Kryptic Tales of Middle-earth - Page 2
© Michael Martinez
For the Sindar were trouble by the Noegyth Nibin, the Petty-Dwarves, exiles from the great Dwarven cities of the east who had found their ways to Beleriand. There in the wild lands before the coming of the Elves they established their own culture, of which we know virtually nothing, save that they were secretive and resentful. The Noegyth Nibin attacked the Elves, who retaliated by hunting them down, unwitting of the fact that the Noegyth Nibin were fallen from a higher state of civilization, thinking them only animals, or small monsters of the darkness.
In time the Sindar became friends with the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost, and they learned the true nature of the Noegyth Nibin, and the two peoples left each other alone. But the Sindar were eventually warned by the eastern Dwarves that evil creatures were multiplying in the lands beyond the Ered Luin. If the Sindar had had time to forget the ancient monsters, they were eventually reminded of them when Melkor's creatures began creeping into Beleriand, "wolves...or creatures that walked in wolf-shapes, and other fell beings of shadow".
The Sindar were divided into two groups: woodland Elves who spread north and west from Doriath, and sea-faring Elves who dwelt on the western coastlands and spread northward. Many of these Elves lived outside the cities, most likely in towns or villages which never appeared on any maps. But being far from the centers of power and knowledge they would have been less secure in their homes and perhaps more prone to wonder about the dark things which crept around them. Did these Elves, perhaps, sing of the shadowy things that haunted Beleriand?
After the return of the Noldor and the onset of the War of the Jewels creatures of shadow and horror would have become well-known throughout Beleriand. Imagine if an army of goblins, vampires, and werewolves were to invade your home town and remain close by for many years. Would you be as prone to tell "ghost stories", knowing the ghosts were just beyond the hill? The tales would be real stories, not legends. The creatures would be known enemies, not mysterious evil horrors.
It would not be until after the breakdown of the great kingdoms that fact turned into legend again. Mortal men would remember the stories and pass them on, but with each generation the stories became less real. Did Dirhavel of Arvernien understand what he was singing about if he told the tale of Barahir and his outlaws some 70 years after the events unfolded? How many of the Elves who survived the destruction of the kingdoms in Arvernien and the Isle of Balar were old enough to remember the great battles, or the ancient past? Even Elrond, who was ancient at the time of the War of the Ring, would have grown up in the days when Hurin and Turin and were but memories of the old men and women, and Hador was a distant ancestor, and Cuivienen was Elven generations removed from his experience.
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