History of the First Age in Under 5 Minutes

[Intro music]

Hey everyone, Yoisten here

and I hope you all are doing well

wherever you are in Middle Earth.

Here is the important information from

the First Age in under five minutes.

To keep this short, my intro and outro

will be very quick.

Links are in the description, and cards

for more complete telling of the history.

Thanks for joining me,

let's begin our tale.

At the beginning of the First Age, after

the arrival of the sun and moon,

the elves of Fingolfin came to Beleriand

in north-western Middle Earth and

won a battle against Morgoth's forces,

while across the world Men awoke for

the first time.

Fingolfin's host met that of Fëanor,

who's new leader, Maedhros,

had been captured.

Fingon son of Fingolfin, with the help of

Thorondor king of the eagles, would

save Maedhros from Thangorodrim

(the volcanic mountains outside of

Morgoth's fortress of Angband).

To broker peace amongst the Noldor,

Maedhros surrendered the crown to his

half-uncle Fingolfin.

The respective lords of the elves would

remove across Beleriand, beginning work on

and establishing their realms to come.

The sons of Fëanor settled in the east,

Fingon and Fingolfin stayed in the north

(at Hithlum),

Finrod went on to establish Nargothrond,

and Turgon made Gondolin,

as the Noldor went to live alongside the

Sindar elves of Thingol and

Cirdan the shipwright.

After the Noldor were established in

Middle Earth, they besieged Angband

in a glorious battle; holding Morgoth's

keep under siege for centuries to come.

Yet, the Doom of the Noldor began to take

hold in these years, as Thingol found out

about the Kinslaying, drawing more

division between the Wood Elves and

the High Elves of the West.

Morgoth would create the dragons,

beginning with Glaurung the father of

dragons, then Men would come west, meeting

Finrod and then the other elves.

Their three houses of the Edain,

the houses of Hador, Beor and Haleth,

would come to live in different places in

Beleriand, working alongside the different

factions of elves as well.

Finally, the time came when Morgoth's

forces were ready to reemerge, and so

came the Battle of the Sudden Flame.

Dragons, Balrogs, orcs, trolls, and other

vile creatures came with the eruption of

Thangorodrim, driving many elves and men

back, and killing many of them as well.

High King Fingolfin went to Angband and

challenged Morgoth himself, wounding

him, but the king died in the end, and

his son Fingon inherited the

High Kingship after him.

During this battle, the man Barahir and

his company saved Finrod.

Finrod swore him and his line an oath

to aid them.

He would be called upon by Barahir's son

Beren after the man fell in love with the

maiden Lúthien in Doriath, setting forth

on a quest to reclaim a Silmaril from

the crown of Morgoth for the Wood Elven

King Thingol.

Although it cost Finrod his life, and many

conflicts would ensue between Beren,

Lúthien, and the forces of Morgoth-

including Sauron- as well as some of the

sons of Fëanor, the Silmaril was reclaimed

and given to Thingol, and the first union

of Man and Elf commenced.

In the aftermath of this, the elves and

men of the world united to push back

against Morgoth; but this became the

Battle of Unnumbered Tears instead,

where many, including High King Fingon,

perished, making his brother Turgon of

Gondolin the new High King of the Noldor.

In the wake of this battle, the child

Túrin came to live at Doriath and was

brought up by Thingol.

He and his family were cursed, and his

story caused much chaos, including the

fall of Nargothrond and the death of

Glaurung and Túrin himself.

After Túrin's death, his father Húrin

would be released by Morgoth, and he

would bring the necklace

Nauglamír to Thingol.

Thingol would employ the Dwarves of the

Blue Mountains to put the Silmaril and

the Nauglamír together- resulting in

his death, and strife between

Dwarves and Elves.

The sons of Fëanor would eventually

destroy Doriath in another Kinslaying,

attempting to reclaim the Silmaril of

their father.

Around the same time, Túrin's cousin Tuor

had been on a journey of his own from

the god Ulmo, who tasked him with

warning High King Turgon of the coming

end of Gondolin, and so he came there;

but the elf king would not heed

this warning.

Tuor married Turgon's daughter Idril,

and they produced a son named Eärendil.

Gondolin fell by the treachery of Idril's

cousin Maeglin, and Turgon was slain with

many of his people.

The High Kingship then fell to Gil-Galad,

his kinsman.

With the coming of Thingol's Silmaril to

the Havens by Elwing, a third Kinslaying

was launched by the sons of Fëanor, which

saw the Silmaril taken to Valinor by the

married Eärendil and Elwing.

This voyage resulted in the Valar aiding

the free peoples against Morgoth, and

creating the choice of the Half-Elves.

The Valar made Eärendil a star with

the Silmaril, and the people of the Valar

made war on Morgoth in Beleriand;

the War of Wrath, ending with the downfall

of Morgoth and many of his

most evil works.

Beleriand, having suffered too much

damage from this war,

sank beneath the sea.

Many important elves went east

into Middle Earth.

The faithful men of Beleriand were given

the island of Numenor.

The sons of Eärendil and Elwing,

Elrond and Elros, became leaders of

Elves and Men respectively, and

the Silmarils found their way into the

sky, earth, and seas, with the sons

of Fëanor ending their part in the story.

Thus ended the First Age of Middle Earth.

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