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Unwritten Tales of Love and War in Middle-Earth - Page 5

© Michael Martinez

There are great wars in the Second Age, and many battles. But the battle which most resembles the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and the final war with Angmar is the final combat on the slopes of Orodruin. The Last Alliance of Elves and Men has been victorious in the field, and Sauron's armies are destroyed or dispersed. But it is not until Sauron himself seeks out Gil-galad that an end may be made of the war. And yet, when Elendil and Gil-galad have fallen, and Sauron lays dead or dying beside them, Isildur succumbs to the lure of the One Ring and takes it for himself. So Sauron is granted a reprieve, and the sacrifices of so many thousands of warriors and princes are made vain. As Melkor won in the Nirnaeth, so Sauron won at the end of the Second Age. He won in the sense that his enemies failed to achieve their goal. They tottered to the brink of success and then fell back. The Eldar nearly won the Nirnaeth, too. But even if they had, they would not have had the strength to take Angband, or to defeat Melkor. Nonetheless, the Nirnaeth set into motion the events which led to Melkor's downfall. Tuor was raised as an outlaw, and he eventually made his way to Gondolin. Turin was raised by Thingol, and eventually he brought about the destruction of Nargothrond. With Nargothrond out of the way, Melkor was able to direct his attention to Gondolin. Once Gondolin was destroyed, Earendil was on his way to becoming the greatest mariner of all time. With Sauron's survival, the War of the Last Alliance was rendered pointless. The stage was set for Sauron's return, and the rematch was not nearly so dramatic. Sauron in fact achieved the destruction of Arnor, Elendil's kingdom. No matter what else happened in the Third Age, the ruin of Arnor was a grievous blow to the West. It showed that the bad guys really could win a complete victory. After all, it did little good to destroy Angmar in the wake of Arnor's destruction. The northern lands were freed of a terrible evil force for a while, but the loss of Angmar really didn't set back Sauron's plans very much. In fact, after being driven from the north, the Lord of the Nazgul struck back at Gondor by taking and holding the city of Minas Ithil for more than a thousand years.

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