Timeline Event
Dwarves of Nogrod destroyed by Beren and Dior at Sarn Athrad
Event Type: Military/Strategic
Age: 1st Age
Year: 0503
Description:
[Word] went swiftly among the Elves of Ossiriand that a great host of Dwarves bearing gear of war had come down out of the mountains and passed over Gelion at the Ford of Stones. These tidings came soon to Beren and Lúthien; and in that time also a messenger came to them out of Doriath telling of what had befallen there. Then Beren arose and left Tol Galen, and summoning to him Dior his son they went north to the River Ascar; and with them went many of the Green-elves of Ossiriand.
Thus it came to pass that when the Dwarves of Nogrod, returning from Menegroth with diminished host, came again to Sarn Athrad, they were assailed by unseen enemies; for as they climbed up Gelion's banks burdened with the spoils of Doriath, suddenly all the woods were filled with the sound of elven-horns, and shafts sped upon them from every side. There very many of the Dwarves were slain in the first onset; but some escaping from the ambush held together, and fled eastwards towards the mountains. And as they climbed the long slopes beneath Mount Dolmed there came forth the Shepherds of the Trees, and they drove the Dwarves into the shadowy woods of Ered Lindon: whence, it is said, came never one to climb the high passes that led to their homes.
In that battle by Sarn Athrad Beren fought his last fight, and himself slew the Lord of Nogrod, and wrested from him the Necklace of the Dwarves; but he dying laid his curse upon all the treasure. Then Beren gazed in wonder on the selfsame jewel of Fëanor that he had cut from Morgoth's iron crown, now shining set amid gold and gems by the cunning of the Dwarves; and he washed it clean of blood in the waters of the river. And when all was finished the treasure of Doriath was drowned in the River Ascar, and from that time the river was named anew, Rathlóriel, the Goldenbed; but Beren took the Nauglamír and returned to Tol Galen.
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.]
Contributors:
Tanaqui 28Nov04
