First Age

The **First Age** began with the awakening of Men in Hildórien, and ended with the overthrow of Morgoth. The First Age was also known as the **Elder Days**.

## Terminology

In the Appendix B and the Quenta Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien never gives First Age dates. In works such as The Annals of Aman Tolkien measures the First Age with Valian Years (VY) and then Years of the Sun (YS).

Robert Foster among other Tolkienists attempted to chronicle the First Age; by convention these sources use the Years of the Sun as "First Age" keeping a format similar to Appendix B. For example, the twentieth Year of the Sun is referred to as I 20 or FA 20. Foster admits that the definition YS 1 would be more accurate than FA 1. This convention though creates the ambiguation that FA 1 was the first year of the First Age marked as such by the first sunrise. This led to the fanon term "Ages of the Sun" and the misconception that the Ages measured from the first rising of the Sun. According to this, the First Age "proper" followed the Years of the Trees and lasted only 590 years until the beginning of the Second Age.

However, J. R. R. Tolkien himself mentions the Exile of the Ñoldor happened *at the end of the First Age* meaning the year we call as FA 1 was indeed near the end of this long Age. Furthermore, in The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien explicitly states the First Age was the *longest of all Ages*, signifying therefore the term "First Age" could be expanded *before* the first rising of the Sun. But when exactly the First Age began is not clear (perhaps, it was not defined by the chronicles). Possible beginnings of the First Age must have been the creation of Arda itself; the creation of the Two Trees which also kept track of time; or the Awakening of the Elves in YT 1050.

## Overview

It lasted about 590 years. It ended with the final overthrow of Morgoth by the combined armies of Valinor and Beleriand, after the voyage of Eärendil.

J.R.R. Tolkien describes primarily the events of the First Age that occurred in Beleriand. These were centered on a series of wars waged by the Sindar, the Ñoldor and the Three Houses of the Edain (Mankind), against the power of Morgoth. The wars had actually begun during the Years of the Trees, but began again with renewed fury after the arrival of the Ñoldor in Beleriand. There had been Elves in Beleriand for uncounted millennia, but they sought merely to exist, and Morgoth had little to do with them. The Ñoldor, on the other hand, particularly the Sons of Fëanor, had come with the express purpose of defeating Morgoth.

## Timeline

### Chief Battles of this Age

* The Dagor-nuin-Giliath, so named because it was fought before the rising of the Sun) was fought soon after the arrival of the Ñoldor. Morgoth sent a raiding party from Angband to attack the Ñoldor encampment in Hithlum, but the elves drove it back. Fëanor was killed. It is considered the second battle in the Wars of Beleriand, after one that took place during the Years of the Trees.

* The Dagor Aglareb was fought about seventy-five years after the return of the Ñoldor. Morgoth again attacked the Ñoldor, and (again) with no success. The Ñoldor became so bold as to besiege Angband. However, the Siege was of limited effectiveness, because the northern side of Angband on the north side of the Ered Engrin, and was unapproachable to the Elven forces.

* The Dagor Bragollach began when Morgoth poured rivers of fire out of Angband, ruining the besieging Ñoldorin armies. The Ñoldor eventually mustered a defense, but their losses were severe. For instance, the green plain of Ard-galen had been permanently laid waste by the rivers of fire, and was now called *Anfauglith*, the Choking Dust; and the highlands of Dorthonion, which had been inhabited by Edain, were made inhospitable.

* The Nirnaeth Arnoediad was the first battle to be started by the Ñoldor for the purpose of ending the power of Morgoth. They massed an army composed of Elves, Edain, and the Easterling houses of Bór and Ulfang allied to the Sons of Fëanor. The Elves and their allies came very close to Angband, but Morgoth's trickery had upset their battle plan, and Ulfang proved to be treacherous. The name "Unnumbered Tears" comes from the fact that the Elves' last hope of victory was destroyed. The land of Hithlum was lost, the Sons of Fëanor were largely scattered, and the free peoples of Beleriand had been decimated. The forces of Morgoth made a heap of the Elven and Mannish dead in the center of Anfauglith.

* The War of Wrath took place after Eärendil sailed to Valinor and persuaded the Valar to help those whom they had forsaken. The Valar gathered an army comprised of Maiar, Vanyar, and those Ñoldor who had stayed in Valinor. The Teleri refused their aid, due to the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, but consented to ferry the armies of the Valar in their famous ships. This battle marked the first appearance of the winged dragons, most notably Ancalagon the Black, but the Valar had the day. Morgoth was captured, and cast out of Arda, but his lands, as well as most of Beleriand, had been destroyed and sunk under the sea in the heat of battle.