First Age

History of Arda
Ainulindalë Valian Years Days before days Years of the Trees Years of the Sun Ages of Awakening First Age Second Age Third Age Fourth Age Dagor Dagorath
Timeline of Arda

File:Arda in First Age.jpg

Arda during the First Age.

The First Age began with the rise of the Sun and the arrival of the Ñoldor in Beleriand, in Middle-earth, and ended with the overthrow of Morgoth. The First Age was also known as the Elder Days.

It lasted about 590 years (making it the shortest of the three Ages described by Tolkien), and ended with the final overthrow of Morgoth by the combined armies of Valinor and Beleriand.

Location of Doriath in Middle-earth

Tolkien describes primarily the events 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, against the armies of Angband and the evil Men. The wars had actually begun before the First Age, 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 Noldor, on the other hand, particularly the Sons of Fëanor, had come with the express purpose of defeating Morgoth.

Template:First Age Timeline

Chief Battles of this Age

• The Dagor-nuin-Giliath (Battle under the Stars), 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.

• File:Picture 6.png

  Morgoth Bauglir, Enemy of the World and the first "Dark Lord"

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 was on the north side of the Ered Engrin, and was unapproachable.

• 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 initiated by the Ñoldor. They massed an army composed of Elves, Edain, and the houses of Bór and Ulfang allied to the Sons of Fëanor. The Elves and their allies advanced very close to Angband, but Morgoth's trickery had upset their battle plan, and Ulfang proved 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 peoples of Beleriand had been decimated. Morgoth's Orcs 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.

Translations around the World

Foreign Language	Translated name
Arabic	العصر الأول
Armenian	Առաջին տարիքը
Basque	Lehen Adina
Bulgarian	Първата епоха
Chinese (Hong Kong)	第一紀元
Catalan	Primera Edat
Cebuano	Unang Edad
Croatian	Prva godina
Czech	První Věk
Danish	Første Alder
Dutch	Eerste Leeftijd
Esperanto	Unua Aĝo
Estonian	Esimene Vanuse
French	Premier Âge
Finnish	Ensimmäinen Aika
Filipino	Unang Edad
Galician	Primeira Idade
German	Erstes Zeitalter
Greek	Πρώτη ηλικία
Gujarati	પ્રથમ વર્ષની
Haitian Creole	Premye laj
Hebrew	העידן הראשון
Hindi	पहला युग
Hungarian	Első év
Icelandic	Fyrstur Aldur
Igbo	Akpa Afọ
Irish Gaelic	An chéad Aois
Italian	Prima Era
Japanese	最初の時代
Kannada	ಮೊದಲ ವಯಸ್ಸು
Kazakh	Бірінші жасы
Khmer (Cambodian)	អាយុជាលើកដំបូង
Korean	첫 번째 시대
Lao	ອາຍຸສູງສຸດຄັ້ງທໍາອິດ ?
Latvian	Pirmā Vecums
Lithuanian	Pirmojo Amžiaus
Macedonian	првиот возраст
Malagasy	Taona Voalohany
Malay	Umur Pertama
Maltese	Età tal-ewwel ?
Nepali	पहिलो उमेर
Norwegian	Første Tideverv
Persian	سن اول ?
Polish	Pierwsza Era
Portuguese	Primeira Idade
Punjabi	ਪਹਿਲੀ ਉਮਰ ਦੇ
Querétaro Otomi	Ndui Bätsitho
Romanian	În primul rând varsta
Russian	Первая Эпоха
Serbian	Прва година (Cyrillic) Prva Godina (Latinised)
Siamese (Thai)	ยุคแรก
Sinhala	පළමු වයස
Slovenian	Prvo Starostno
Slovak	Prvý Vek
Spanish	Primera Edad del Sol
Sudanese	Kahiji Umur
Swedish	Aörsta ålder
Tamil	முதல் வயது
Telugu	మొదటి వయస్సు
Turkish	Birinci Çağ
Ukrainian	ашкіе фпу ?
Urdu	سب سے پہلے عمر
Vietnamese	Tuổi đầu tiên
Welsh	Oedran yn gyntaf
Yucatec Maya	Yáax ts'o'oka'an ?

See also

• Timeline of the First Age - For key dates in the First Age.
• Realms of Middle-earth (first age) - For an in-depth breakdown of the Elven and Mannish realms before the defeat of Morgoth.
• The Silmarillion

External link

• First Age at Tolkien Gateway