Elven Armies of the First Age - Middle-Earth Lore DOCUMENTARY
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
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Previously in our series on the world of Tolkien, the world of the Lord of the Rings, we have talked about the First and Third ages of the Middle-Earth, covering the entire of the Third Age and the war of the ring ( • War of the Ring - All ... ), the rise of Morgoth in the First Age ( • Rise of Morgoth - Midd... ) and his fall ( • Fall of Morgoth - Midd... ), as well as the economy and the societies of the Middle-Earth ( • Economy of Middle Eart... ). Our new season will talk about the Armies of the Middle-Earth, starting with the armies of the Elves of the First Age.
Our other series:
Middle-Earth - • War of the Last Allian...
Witcher - • First Nilfgaardian War...
Game of Thrones - • Game of Thrones
Warhammer Fantasy - • Battle of Astofen Brid...
Warhammer 40k - • Warhammer 40k
Star Wars - • Star Wars
Fallout - • Fallout
Wheel of Time - • Wheel of Time
Elder Scrolls - • Elder Scrolls
Conan - • Conan the Barbarian: S...
Cosmere, Mistborn, Stormlight, Elantris, Warbreaker - • Cosmere, Mistborn, Sto...
Dragon Age - • Dragon Age
Alternative History - • Alternative History
Final Fantasy XIV - • Final Fantasy XIV
First Law - • First Law
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Writer: Craig Watson
Illustration and Animation: Arb Paninken
Map: Adam Ellis Charters
Narration: OfficiallyDevin ( / officiallydevin )
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsou...
#Lore #Documentary #LordOfTheRings
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Malazan please ❤❤❤
Malazan please ❤❤❤
Malazan please ❤❤❤
i think there is a mistake, the silvan elves are nandor not sindar.
I would love to see a video about what the armies of Numenor are like because the armor or armies of such a civilization do not appear on the internet.
Elves in the third age - Soft ethereal harp music
Elves in the first age - DEATH METAL
To beat Morgoth, the elves need to be Moregoth to defeat the dark lord.
@@felixleong61clever
For some reason your comment reminded me of Nathan Explosion
Morgoth and his brother Sauron (the most powerfull wizards, conquerors of all warm climate region of middle earth) :
We nearly obliterated these idiots.
@@raduraducu2668they are not Brothers lol, But I have a feeling you didn’t mean that in a literal sense.
Lesson #1: Don't build your secret fortress with a bridge leading to the front entrance capable of supporting the full weight of a dragon. Should be ox-weight, max.
11:09 One thing that may have helped with the elves tactical superiority when it came to clear lines of communication is that the Noldor likely had a number of Palantiri, since it's heavily implied they were crafted by Fëanor himself. If the Noldor also gave a handful of these to their allies, it would've mean the greater elven allied army would've had an absolutely staggering advantage over their enemies in terms of coordination as they would've been able to communicate in real time
It would make them comparable to not just WW2 level of Operational warfare, but also Modern army with GPS and Internet. Because Palantir is pretty much 3D projection of real landscape, capable of many points of view not just top-down view.
@@cool06alt Right? Like the orc armies would’ve been using medieval level couriers and signal flags while the Noldor would’ve been using artifacts on par with modern telecommunications and radios. If this were weapons tech it’d be like using a spear to fight a guy with a machine gun
@@hfar_in_the_skyLots of application tbh. If Noldor Palantiri are numerous enough, you can even use archers to indirectly fire at something even if obstructed by melee troopers on the front, while being carefully guided with archers captain wielding Palantir. And then basically setting up designated "kill zone" over an area, peppering it with arrows. Basically, modern artillery, because even in the early 19th century you still require clear line of sight to aim your cannons, even howitzer aiming relies more on guesswork.
Skirmishing can cover hundred of miles while still being considered part of single battle, all-cavalry warfare that you can only seen in Near East (for example Mongol-Mamluk war) become more closer to modern Blitzkrieg. If we interprented Feanorians as akin to steppe culture where the use of cavalrymen being akin to herding livestock over an area, then the orcs were right to abandon the Eastern Beleriand plains in favor of attack from Hithlum in 155 FA. Because the massive coordination involved mean any large infantry passing the area are just bound to be constantly harassed and charged, while lured into every lucrative areas to do so.
@@cool06alt Forward Observers.
The might of the elves was at its peak during the first age, it’s a shame by the third age they were a shadow of them for former selves. Thanks wizards and Warriors 👍
Considering that even in the 3rd age the elves were considered a whole other level despite their decline, it makes the stories of their glory in the 1st age even more significant.
Yeah but they were also arrogant and naive. Much like numenor.
@@malistair7476indeed, arrogant enough for several of them to challenge Melkor to single combat knowing the doom of Mandos.
@@carlbernard7615 I do agree, the doom of Mandos sealed their fate from the beginning, but I think it was more to prove a point that he was not untouchable, and can be bled
No empire lasts forever😪
Nothing beats 10000 Gondolindrim marching towards the Nirnaeth
Except for 1,0087 assassin hobbits looking for blood snarl snarl rawr rawr
Or 100 blood gnomes with their pointy hat weapons
@@johnm9126lol😅
With bright Mail, and Long Swords and Spears like a forest?
Thanks for that! Nothing like a little trip to Middle Earth on a Saturday morning to start off the weekend right.
Why not just move to middle earth if you feel that way? I'm considering it myself.
They were not kidding when they said that the Elves of the 3rd age were spent, thanks for another great video
As a follower of your channel for many years now I must say your delving into the fantasy world of Tolkien & especially the world of ice and fire…
I can’t thank you enough
Dude, the styles of your videos are just incredible. Love your channel and your work
This is quickly becoming my favorite channel on all things fictional.
An interesting and well made video. Of course since the War of Wrath lasted 40 years (according to some writings of Tolkien), that was enough time to learn a lot about fighting. However I guess the initial battles will have cost the Elves dearly, as well as the nasty surprises Morgoth did prepare for them during the war.
It's possible that Vanyar who fell were reborn quickly and allowed back to the front, since they weren't under the Doom of Mandos.
Fun fact that it was Morgoth who was instrumental in teaching the Noldor in forging such weapons.
It came to bite him bad in the form of Ringil the sword of Fingolfin, who in one last defiant blow channeling all his fea in his cold blade maimed the Dark Lord...causing him to forget fighting at the front again.
Morgoth was scared of facing Fingolfin, but his troops and all his followers chanted his name. He couldn't refuse the challenge. He never fought apart from this time, he hid in Utumno and Angband
@@Grapist1Fëanor studied under Martan,a master smith who learned from Aulë. Martan taught Fëanor metal craft. Fëanor is considered the greatest craftsman among the children of illuvitar. Fëanor hated Morgoth,who had nothing to do with his crafting skills. Or any of the Noldor.
@@c.antoniojohnson7114 Melkor incited the Noldor to secretely craft weapons
Whoa was expecting the 2nd age conclusion , but this is also equally great, and it would be neat to see series on the ME societies and military makeup as the counterpart to your previous vids on the ME economy.
Nice analysis! Its admirable how you are able to come up with so much detail, based on relatively little source material. I think this all makes a lot of sense, very educated guesses indeed.
Also I like how Tolkien's books have become so big that LotR-lore has actually become a fully fledged research-field with scholars that can be referenced and stuff
This video dropped perfectly as I'm finishing up a full Lotr rewatch, you sure know when to drop 'em!
The sheer depth of Tolkien's world beyond the few novels published is astounding and simply unmatched by any other fantasy setting.
Excellent video. Im using this to help write tabletop game rules, and this is incredibly helpful to see the difference between the armies.
I could just imagine Morgoth dragging his mouse and clicking his freshly spawned orcs to attack all over the map.
Thank you for making vidoes like this that help us understand more of middle earth! 🤩
Thanks For this Guys! Perfect way to end the week
Awesome episode. Congrats.
Everything yall make is so good! Thanks for the hard work
Best channel on youtube. You guys are amazing🎉
I've always found the first age the most interesting. It's a shame we don't ever get to see that kind of high fantasy.
Worst part of the establishment of Elven Armies ? .Elves are not allowed to get married while they are formally at war .Poor Andreth and Aegnor .That really makes me sad .
They are allowed, they just dont want.
One thing to note is that Morgoth did not "create" Balrogs, however he probably did confer with them and they probably got up to all kinds of wickedness together. After all, Balrogs, if I'm not mistaken were kind of in the same power league and order as Sauron or Gandalf the White and Melian. Fearsome creatures that no doubt would have been well known to their enemies, then and the creatures beneath them.
Dude third age elves going into open battle with balrogs, dragons and trolls, let alone orcs - they were badass af. Especially the hosts of Gondolin.
Balrogs were not creatures created by Morgoth. They were Maiar like Sauron and Gandalf.
Corrupted by Melkor*
Great video once again!
Would be interesting to hear about how the numenorians fought and functions, if you could make a video about them just like this. Sense Sauron feared them or at least had some kind of respect for their power to oppose him, instead using intrigue to defeat them and not arms.
Thanks again for a superb video and very interesting information.
I like this style of video. Please do one for Numenor!
Re-reading The Silmarillion now, this is very helpful!
Vanyar were not the physically strongest of the Eldar. That was always the Noldor, with Fingolfin being the strongest of all Elves, and Feanor the mightiest. The host of the Valar, for that matter, was not solely composed of Vanyar but also Noldor.
"In that time the Noldor walked still in the Hither Lands, mightiest and fairest of the children of the world, and their tongues were still heard by mortal ears." (Silmarillion: of the Rings of power and the Third age).
This is wrong.
Tolkien didn't translate “might” as a pure synonym for “strength”.
Case in point, Melkor (Morgoth) was the mightiest of the Valar, but it was Tulkas who was (physically) the strongest of them.
@@steve8610 Fingolfin is literally described as the strongest of all Elves. Additionally, there is not a single example of the Vanyar being stronger than the Noldor. The latter were the greatest at war and singlehandedly hold every major feat of strength among all Elves.
The Vanyar were the fairest, the greatest at poetry and song. They were not warriors and Tolkien never intended them to be.
@@johanlassen6448 Don't move beyond the scope of what I said. Might and strength are not the same thing, and Tolkien never used them interchangeably.
The characteristics of an individual within a race has nothing to do with the characteristics of the race as a whole, and neither of these points has anything to do with a people's efficacy as warriors.
The Noldor were the mightiest of the Elves, but that does not mean they were physically the strongest. It _could_ be the case that they were, but so too could the Vanyar have been. We simply do not know.
However, K&G/W&W's reasoning was not without merit. If strength and vitality was measured by diminishing (the Vanyar would have been the least, if at all, diminished) and proximity to the trees, then an argument could certainly be credible that they Vanyar _might_ have had the greatest physical strength.
It's all supposition and speculation, but it is fair reasoning.
@@steve8610 I can move wherever I want. Might and strength are not the same, no, frankly "might" is more important in Tolkiens terms because that is what was primarily affected by the light of the Trees. Ergo there is no correlation between the Vanyar being the closest in proximity to the trees and them somehow being stronger. If there had been, they would also have been the mightiest. You are being dishonest, which is not surprising given your tone and attitude.
OFC the characteristics of individuals is indicative of the race as a whole. Name me one example of a Vanyarin Elf performing ANY feat of strength. Go ahead. I'll wait.
There is no evidence that strength diminished by being away from the Trees.
So essentially your claim is "hurr durr the Vanyar were the strongest because I say so". No proof whatsoever. We are done here. You have much too low IQ and no intellectual honesty for any discussion. Don't bother responding, my answer will simply be that you are wrong and that you do not possess the intellectual capacity to be worth my time.
@@steve8610
1. I can "move" wherever I feel like. You do not dictate what I write and my arguments are relevant to the topic at hand. I would thank you to change your tone.
2. No, "might" is more important as it was the primary characteristic affected by the light of the Trees. If your and K&G/W&Ws reasoning was correct, then the Vanyar SHOULD have been the mightiest. They were not, and as such there is no reason to assume that they would be the strongest.
3. Characteristics of an individual are indicative of the abilities of the whole group.
4. You do not have a single example of a Vanyarin Elf performing any feat of strength. Your only claimed support is that they lived next to the Trees even though, as explained above, there is nothing that allows you to make that assumption. By the same token I could claim Hobbits were the physically strongest of all creatures on Arda because they smoked tobacco.
5. Your entire argument rests on a premise that has no basis in Tolkiens lore whatsoever. It is not "fair reasoning", it is baseless and dishonest. And so are you.
Terrific video! What a great series.
Hi, first of all a compliment to your videos, the quality with which you create them is very great. However, it would be nice for things that you say in your videos to be able to provide sources where the information comes from. I have heard things in your videos several times that are not in Tolkien's texts, but have been interpreted that way or another way by you. It would also be good to know a source or how you came up with the numbers and sizes. Overall, it would be beneficial if you said what are facts and what things are estimated and interpreted by you. Greetings
Do one on morgoth and sauron armies
My favorite age of Middle Earth Tolkien lore.
This is gold! Thank you
I love your videos about Tolkien's Legendarium, I just have one tiny nitpick here, and it's not even really specific to you guys, a lot of people do this when delving into Tolkien's work. The man himself talked loudly about how much he despised allegory, and yet so many analyses of his work use allegory to explain it, like your comparison of the Vanyar to the Americans in WWI. While that is a valid comparison to get the idea across and it's totally possible that was some kind of subconscious inspiration, I think it's important not to ascribe authorial intent to that comparison. Might just be me and my AP english brain being pedantic, but I think it matters.
Point taken, thanks!
He consciously used allegory though, Eru Illuviatar is straight the God of the Bible and Morgoth is Satan.
@@jarlwilliam9932 Not quite. Eru is the god of christianity, but Morgoth is not a straight Satan analogue.
In actuality, Sauron and Morgoth are based off two aspects of Satan's character not from the bible but from paradise lost.
Morgoth is characterised by his envy of Eru Iluvitar and his creations much as what drove Satan in paradise lost, and Sauron is characterised by his use of deception and temptation, another characteristic of Satan that's less prevalent in Morgoth's character.
@@moritamikamikara3879 So you mean Satan’s motivation in Paradise Lost is the exact same as the Bible? Morgoth is straight up Satan, Tolkien even refers to him as such.
Amazing content!
Do the dwarven armies of the 1st age too
I see a bright future for you channel, I just hope you don't get Templin Institute'd by "Tha Message"
Amazing as usual
I'm really beginning to love the Elven race in any fantasy stories!🤩👍
*W&W WHEN ARE WE GONNA SEE THE ALTERNATE HISTORY SERIES* 😭😭😭
Great stuff!
How about a tongue in cheek "melkor did nothing wrong" episode. Like how everyone tries to excuse palpatine's death star as a defensive weapon meant for the vong. Or how thanos was merely solving overpopulation. The borg are just misunderstood appreciators of culture, hipsters if you will (they will forcibly educate you on all their sweet finds from backpacking across the universe).
Balam Industries sponsored field trip to Middle-Earth.
Big fan of Tolkien. So its great to know about middle earth. 👽👍
Tough time for them to be alive. Wow
I get a bit full of laughter whenever I watch your channels, because you who are doing the voice, sounds pretty much like at a cinema newsreel from the 1930s. Don't take this the wrong way. It's kind of cool. 🙂
Great stuff
Excellent post!
Great work
Fantastic artwork.
excellent episode but I wanted to know how you got on with the rest of your alternate history?
in any case I wish you good luck for the rest
God bless you and your work sir 💜💜💜👍👍👍😇😇😇
Nice video! Just one thing - Celegorn and Curufin are two different sons of Feanor.
I wish there was a better idea of what the "light of the Valar" conferred in combat. Are we talking enhanced strength? Durability or speed??? Is a guy fresh off the boat from the Far West going to cleave straight through an orc shield or a dragon's scales where a dude who's being hiding out in a forest & potting orcs with his bow for the last couple of millennia going to bounce a shot?
Gentlepersons, I put before you, for your consideration this 130th day of request, a Fraggle Rock lore video.
The Elves are my favorite race and army
Excellent video. Thank you!
This is so good, high elves ftw
@@donpula6349 yes sir
The video has quite a few mistakes:
Telchar was from Nogrod, not Belegost
The Falathrim weren't involved in the Aglareb
Fingon wasn't King in 150 FA
A lot of the numbers the video presents are not from the books, the only definite number we have from Tolkien is 10.000 Gondolidrim at the Nirnaeth.
Also in the Aglareb the main host of Morgoth attacked Dorthonion, held by Aegnor and Angrod, and then Fingolfin and Maedhros sweeped in from west and east to achieve total encirclement.
He also says they had lines of communication and built fortresses all over Middle-earth, instead of Beleriand
excellent
We need some 1st age video games
asking for malazan again :)
So cool.
Would there be vid about orc and firstman armies?
Yep!
for that title just for other peoples sake even just full stop between the m and e so people understand they are two separate words might look al little confusing otherwise x
that was fun
Malazan please ❤❤❤Malazan please ❤❤Malazan please ❤❤❤❤Malazan please ❤❤❤Malazan please ❤❤❤
Great!
The different elven races preferred different weaponry like swords, spears, bows and axes.
Then we have the legendary Rog and the "House of the Hammer of Wrath" who wielded hammers and slayed balrogs for breakfast.
Can you do more dragon age lore please?
An excellent video & a nice change from the historical videos that you do. But isn't it a lot of guessing & ...."supposing" (sorry but there's another word for it but I can't think of it) on the tactics, strategies & weapons used by the Elven Armies of that time. Tolkien was an intellectual & a poet even if he did have combat experience. He was closer to Homer in his visions of combat than say Sun-Tzu or Von Clausewitz.
I think the Vanyar first learned warfare during the Great Journey... No way they managed to cross the entire length of middle earth without facing the challenges of orc armies during the migration.
How was girdle of melian breached?
Nice
Is it stated somewhere that the Vanyar fought with the spear? Or is it just concluded because they lack battle experience?
Personally I have imagined them to be some kind of magic wielders because they were enhanced by the two trees and the light of Valinor. Also they were aided by Maiar (maybe even Valar) when attacking Morgoth, as Eonwe, the Herold of Manwe, was the leader of the armies of the Valar. Because of the war Beleriand sank into the sea, so there had to be mighty powers being used. Describing them as regular soldiers with a spear doesn't get to the point in my eyes.
But we can really just speculate about their true strength as Tolkien never was clear about what their "powerlevel" might be.
When is the mongel empire what if coming out
Dwarves next
2:30 video starts
Anyone know the names of the soundtracks to these videos ?
"The Nandor are coming!"
"How do you know?"
"Listen..."
"..........fucking guy!"
Malazan please ❤❤❤
i didnt see war of wrath video ?
Sometimes the last video in the series is just added to the compilation video.
Lots of confusion around the Teleri and Sindar in this vid.
Sindar are all those Elves who travelled west of Ered Luin and settled in Beleriand and did not make the Great Journey to Aman.
It is confusing. I believe all those who followed Thingol and stayed for him to reappear are Teleri too. Of course, all those who learned shipbuilding from Ossë are Teleri. Some stated in Middle Earth but most went to the Undying Lands. I think Ossë dragged the Island across the Belegaer and anchored it off the coast of Aman, Tol Eressëa it became known as. That and Alqualondë are the homes of the Teleri. I think most of the Elves Wlu Thingol ruled over were Sindarin. I think Sindarin was their main language.
nice
*Orks* You cant do that.
*Elves laughing in arrows*
Looks like guys in Silmarillion:Total War are going to like this.
“We will continue talking about Tolkien”
Pun?
RIP no noldor cataphracts
15:40 But the armies of the Ancient and Greeks and Romans were fundamentally different from each other.
Not for awhile. The Romans fought in a phalanx for centuries early on
The Sindar do not seem to have used cavalry forces to any great extent. Their primary/preferred weapon was the axe, with (short) bows and spears. Longbows (as Beleg used) may have been for the more elite/specialized units (the march-wardens), the same with swords (Turin was made one of Thingol's 'knights of the sword'). For some reason you are confusing how the Teleri of Aman were armed (light bows) at the kinslaying with the Falathrim of Cirdan. It was the Noldor that had the cavalry including horsed archers, (and infantry with varied arms, swords, spears, axes, longbows).
Huh. That's an interesting application of Vanyar to Americans.
Its weird to hear this voice on fantasy armies. I always watch Kings and Generals. It has the same voice. Is it Ai?
It’s a voice actor… his name is Devin and he has his own UA-cam channel where he makes narrative let’s plays
Ancalagon!!!!
One word of warning: If you are going to use the word "Company" in a military sense, most people familiar with military affairs are going to assume 100-200 soldiers, max. (Not 1000; that is more a battalion)