Elven Armies of the First Age - Middle-Earth Lore DOCUMENTARY

[Music] after Moro had destroyed the two trees of fenor stolen the sumeril and returned to his old fortress of angband he began a war upon the peoples of Middle Earth that would cast The Realm into a bleak and fiery despair yet despite the inevitability of the Doom facing them there were those who stood against the tide the first race to Rise Against the host of Moro were the immortal Eldar who fought in the wars of bant and continued their Valiant struggle during the war of Wrath as readers the idea of militant elves is fascinating but tolkin rarely disclosed much information on how Eldar armi functioned however one can make educated guesses if one reads between the lines in this video we will discuss the history and Society of the Eldar of the first age and their military contributions against the dark lord of the North as we bring the world of middlee to life in this video we'd also like to pass on some equally brilliant worlds to you we're sponsored today by chapu makers of highquality maps for tabletop Adventures if you've got a DND or Pathfinder campaign that needs a burst of imagination for its visuals chipu have you covered they have over 4,000 beautiful Maps covering too many scenarios to mention here we're showing you only a random smattering of what's on offer every stage of an adventure is covered and there are variation Maps to alter the season or time of day too you've probably noticed they come in animated form chapu Maps can be seamlessly used in most virtual tabletop programs where they shine even more with Visual and audio effects to get these Maps head over to the chapu patreon And subscribe to the master cartographer tier for $5 a month that gives you everything and all the new stuff being added constantly or you can go to chu.com to purchase individual map sets so go grab these enhancements to your next adventure via our links in the description the Eldar began as the vanar Noor and tieri who spoke the languages of vanin quena Narin quenya and Tarin during the great journey while the Noor van and some toi traveled to the undying lands of venor many of the tari chose to stay in Middle Earth becoming known as the sindar and nandor the sindar and nandor could be further divided into subgroups of their own these constituted the like quendi who later became silven the irim Phim and mithrim the tari would be the first race of Eldar whom morgoth would face in battle after returning to Middle Earth none of the deleri except the falari would ever see the light of the two trees of venol those who dwelt closer to the two trees were imbued with power through their light because of this the vanar Noor falari and Cinder in king thingol became known as High Elves of the three Eldar races each had a preference for a specific type of Weaponry although it was by no means exclusive the vanar preferred Spears the ndor swords and shields the terer bows and the nandor preferred axes through the sparse use of numbers in his books tolkin seems to have modeled Army sizes in Middle earth based on Ancient and medieval armies of our world based on this tolken Scholars like Steven Wigmore and Tom LC have provided us with a good estimation of the Eldar populations during the first age and their forces let us begin with the toer in general the Teri favored a gorilla style of warfare because they were less imbued with strength from the light of the trees they concealed themselves and avoided open ground battles they typically used smaller formations at the element of surprise to attack enemy forces primarily with bows from a distance and axes up close of the talleri armies the greatest was that of the aim dwelling in Dorth they were led by elol who preferred a PO of isolation and avoiding conflict with Moro Dorth was one of the largest Elven kingdoms where most of the synar resided and whose population outnumbered the ndor Dorth enjoyed numerous allies that aided in her defense Fingal was friends with Kiran the shipw and the leader of the fim who defended valerian's Western flank the fim were lightly armed Mariner people with Slender bows who used ships similar to those used by the Vikings of our world during the second assault of hlam kadan's Navy performed an amphibious assault routing a host of Orcs before dispatching a unit of mounted archers to finish them off thingol was also friends with denior leader of the L quendi whom he gave permission to settle in ayrian the lendi were nandor a simple Woodland folk with no weapons or armor of Steel the L quendi defended the Eastern flank of bararan with axes and Bows their style of warfare was akin to that of the ancient Kelts of inh Europe during during the first battle of ban many of the L quendi and their leader denior died facing a host of Orcs who held an advantage due to their possession of iron short Weaponry after this the L quendi became reclusive resorting to camouflaging themselves in green and avoiding War thus becoming known as the green elves fingol also Allied his people with the dwarves of Bost and nogrod who helped build his capital of menro as dwarves and L quendi mingled with Dorth they brought ill news of fell beasts spreading north and east prompting thingol to arm his people The Smiths of Bost such as Tela his master Gamel zerak the old and Elven WS like yel the dark elf forged male of linked Rings axes Spears swords tall Helms long coats of bright maale and hugs that would fill fingal's armories when wolves Orcs and other fell creatures began encroaching into ban they were met by fal's principal army unit the March Wardens March wardens guarded the borders of Dorth typically in company strength they acted as Rangers primarily using axes and longbows the ndor king fingon led a mixed ndor tiller force in hitham and some were horseback archers it may be possible that the March wardens preferred this way of War when mounted the March Warden would fight several more border skirmishers against these fell creatures in a conflict which came to be known as The War of the marches notable March Warden Commanders included maang the heavy hand the chief Captain to King singal and B kallan the Strongbow Chief March Warden of Dorth it is possible Tolen based these Elven marshals on the real world Lord Warden of the marches who was responsible for guarding the border of Scotland and England during the high Middle Ages Dorth held an enormous advantage against her enemies regarding Provisions for fingal's wife melan held the recipe from yavan for lmus this recipe would be passed on on to gadriel and other elves during the first battle of ban Moro Unleashed Two great hosts of Orcs into ban the Orcs Advanced South and around either side of menro cutting off singal's line of communication to keran and denior thingol rushed To Deni Thor's Aid whose like quendi were lightly armed with bows and axes and were no match for the Orcs wielding iron Shields swords and greater Spears denior was surrounded at amoner and was slain just before the host of thingo Avenged him by striking into the rear of the orc formation north of adram the orc host was routed fleeing North where dwarves of the Blue Mountains nearly slaughtered them all meanwhile the small Phim force was overwhelmed by the Western host of Orcs and pushed to the edge of the sea where they were besieged for months until the return of the ndor saved them Dorth and her allies had suffered heavy losses prompting melan to create the girdle of melan a fence of Enchantment set around Dorth preventing any from entering the land without her or fingal's consent Dorth and her allies could not hope to meet morgoth out on the open field of battle thus this enchantment saved them concealing themselves and ambushing their enemies was to be their only means of resistance there was a time of great peace until the Battle of a thousand caves whereupon Dorth and her allies were routed easily by a great host of dwarves of ngr and menrath was attacked the confined battle within the city faved the dwarves seeing menro defeated and sacked yet afterwards during the Battle of sad the dwarves burdened with Spoils of War were ambushed by a host of L quendi led by Baron aramon with the further Aid of a drove of ends the element of surprise and concealment of the forest allowed the elves to slay the dwarves with arrows overall the tari preferred Guerilla style Warfare choosing to stay concealed and rely on ambush tactics when forced into Malay many tari will wielded axes as they were not great steel workers and had to rely on dwarves and other Eldar for better Weaponry as for Cavalry it is possible they preferred to fight as mounted archers when on Horseback the terer were the best Mariners of all the Eldar as seen with the falim the next group of Eldar that morgoth would face were the Noor who were beloved by Ali the Smith and taught how to forge things out of metal and stone while imprisoned melor spread lies amongst the Noor and this prompted them to forge all manner of weapons their favored being long swords and shields for armor they adorned tall helmets and wore mostly chain mail four notable groups of Noor would travel back to Middle Earth feno's exiled followers led by myos ruled the lands of East bararan Fulin's followers reigned over hlam Fulin's son Turon ruled over gondolin and finrod feland ruled over nagon during the Battle of Dagon in gillath despite being outnumbered taken by surprise and before a proper encampment or defense could be made feno's Force swiftly defeated a host of Orcs And Wolf Riders consequently morgoth was forced to dispatch his host ass sailing fellas to steal back Victory empowered by the Light of valinor the nalo battled for 10 days seeing the near annihilation of both hosts through their tight sword and shield formations their Reliance on tall Helms their chain mail armor and their imbued power from the light of venor the Noor were able to overwhelm moro's lesser units the Battle of AGB saw morgo open two fronts through the land of maglor in the East and through the path of Syrian in the west the Noor led by fulin and myos with the aid of the ships of Palace performed a hammer and Anvil maneuver against the orc hosts in the plains of llan and AD galin within magor's Gap there was a large open plane surrounding himing and when the Orcs entered East bararan the sons of fenor attacked them with cavalry given the Orcs they face carried iron weapons and armor it can be guessed the Noor would have preferred to meet them with heavy Cavalry while their synar allies preferred mounted archers the Orcs were enveloped in the vice and most were killed before they withdrew to angband this battle displayed the excellent lines of communication between the Noor and their allies stretching nearly all across Middle Earth the siege of angband saw the Noor build strong fortified positions all across Middle Earth during the long peace morgoth realized he could not defeat the ndor through any means except trickery and overwhelming superiority in numbers so he devised new methods morgoth would employ stealth treachery and Enchantment of prisoners to undermine Eldar Society all while creating formidable fell Beasts for his host such as dragons and B rocks meanwhile the Noor and their allies were unable to overcome angband's fortifications rendering the encirclement of angband incomplete during during The Siege Moro sent an Army Of Orcs to assail King fingon's realm of hlam Fon reigned over a Noor and synar force favoring both people's battle methods using only a fraction of his forces King fingon fell upon the Orcs from the hills and his falm allies performed an amphibious assault taking by surprise the Orcs at the fth of denist combined both Elven forces drove many of the Orcs into the sea and their horseback archers chased them to the iron mountains after this a young and half-grown glang assaulted the Noor from AR Gallen to doonan and er weth without moro's permission in response finon led a troop of horseback archers to attack glang forcing him back to angband another ndor force morgoth would face were the elves of nagron led by finrod feland inspired by menro of Dorth finrod established a hidden Kingdom of his own Kellum kurin spoke to its people of a vision of war and ruin of nagron this prompted the elves of nagon until the time of Turin never to give open battle but instead use stealth Ambush Wizardry and venomed darts the military of nagaon consisted of Noor and Cinda who performed a style of Guerilla Warfare akin to Dorth they utilized Scouts and spies to keep watch of morgoth's forces around talith denin this would all change when Turin turambar became one of the chief captains of nagron chin did not like nagron strategy of Ambush stealth and secret Arrow yearning instead for the brave Strokes of open battle tyin gradually persuaded orre to build the bridge of nagon allowing their army to swiftly go out and give War to the hosts of Moro because of this Moro was able to locate nagaon spelling its Doom another ndor Force morgoth faced was the hidden city of gondolin ruled by Turon gondolin was concealed from morgoth and Friends alike by the encircling mountains guarded by The Eagles of thorondor the gondal indm were a mix of Noor and Cinda who forged all manner of Swords axes Spears bows coats of M armor brines horber Greaves vambraces Helms and shields the famous weapons glamdring orist and sting were of gondolin make being Noor dominated the soldiers of gondolin favored the sword and shield gondolin was unique in that it was divided into specialized houses Each of which excelled in a specific area of the 12 houses of gondolin some specialized in specific Weaponry the houses of swallow and Heavenly Arch were gondolin best Bowman the houses of pillar and Tower of snow fought with iron studded clubs or slings and the house of hammer of Wrath fought with great Maes like Hammers and heavy Shields during the Battle of nerth ano idad Turon opened the league of gondolin with a 10,000 strong Army that fought in a falank formation breaking through the ranks of the Orcs in the second age the humans of numor adopted a similar fank strategy forming closely pressed ranks that used a barrier of shields in quena the falank was called sandan and in cerin fangel perhaps indicating the origin of the formation lies with the elves Another numenorian War formation the dth was a wedge formation launched over a short distance known in quena as Neta this battle formation was also potentially of Elven origin overall the n or preferred to face their enemies out on the field primarily while wielding swords and shields their infantry adopted phic Warfare and when mounted it seems likely they heavily utilized horseback archery the armies of the Noor were the equivalent of the armies of the ancient Greeks or Romans the last race of Eldar whom morgoth would have to face were the vanar who stood against the dark tide during the war of Wrath the hosts of The Valor were composed of vanar led by ingon the remaining ner of valinor and the ffin and possibly some Maya and Val we are given very little information on the participation of the vanar during the war that raged for 40 years it is said they marched under white banners and slew moro's countless fell beasts so mighty were they that even the majority of the bogs perished against them they were so formidable that morgoth was forced to unleash dragons upon the host of the Vala to keep them contained because of how close the vanard resided to the Trees of valinor it's reasonable to believe they were the physically strongest of the Elder the Vanya unlike thei and Noor had not spent as much time in Middle Earth and with us less diminished they also did not suffer the Doom of Mandos however the vanar had little to know experience in war Through The Eyes of tolkin a veteran of the S the vanar can be seen through the same lens as the Americans who entered battle during World War I in 1918 when the war was almost over and the British French and Germans had already endured four years of of Hell while the war had greatly diminished the tari and Noor the vanar like the Americans came in great numbers to swing the tide of the war despite lacking previous Battlefield experience overall the vanar favored the spear a weapon that would take less skill to use than the sword or bow they most likely performed the fallinks as their primary battle formation like their ndor counterparts meanwhile their mounted units fought as shock troopers fulfilling the role of the Lancer similar to their Noor cousins they could be seen as akin to ancient Greeks or macedonians in terms of their way of Waging War in conclusion the elves of venor and Middle Earth fought their battles in varied ways the tari armies were akin to Nordic Bronze Age Warriors preferring Guerilla style Warfare to Ambush their enemies with bows and axes with some also specializing as Mariners the nder armies were akin to ancient Greeks Romans or early medieval Warriors preferring battle on the open field with a sword and shield adopting formations like the phink and heavy Cavalry meanwhile the Vanya armies were similar to the Noor though specializing in the sphere which was typical of ancient macedonians in terms of warfare we will continue talking about tolken armies of the first age and Beyond in our future videos so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the Bell button to see them please consider liking commenting and sharing it helps immensely our videos would be impossible without Our Kind patrons and YouTube channel members whose ranks you can join via the links in the description to know our schedule get early access to our videos access our Discord and much more this is The Wizard and warriors Channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Wizards and Warriors

Views: 135,899

Keywords: second age, sinking of Beleriand, begins, how, fell, dark, lord, gondolin, tuor, second, kinslaying, doriath, fall, sons, feanor, hurin, return, curse, Túrin, Húrin, morgoth, melkor, beren, dragon, dagor aglareb, humans, beleriand, noldor, elves, middle-earth, valinor, silmarillion, first age, tolkien, gandalf, gondor, Helm's deep, rohan, Kings and Generals, Lord of the Rings, Sauron, dwarves, battle, documentary, middle earth, animated, fantasy, sci-fi, wizards, warriors, decisive battles, history, lore, sauron, orks, rings, wrath

Id: McTf8J2t6mk

Length: 18min 42sec (1122 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 28 2024