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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 completion of Valinor, and ended with the overthrow of Morgoth. The First Age was also known as the Elder Days.

It lasted about 3,000 Valian years, and each Valian year is the equivalent of 10 solar years.(making it the longest of the three Ages described by Tolkien), and ended with the final overthrow of Morgoth by the combined armies of Valinor and Beleriand.

Map of 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 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.

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 Εποχή
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 Era
Punjabi ਪਹਿਲੀ ਉਮਰ ਦੇ
Querétaro Otomi Ndui Bätsitho
Romanian Prima Era
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 ?
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See also

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