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Doriath secretly.
There they surprised Thingol upon a hunt with but small company of arms; and Thingol was slain,
and the fortress of the Thousand Caves taken at unawares and plundered; and so was brought well
nigh to ruin the glory of Doriath and but one stronghold of the Elves [Gondolin] against Morgoth now
remained, and their twilight was nigh at hand.
Queen Melian the Dwarves could not seize or harm, and she went forth to seek Beren and Lúthien.
Now the Dwarf-road to Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains passed through East Beleriand
and the woods about the River Gelion, where aforetime were the hunting grounds of Damrod and
Díriel, sons of Fëanor. To the south of those lands between the river Gelion and the mountains lay the
land of Ossiriand, and there lived and wandered still in peace and bliss Beren and Lúthien, in that
time of respite which Lúthien had won, ere both should die; and their folk were the Green Elves of
the South. But Beren went no more to war, and his land was filled with loveliness and a wealth of
flowers, and Men called it oft Cuilwarthien, the Land of the Dead that Live.
To the north of that region is a ford across the river Ascar, and that ford is named Sarn Athrad, the
Ford of Stones. This ford the Dwarves must pass ere they reached the mountain passes that led unto
their homes; and there Beren fought his last fight, warned of their approach by Melian. In that battle
the Green Elves took the Dwarves unawares as they were in the midst of their passage, laden with
their plunder; and the Dwarvish chiefs were slain, and well nigh all their host. But Beren took the
Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, whereon was hung the Silmaril; and it is said and sung that
Lúthien wearing that necklace and that immortal jewel on her white breast was the vision of greatest
beauty and glory that has ever been seen outside the realms of Valinor, and that for a while the Land
of the Dead that Live became like a vision of the land of the Gods, and no places have been since so
fair, so fruitful, or so filled with light.
Yet Melian warned them ever of the curse that lay upon the treasure and upon the Silmaril. The
treasure they had drowned indeed in the river Ascar, and named it anew Rathlorion, Goldenbed, yet
the Silmaril they retained. And in time the brief hour of loveliness of the land of Rathlorion departed.
For Lúthien faded as Mandos had spoken, even as the Elves of later days faded and she vanished
from the world;* and Beren died, and none know where their meeting shall be again.’
Thereafter was Dior Thingol’s heir, child of Beren and Lúthien, king in the woods: most fair of all
the children of the world, for his race was threefold: of the fairest and goodliest of Men, and of the
Elves, and of the spirits divine of Valinor; yet it shielded him not from the fate of the oath of the sons
of Fëanor. For Dior went back to Doriath and for a time a part of its ancient glory was raised anew,
though Melian no longer dwelt in that place, and she departed to the land of the Gods beyond the
western sea, to muse on her sorrows in the gardens whence she came.
But Dior wore the Silmaril upon his breast and the fame of that jewel went far and wide; and the
deathless oath was waked once more from sleep.
For while Lúthien wore that peerless gem no Elf would dare assail her, and not even Maidros
dared ponder such a thought. But now hearing of the renewal of Doriath and Dior’s pride, the seven
gathered again from wandering; and they sent unto Dior to claim their own. But he would not yield the
jewel unto them, and they came upon him with all their host; and so befell the second slaying of Elf by
Elf, and the most grievous. There fell Celegorm and Curufin and dark Cranthir, but Dior was slain,
and Doriath was destroyed and never rose again.
Yet the sons of Fëanor gained not the Silmaril; for faithful servants fled before them and took with
them Elwing the daughter of Dior, and she escaped, and they bore with them the Nauglafring, and
came in time to the mouth of the river Sirion by the sea.