം
Malaysian 	Pertempuran di Seribu Gua
Marathi 	हजार गुहांमध्ये लढाई
Nepalese 	हजारौं गुफाहरूमा युद्ध
Norwegian 	Slaget i de Tusen Huler
Occitan 	Batalha dins las Mila Caunas
Pashto 	په زرګونو غارونو کې جګړه
Persian 	نبرد در غارهای هزار
Polish 	Bitwa Tysiąca Jaskiń
Portuguese 	Batalha nas Mil Cavernas
Punjabi 	ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ਗੁਫਾਵਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਲੜਾਈ
Romanian 	Bătălia din Cele o Mie de Peșteri
Russian 	Битва в Тысяче Пещер
Sardinian 	Batalla in sas Milli Grutas
Serbian 	Битка у Хиљаду Пећина (Cyrillic) Битка у Хиљаду Пећина (Latin)
Sicilian 	Battagghia ntê Mille Grotte
Sindhi 	ھزارين غارن ۾ جنگ
Sinhalese 	ගුහා දහසක් තුළ සටන
Slovak 	Bitka v Tisíc Jaskyniach
Slovenian 	Bitka v Tisočerih Jamah
Spanish 	Batalla en las Mil Cuevas
Swahili 	Vita katika Mapango Elfu
Swedish 	Slaget i de Tusen Grottorna
Tajik Cyrillic 	Ҷанг дар ҳазор ғор
Tamil 	ஆயிரம் குகைகளில் போர்
Telugu 	వెయ్యి గుహలలో యుద్ధం
Thai 	ศึกสงครามในถ้ำพันแห่ง
Turkish 	Bin Mağaradaki Savaş
Turkmen 	Müň Gowakda Söweş
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Битва в Тисячі Печер
Urdu 	ہزار غاروں میں جنگ
Uzbek 	Минглаб Ғорларда Жанг (Cyrillic) Minglab Gʻorlarda Jang (Latin)
Venetian 	Battaglia tra le Mille Caverne
Vietnamese 	Trận chiến trong hàng ngàn hang động
Welsh 	Brwydr yn y Mil Ogofâu
Yiddish 	שלאַכט אין די טויזנט קאַוועס
==References==
Category:Events
Category:Battles
fr:Bataille des Mille Cavernes
it:Battaglia delle Mille Caverne
pl:Bitwa Tysiąca Jaskiń
ru:Битва в Тысяче Пещер