Apart from the Kinslayings at the hands of the
Sons of Feanor, the worst of evil deeds that weren’t of Melkor’s doing
was The Ruin of Doriath. As told in the 22nd chapter of the Silmarillion, even
after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, in which the last hope of Elves
and
Men rallying against Melkor was destroyed by the treachery of the
Easterlings, The Realm of Doriath still survived under protection of
Melian the Maia. (One
could wonder why Melkor didn’t rally Sauron and the Balrogs, and
attempt to
overcome her power)
During the time, Hurin, a man of heroism, but his
spirit
broken by Melkor, had been released from Melkor’s fortress of Angband
and
wandered across Beleriand. During Hurin’s wanderings, he came to
the
ruins of Nargothrond, where he came into possession of the Nauglamir,
the
Necklace of the Dwarves. Hurin took the Nauglamir and made his
way
to Doriath, where the Elves took him from the borders to King Thingol’s
halls
in Menegroth. In Menegroth, Hurin gave the Nauglamir to Thingol
as
a gift, and it is said that Hurin then went and cast himself into the
western
seas.
With him Thingol still had the Silmaril that Beren
and
Luthien took from Melkor’s crown. The Silmaril filled his thought, and
he
decided to have it bound into the Nauglamir. For this, the King
summoned
the Dwarves of Nogrod, who worked in the forges of Menegroth as Thingol
looked
on, awaiting his treasure to be made. As they presented the work
to
Thingol, the lust and charm of the Silmaril overcame the Dwarves, and
they
decided they should take the Silmaril for themselves, under the excuse
that
the Nauglamir was not made for Thingol. Thingol saw through this
and
attempted to gain it back through right argument. With Thingol’s
defense,
the dwarves turned to rage, suddenly they grabbed him and slew him as
he
stood. Thingol fell to the ground in death, "...And with his last sight
he
gazed upon the Silmaril."
After the Death of Thingol, Melian left Beleriand,
seeing
no further purpose there, and the protection she gave Doriath was also
gone.
So, returning to Nogrod, the dwarves lied to their kin about what
happened
in Doriath (though lust for the Silmaril certainly clouded their
reasoning)
and a great force of Dwarves came from Nogrod and sacked Menegroth, and
the
rest of Doriath.
Mablung, a valiant soldier of Doriath, sent a
messenger with the Silmaril to Beren and Luthien in Ossiriand before he
died defending Menegroth, because of this act, Beren was able to ambush
the Dwarves on the
return to Nogrod as they crossed the Gelion with a force of Green
Elves, but
Doriath was lost. Beren took the Nauglamir with the Silmaril, and his
wife,
Thingol’s daughter, Luthien, wore it, and eventually it made its way
back
to Valinor, but that is another tale.
So, one of the last remaining Havens of the Elves
was
lost, not to the orcs of Melkor, but to the treachery of the Dwarves
through
lust for the Silmaril of Feanor. If we give any thought to it, we can
see
that the Silmarils, though they preserve the light of the Trees of
Valinor,
tend to only bring sadness in Middle Earth. The Jewels of Feanor
were
truly not meant for Elves or Men, but for the whole of Arda to preserve
the
lost Bliss of Valinor.
Reference: The
Silmarillion
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