The War of Eregion
The history of the Second Age of Middle-earth was marked by rings, which caused a war that destroyed an elven kingdom and almost meant the total victory of Sauron.
The Eregion War was one of the most important events of the entire Second Age, along with the fall of Númenor and the War of the Last Alliance. Its outcome closed a whole era and left after-effects that would have new consequences many centuries later.
The conflict between the elves of Middle-earth and Sauron resulted from a long series of precedents leading to this war.
Why did the war break out?
After the War of Wrath, all of Beleriand collapsed, and the Elves gathered in the kingdom of Lindon, which was left on the west coast of Middle-earth with the new drawing of the world. From there, years later, Galadriel and Celeborn set out to find a new home to live in.
With them, along with many Noldor, traveled Celebrimbor. He was the son of Curufin and grandson of Fëanor, so he was closely linked to Galadriel. After years of travels, they arrived in the vicinity of Khazad-dûm, a region called Eregion, where they decided to found an elven kingdom.
Centuries passed until a magnificent being called Annatar, the Lord of the Gifts, arrived in the kingdom. In reality, Sauron tried to dominate the Elves by persuasion and came from Lindon, where Gil-galad, Elrond, and Círdan had rejected him.
In Eregion ruled Celebrimbor, who, in his desire to surpass his grandfather Fëanor, accepted the help of Annatar/Sauron. The Maia instructed him in the art of forging rings of power, a secret plan to dominate all races through these objects.
When they were forged, several controversies ended with Galadriel leaving Eregion and marching east through Khazad-dûm. Meanwhile, Celebrimbor became suspicious of Annatar’s intentions (who had forced disputes between him and Galadriel), so he had the intuition to make the powerful three Elven Rings (Narya, Nenya, and Vilya) in secret and thus not be under anyone’s knowledge.
Annatar/Sauron returned to Mordor and, believing that he had the existence of all the rings in knowledge, forged the One Ring to control the rest and thus bend the wills of anyone. To this end, he bound part of his being in the Ring to become his greatest weapon and weakness. For if it were destroyed, Sauron would disappear.
When the Dark Lord put on the Ring, all the elves of Eregion knew that they had been deceived. Celebrimbor rebelled against Sauron’s demands and decided to take the Nenya Ring to Lórien, where Celeborn and Galadriel lived, to give it to the Elven lady. The other two he took to Lindon to give to Gil-galad.
When he learned of Celeborn’s deeds, Sauron stripped himself of his appearance as Annatar, showed his true self, and declared war on the Elves.
Thus began the War of Eregion.
The war
The first thing the Dark Lord did was to advance with his army through Calenardhon (a region that in the future would be known as Rohan), a fact that put Gil-galad on alert. The King of Lindon sent an army commanded by Elrond to Eregion to help Celebrimbor in defense of the kingdom.
Because Lórinand (future Lórien) was near Calenardhon, Celeborn took the opportunity to attack with a small army of Sindar and Silvan elves. The first battle between Sauron’s forces and the Elves ended with the latter’s victory.
After that, the victors joined Elrond’s forces to try to contain the advance of Sauron, who, despite the momentary defeat, was still unstoppable in his passage. For the Elves, it was impossible to hold an Enemy that was becoming increasingly powerful and increasing as they reached Eregion quickly through Calenardhon.
Despite the efforts of Elrond and Celebrimbor, Sauron was gaining ground day by day until his armies reached the vicinity of Ost-in-Edhil, the capital of Eregion.
With the southern area under his power, Sauron advanced his army northward, seeking to avoid Khazad-dûm and the Dwarves. The Elven armies could not stop the Enemy, who was far superior in numbers; moreover, a large majority of the population of Eregion had fled to join Elrond’s forces to the north of the kingdom.
Despite being in a desperate situation and facing an almost impossible victory, Celebrimbor decided to stay in the capital and defend it with a little remaining elven army.
Sauron encountered great resistance in Ost-in-Edhil, but finally overcame it and besieged Mirdain, a great house where Celebrimbor barricaded himself with a few warriors.
The Dark Lord wanted to know the whereabouts of the Rings of Power, especially the Three Rings of the Elves. In the end, however, Celebrimbor was seized by Sauron and tortured. Between excruciating pain sessions, Celebrimbor only revealed the whereabouts of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves. However, he gave vague indications and endured the unimaginable not to provide Sauron with another clue.
Seeing that he would get nothing more from the Lord of Eregion, Sauron slew Celebrimbor. He pondered furiously where the Three Rings of the Elves could be, the ones he coveted most, until he was convinced that he could find them in the fingers of the three great Elven lords that remained in Middle-earth: Galadriel, Círdan and Gil-galad.
After the war, more wars
With Eregion wiped off the map, Sauron had a new target: Eriador and, as a final destination, Lindon. He knew Elrond was to the north with what was left of his army, so he decided to take care of him while he sent part of his army to Lindon through Tharbad.
Sauron destroyed everything in his path, both native tribes, and Elves. He harassed Elrond’s army to clear the way to the west, and the Elven commander had to retreat. Eregion became a desolate region and would never regain its former splendor.
Elrond’s army fought back in a desperate attempt to contain the onslaught of Sauron’s armies. But the forces were unequal, and the Elves could not win. However, the providential appearance from the south of the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm and a contingent from Lórinand prevented the massacre.
Elrond’s forces decided to flee, and on their way, they came across the hidden valley of Imladris. There the fortress of Imladris/Rivendel was created, a secret place where Sauron besieged Elrond. The Dark Lord expected the Elves to starve to death.
Sauron decided that, with Elrond besieged and weakening, it was time for the final attack on Lindon. He summoned more hosts from Mordor to join the rest at Tharbad.
But something happened that the Dark Lord did not contemplate. Sauron couldn’t imagine that Elrond managed to withstand the siege and remained a threat, so Sauron used part of the forces from Mordor to reinforce the blockade of Imladris and prevent what happened to the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm.
In Lindon, Gil-galad was aware of the whole situation, which was dire for his kingdom and the Elves. Desperate, he sent messengers to Tar-Minastir, King of Númenor, confident that the good relations between Lindon and the Númenórean Royal House could help in dark times.
Númenor decided to help. The King sent his son Ciryatur and part of the fleet to the south of Lindon while he prepared the rest of the army to embark on the kingdom of Gil-galad.
Meanwhile, the King of Lindon gathered all the forces he could and formed an army in the Grey Havens.
When Sauron thought all was set for his final triumph, several cards turned against him.
Elrond managed to break the siege of Rivendel and cut off other enemy forces from Mordor. That setback was not known to Sauron until it was too late.
With Sauron in the Grey Havens, the army of Tar-Minastir finally arrived and joined with that of Gil-galad, a formidable union that forced Sauron and his troops to turn back in the direction of Tharbad.
There, in Tharbad, Sauron was reunited with what little remained of the siege of Rivendel and the few hosts that had arrived from Mordor, evading the vigilance of Elrond’s forces. As the Dark Lord was rebuilding his army, he was attacked by Ciryatur’s fleet from the south up the River Gwathló, which surprised the Enemy.
With Ciryatur’s forces attacking from the south and those of Gil-galad and Tar-Minastir from the north, Sauron’s defeat was overwhelming and humiliating. Such was the slaughter that the Dark Lord barely escaped the battle alive, returning to the East with the firm intention of taking revenge on Númenor.
The end of the War of Eriador and the subsequent battles had very profound consequences. Some are more important than others. Rivendel was officially founded under the command and regency of Elrond, while the Númenóreans decided to establish permanent colonies in Middle-earth.
And above all, Sauron vowed to use every last ounce of his strength to destroy Númenor, which would forever change Middle-earth’s history.