Act I, Part XVII: The Fall of Beleriand
Tinnurion, having learned the truth behind Eöl's disappearance, now returned to his companions. To them he relayed everything he had learned; of the great loss of life at Sarn Athrad, of the darkening of Beleriand and the refugees of Gondolin. It was clear to them now that their master would not return, and they mourned his passing and in the dark of night they vowed to avenge his death, but hearing this Tinnurion silenced them and said:
'Make no petty vows of vengeance, least of all the kind you cannot keep, for they have their way with those who utter them, and more than often they end up worse for it. Nay, nay, a thousand curses could we lay upon the Noldor, but avail us it would little, for cursed they are already and I sense their doom is nigh.'
And his words held the power of prophecy, for indeed, not long after, the accursed oath that bound the fates of all the Noldor lead to the cruelest of kinslayings and their numbers suffered grievously. The Silmarils were all lost and the sons of Feänor brought low. But this allowed Morgoth swift victory over what remained and he took all of Beleriand for his own. For near to half a century the Dark Lord ruled those lands and it posed a great threat to Eriador, between which lay only the Ered Luin. Fearing the coming of Morgoth, Tinnurion fled deeper into Eriador and he and his companions never stayed anywhere for long, like three fleeting shadows. Those lands were then still densely forested and much cover they enjoyed under those trees. Thus they moved from camp to camp until at last they came further southward into the forested lands of Minhiriath, and there he came across a wood of dark pine trees and here they made a hidden dwelling.
In those days Tinnurion forgot many of his dwarven friends, for the memory of the Battle of Sarn Athrad still grieved him greatly. But the greatest of battles was nigh, for the Valar themselves brought a host of Valinor to the shores of Beleriand to contend with Morgoth. Their battles were so great and fierce that the sky lit up in great flashes of light, and the earth trembled and cracked for many years. Then a day came when the tremors beneath the earth were of such strength that it broke part of the wall of Ered Luin. Tinnurion witnessed this from afar and he had a terrible look of fear upon his face. Great mountains were torn asunder and a harrowing sound filled the sky. The sea rose up against the land and swallowed it whole; the greatest of calamities since the beginning of time.
At first Tinnurion believed that all of Middle-Earth would follow, but this was not to be. For indeed, Morgoth was at last overthrown and his terrible servants were destroyed - yet some could escape to Eriador and were not seen again, whilst others like Sauron would later emerge as a grave new threat. But before that time, peace returned to Middle-Earth. The Dwarves of the Ered Luin were bereft of their homes and many of them travelled eastward to the realm of Khazad-Dûm where the Longbeards dwelled and their coming would mean great splendour for years to come. In Lindon, the surviving Elves of Beleriand gathered and the flower of the Eldar was preserved and would bloom again in the new age. But in Minhiriath, deep into the dark forests of those lands, Tinnurion and his companions stayed in solitude and they mourned the passing of an age.
This is how the story of Tinnurion in Beleriand ends and thus ends Act I of this chronicle.
