Timeline Event
Dwarves of Nogrod sack Doriath
Event Type: Military/Strategic
Age: 1st Age
Year: 0503
Description:
[After Thingol is slain by craftsmen of Nogrod, most of whom are killed in the pursuit to recapture the Nauglamír, and Melian withdraws her power from Doriath:] [Two] there were of the slayers of Thingol who escaped from the pursuit on the eastern marches, and returned at last to their city far off in the Blue Mountains; and there in Nogrod they told somewhat of all that had befallen, saying that the Dwarves were slain in Doriath by command of the Elvenking, who thus would cheat them of their reward.
Then great was the wrath and lamentation of the Dwarves of Nogrod for the death of their kin and their great craftsmen, and they tore their beards, and wailed; and long they sat taking thought for vengeance. It is told that they asked aid from Belegost, but it was denied them, and the Dwarves of Belegost sought to dissuade them from their purpose; but their counsel was unavailing, and ere long a great host came forth from Nogrod, and crossing over Gelion marched westward through Beleriand. […]
[Crossing] over Aros [they] passed unhindered into the woods of Doriath; and none withstood them, for they were many and fierce, and the captains of the Grey-elves were cast into doubt and despair, and went hither and thither purposeless. But the Dwarves held on their way, and passed over the great bridge, and entered into Menegroth; and there befell a thing most grievous among the sorrowful deeds of the Elder Days. For there was battle in the Thousand Caves, and many Elves and Dwarves were slain; and it has not been forgotten. But the Dwarves were victorious, and the halls of Thingol were ransacked and plundered. There fell Mablung of the Heavy Hand before the doors of the treasury wherein lay the Nauglamír; and the Silmaril was taken.
The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 22, Of the Ruin of Doriath
[Note on dating: the year is taken from versions B, C and D of The Tale of Years found in The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 3, Ch5, The Tale of Years. Version A of the Tale of Years gives the date as a year earlier. There are also discrepancies between the account given in The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 22, Of the Ruin of Doriath and the Tale of Years in The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 3, Ch5, The Tale of Years as a result of editing decisions by Christopher Tolkien when compiling The Silmarillion. (These are discussed in The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 3, Ch5, The Tale of Years.) The sequence of events in the entries in the HASA Reference Library follows The Silmarillion, and Thingol’s death has therefore been dated a year earlier than that found in the Tale of Years. The exact day and month are nominal, to keep events in order in the database.]
Contributors:
Tanaqui 28Nov04
