In Feanor's Footsteps - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
The Silmarillion says that Morgoth did not expect the assault from the west. So he does not seem to have prepared a defense against the massive assault. But it does not go without saying that Beleriand was undefended. The Falas, for example, had fallen into Morgoth's hands in the year 474. Orcs had taken control over Brithombar and Eglarest, and Cirdan deveoted several years (at least until the fall of Nargothrond) to launching raids against the Falas from Balar.
The War of the Jewels tells us that the Third Kinslaying occurred in the year 538 and that the last free Elves and Men fled to Balar in 540. Why did they flee to Balar in that year, if the war was not to begin until 545? It may be that Morgoth continued to expand his holdings. There would be no more major campaigns, for there were no more powerful realms to fight in Beleriand. But new tribes of Men may have entered Beleriand. And the Orcs and Dragons would have been free to roam Beleriand at will. A final push from Angband in 540 would have cleared out Brethil (where some of the Folk of Haleth still dwelt), Ossiriand (where the Feanorians and the Green-elves lived), and Taur-im-Duinath (the great forest west of southern Beleriand, where some Avari had settled).
The Host of Valinor would have to land at a single location and begin the process of freeing Beleriand. So why not Arvernien and the Havens of Sirion? The havens of Brithombar and Eglarest were in enemmy hands, but there appears to be no reason for why these lands would be in Morgoth's control. Such a landing zone would give the Host of Valinor an opportunity to strike north, east, and west. And they would also position themselves between Balar and Angband.
The early battles would be little more than skirmishes. A battle could still befall in Tasarinan, but it would not result in a defeat of the Elves. At best, Morgoth would assemble an army there and seek to oppose the march of the Host of Valinor. If we assume such a battle occurred, it may have begun the process of destruction which led to Beleriand's ruin. And such a battle might have drawn off the occupying forces from Brithombar and Eglarest, so west Beleriand would have fallen to the Host of Valinor quickly.
Strategically, Eonwe would have to send an army to Ossiriand, if Morgoth had forces there. Another army would move up the western coast of Beleriand, and a central army would follow the Sirion northward. The Silmarillion says that "the challenge of the trumpets of Eonwe filled the sky; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of their arms, for the host of the Valar were arrayed in forms young and fair and terrible, and the mountains rang beneath their feet."
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