Ancalagon the Black

“Before the rising of the sun Earendil slew Ancalagon the Black,
the mightiest of the dragon-host, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim,
and they were broken in his ruin.”

The Silmarillion

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Ancalagon the Black was said to be the greatest of the fire-drakes created by Morgoth, though his reign upon the earth was short. He was the first and mightiest of the of the fire breathing dragons loosed upon Middle-earth during the last battle of the War of Wrath.

In secret Morgoth took the seed of Glaurung and bred through dark sorcery, great winged beasts deep within the pits of Angband. Held back as a last stroke should the tide of war turn against him. Morgoth kept his fire-drakes in abeyance, a great fleet of winged fire and destruction of which Ancalagon the Black was their indomitable leader.

During the War of Wrath, the Valar waged their final war on Morgoth. So great was their might in this last war, that most of the Dark Lord’s Balrogs were destroyed, excpet a few who hid themselves deep within the roots of mountains. The Orcs of Angband, his vast armies of the north were utterly destroyed. Just when the Valar were certain of their victory, Morgoth unleashed the winged dragons, with Ancalagon at the apex of their phalanx. Ancalagon drove back the forces of the Valar from the gates of Angband onto the ashy plain of Anfauglith, but the flying dragons and their fire were finally stopped by Eärendil. Ancalagon was no match for the mariner, who sailed through the skies in the ship Vingilot, with the Silmaril upon his brow. With the help of Thorondor and the great Eagles, Ancalagon was finally cast down after a day of battle and fell atop Thangorodrim, breaking its mighty towers and mountainous peeks. Most of the dragon host were slain, yet some of their number escaped to trouble an unhappy world.

Ancalagon the Black, considered the greatest winged dragon of Middle-earth and undoubtedly the largest, is often referred to as the ‘father of the winged-drakes’. He was so large his falling body destroyed the three volcanic mountains of Thangorodrim, the highest peaks in Beleriand.

One has to wonder if Morgoth had not held them back, but had loosed his vast armies of orcs, his terrible Balrogs with swords & whips of fire and finally the mighty fire-drakes all at once upon the Valar, would he not have won the War of Wrath? None now can say, but if Morgoth the most cruel had indeed been victorious, the world would have forever been broken and lit only with fire.

The great Battle of the War of Wrath…

Of the march of the host of the Valar to the north of Middle-earth little is said in any tale; for among them went none of those Elves who had dwelt and suffered in the Hither Lands, and who made the histories of those days that still are known; and tidings of these things they only learned long afterwards from their kinsfolk in Aman. But at the last the might of Valinor came up out of the West, and the challenge of the trumpets of Eonwe filled the sky; and Beleriand was ablaze with the glory of their arms, for the host of the Valar were arrayed in forms young and fair and terrible, and the mountains rang beneath their feet.

The meeting of the hosts of the West and of the North is named the Great Battle, and the War of Wrath. There was marshalled the whole power of the Throne of Morgoth, and it had become great beyond count, so that Anfauglith could not contain it; and all the North was aflame with war.

From The Silmarillion in the chapter ‘Of the Voyage of Eärendil’

 

The last host of Morgoth issued forth from Angband with black wings and fire…

But it availed him not. The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth; and the uncounted legions of the Ores perished like straw in a great fire, or were swept like shrivelled leaves before a burning wind. Few remained to trouble the world for long years after. And such few as were left of the three houses of the Elf-friends, Fathers of Men, fought upon the part of the Valar; and they were avenged in those days for Baragund and Barahir, Galdor and Gundor, Huor and Hurin, and many others of their lords.

But a great part of the sons of Men, whether of the people of Uldor or others new-come out of the east, marched with the Enemy; and the Elves do not forget it.

Then, seeing that his hosts were overthrown and his power dispersed, Morgoth quailed, and he dared not to come forth himself. But he loosed upon his foes the last desperate assault that he had prepared, and out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons, that had not before been seen; and so sudden and ruinous was the onset of that dreadful fleet that the host of the Valar was driven back, for the coming of the dragons was with great thunder, and lightning, and a tempest of fire.

But Earendil came, shining with white flame, and about Vingilot were gathered all the great birds of heaven and Thorondor was their captain, and there was battle in the air all the day and through a dark night of doubt. Before the rising of the sun Earendil slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragon-host, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, and they were broken in his ruin. Then the sun rose, and thehost of the Valar prevailed, and well-nigh all the dragons were destroyed; and all the pits of Morgoth were broken and unroofed, and the might of the Valar descended into the deeps of the earth.

From The Silmarillion in the chapter ‘Of the Voyage of Eärendil’

 

“Out of the pits of Angband there issued the winged dragons.
The host of the Valar was driven back, for the coming of the dragons was with great thunder,
and lightning, and a tempest of fire.“

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