Stone-gangs

During the Elder Days, Elves captured by Morgoth were enthralled as "stone-gangs" in the mines of Angband.The Children of Húrin, Narn i Chîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, Chapter IX: "The Death of Beleg"
==History==
===Years of the Trees===
Melkor's power in these early days of the Children of Ilúvatar in Middle-earth was great. With the Valar largely absent from this land, and the only light was that of starlight, he and his dark servants could move on the first of the young races at anytime when they were found, without fear of the Valar interfering. During this time, he and minions must have seized many, or but just enough to serve. The fear, dread, and lying whispers sent abroad was the Dark Lord's chief weapon to cow and confuse these vulnerable people, fear of dark spirits, shadows, the Hunter, and the great dark Rider upon a wild horse. As a result of these dark deeds, many early Elves where lost. Thus, these were the very beginnings of the practices of slavery and bondage thrust upon the lands by the Dark Lord.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor" It is not inconceivable that these early stone-gangs, were used to breed the Orcs.
During the long ages of Melkor's imprisonment, there was no known recorded encounters with any agents of darkness, thus there were no known accounts of any abductions. However, it was soon discovered, first by the Dwarves, that dark and savage things started moving about throughout the lands from the north. Afterwards, the elves of Beleriand needed weapons of war which they bought from the Dwarves, and together they beat back these foes. Events like this may have led to abductions, but there is no mentions of any.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Sindar"
===First Age===
At the return of Morgoth to Middle-earth and the start of the War of the Great Jewels, the sources of stone-gangs now included prisoners taken in battles, especially after the Dagor Bragollach at the end of the Long Peace. Now no Elf or Man was safe for long. The enemy made many sorties and raids down corridors in both the western and eastern parts of Beleriand. Sauron's taking of Minas Tirith was one of the most significant examples of these loses. In this fell event, the enemy took many captives.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin" By the time of the deeds of Beren and Lúthien, the ranks of Stone-gangs had swollen to great heights, and were held in vaults deep within pits of Angband.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien"
There are relatively few references in detail to the lives of Morgoth's thralls in stone-gangs. All that is known, is that they were forced to use their skills in service of the Dark Lord, and many were never the same again regardless of whether they ever walked abroad again. It was said that the bondage of Morgoth can follow them wherever they go because of how twisted their minds have become, and are no longer trusted and were known to return to him. Thus, those thralls that escaped stone-gangs are not truly free again.
There were only two named Ñoldor elves to have been in and out of the mines of Angband. The first was Gwindor, a prince of Nargothrond who escaped a stone-gang to later become a companion of Túrin,The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of Túrin Turambar" and his brother Gelmir who was lost in the Dagor Bragollach. He survived for around seventeen years in Angband until the beginning of the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, where his brutal dismemberment was used to provoke the forces of the Union of Maedhros into rash action.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad" With the saddening defeat of the Union of Maedhros, the enemy was probably presented with a great number of prisoners who would become part of the stone-gangs.
The foul deeds of the dragon Glaurung and the mistakes of Túrin concerning Nargothrond caused the Fall of Nargothrond, and many prisoners were taken fated for Angband. Finduilas and the other women of Nargothrond captured after the realm's fall would have been taken to Angband to be thralls, but were killed by Orcs before that happened.The Children of Húrin, Narn i Chîn Húrin, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, Chapter XI: "The Fall of Nargothrond"
Then came Gondolin, the last great Elven realm of Beleriand still out of Morgoth's reach. But when it was eventually found through treachery from within, Morgoth mustered a great force to conquer it.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" After its fall, there was no doubt yet another round of prisoners taken away to Angband to join the ranks of the stone-gangs. During the next long years, Morgoth was incredibly powerful again in Middle-earth having conquered all his foes and ending their resistance. Orcs bands were now everywhere and abductions probably happen more frequently.
After Morgoth's defeat in the final war of the First Age, his battered thralls now seeking the light of day denied them in Angband, came forth in uncounted numbers. The slaves were free, but the world they came from was changing.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
==In other versions== 
In the earlier conceptions of what would become The Silmarillion, all Elven realms of Beleriand were destroyed much earlier than in the final work, and virtually all the Ñoldor were enslaved by Morgoth as his thralls, working in stone-gangs in the mines of Angband doing Morgoth's work. The only free Ñoldor were escaped thralls or lucky refugees, who were mistrusted by the Sindar.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Steenbendes
Albanian 	Bandat e gurit
Amharic 	የድንጋይ ባንዳዎች
Armenian 	Քարե-ավազակախմբեր
Arabic 	عصابات الحجر
Belarusian Cyrillic	Каменныя-банды
Bengali 	স্টোন-গ্যাং
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Каменни-банди
Chinese 	石头-帮派
Croatian 	Kamene bande
Czech 	Kamenné-gangy
Danish 	Stenbander
Dari 	باندهای سنگی
Dutch 	Stenenbendes
Estonian 	Kivist-jõugud
Faroese 	Steinbólkar
Finnish 	Kivijengit
French 	Gangs de pierre
Friulian 	Bandis di piere
Galician 	Bandas de pedra
Georgian 	ქვის ბანდები
German 	Steinbanden
Greek 	Πέτρινες-συμμορίες
Gujarati 	સ્ટોન-ગેંગ્સ
Hebrew 	כנופיות אבנים
Hindi 	पत्थर गिरोहों
Hungarian 	Kő bandák
Icelandic 	Steinklíkur
Indonesian 	Geng-geng batu
Italian 	Bande di pietra
Irish Gaelic 	Dronganna cloiche
Japanese 	ストーンギャング
Kannada 	ಕಲ್ಲು ಗ್ಯಾಂಗ್ಸ್
Kazakh 	Тас-бандалары (Cyrillic) Tas-bandaları (Latin)
Korean 	돌갱단
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Таш-бандалар
Latvian 	Akmens-bandas
Lithuanian 	Akmens-gaujos
Macedonian Cyrillic	Камени-банди
Maithili 	पाथरक गिरोह
Maltese 	Gruppi tal-ġebel
Manx 	Gangyn clagh
Marathi 	दगडांच्या-टोळ्या
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Чулуун бүлэглэлүүд
Norwegian 	Steingjenger
Occitan 	De còlas de pèira
Pashto 	د غلامانو ډلې
Persian 	باندهای سنگی
Polish 	Kamienne gangi
Portuguese 	Gangues de pedra
Romanian 	Bande de piatră
Russian 	Каменные-банды
Serbian 	Камене-банде (Cyrillic) Kamene-bande (Latin)
Sicilian 	Bandi di petra
Sindhi 	غلامن جا ٽولا
Sinhalese 	ගල් කල්ලි
Slovak 	Kamenné bandy
Slovenian 	Kamnite-tolpe
Somali 	Addoon-kooxaha
Spanish 	Pandillas de piedra
Swedish 	Stengängen
Tajik Cyrillic 	Гурӯҳҳои ғулом
Tamil 	கல் கும்பல்கள்
Tatar 	Таш бандалар
Telugu 	రాతి ముఠాలు
Thai 	แก๊งทาส
Turkmen 	Daş bandalar
Turkish 	Taş çeteleri
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Кам'яні-банди
Urdu 	غلاموں کے گروہ
Venetian 	Bande de piera
Vietnamese 	Các băng đảng đá
Yiddish 	שקלאַף-באַנדס
==References==
Category:Organizations
Category:Ñoldor