What do we know of the Last Battle called Dagor
Dagorath?
It is referred to in the Silmarillion.
"Of Aule and Yavanna", Silmarillion: In
telling of the beliefs of the dwarves concerning their afterlife, it
says that in
the End, they will have a place among the Children. "Then their part
shall
be to serve Aule and to aid him in the remaking of Arda after the Last
Battle."
In the "Akallabeth" of the Silmarillion, it
says,
"But Ar-Pharazon the King and the mortal warriors that had set
foot
upon the land of Aman were buried under falling hills: there it is said
that
they lie imprisoned in the Caves of the Forgotten, until the Last
Battle and the Day of Doom."
"Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of
Melkor"
in the Silmarillion tells that Varda set the constellation,
Menelmacar,
"with his shining belt, that forbodes the Last Battle that
shall be
at the end of days."
A poem concerning Manwe also mentions the Last
Battle, wherever that is.
In Unfinished Tales:
"The Istari".
Quote p 413:
Manwe will not descend from the Mountain until the Dagor Dagorath, and the coming of the End, when Melkor returns. To the overthrow of Morgoth he sent his herald Eonwe. To the defeat of Sauron would he not then send some lesser (but mighty) spirit of the angelic people, one coeval and equal, doubtless, with Sauron in their beginnings, but not more? Olorin was his name. But of Olorin we shall never know more than he revealed in Gandalf.Below that is a poem including the subtle actions of Manwe, the Elder King:
One only returned.
Others never again
under Men's dominion
Middle-earth shall seek
until Dagor Dagorath
and the Doom cometh.
How hast thou heard it:
the hidden counsel
of the Lords of the West
in the land of Aman?
The long roads are lost
that led thither,
and to mortal Men
Manwe speaks not.
From the West-that-was
a wind bore it
to the sleeper's ear,
in the silences
under night-shadow
when news is brought
from lands forgotten
and lost ages
over seas of years
to the searching thought.
Not all are forgotten
by the Elder King.
Sauron he saw
as a slow menace....
What can we speculate about the Last Battle?
We know The Last Battle is referred to along with
"the
Day of Doom", the Doom, and "end of days". The Last Battle is also
called
the Dagor Dagorath.
It is suggested that the Valar communicate with men
by
dreams. Manwe's wind/voice is sent to the sleeper's ear, as in
dreaming, probably
using Irmo's ability to send dreams.
We know Ar-Pharazon and his men who were buried
under
falling hills in Aman after their attack will no longer be lying
imprisoned
in the Caves of the Forgotten. Will they come out to fight for Melkor
or
to redeem themselves with the Valar and Eru?
We know "Manwe will not descend from the Mountain
until
the Dagor Dagorath, and the coming of the End, when Melkor returns".
This
means Melkor will leave the Void and come back to Middle-earth. This
means
Manwe himself will come down from Mount Taniquetil. These two super
opposing
forces will surely make a titanic battle and their followers would join
them.
Varda set the constellation, Menelmacar, "with his
shining
belt, that forbodes the Last Battle that shall be at the end of
days."
The belt would be a sword belt warning that the Valar will fight. The
name
Menel "the heavens" + Macar like the Vala of fighting in the Book of
Lost
Tales suggests the warrior heavens. Stars fighting? We can be sure that
Earendil,
who became the star, would fight. Varda, the star queen, fighting?
We know Arda will be remade after the Last Battle at
least
partly by Aule with the help of the dwarves.
References: Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales
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