Dagor Dagorath - The Battle

The Battle

According to the Second Prophecy of Mandos, included in The Shaping of Middle-earth and similar versions in later volumes of the History of Middle-earth series, Morgoth (the source and personification of evil in Tolkien's Middle-earth universe) will discover how to break the Door of Night, and will destroy the Sun and the Moon. For the love of these, Eärendil will return from the sky and shall meet Tulkas, Eönwë, and Túrin Turambar on the plains of Valinor.

There the forces of the Valar shall fight against Morgoth. Tulkas will wrestle with him, but it will be by the hand of Túrin that finally death and destruction will be dealt to Melkor. Túrin will run his black sword Gurthang (Iron of Death) through Melkor's heart, thus avenging the Children of Húrin and all Men. Then the Pelóri Mountains will be levelled, the three Silmarils will be recovered from the Earth, sea, and sky, and Fëanor's spirit shall be released from the halls of Mandos to give them to Yavanna, who will break them and rekindle the light of the Two Trees. The battle will end and renew Arda's existence: all the Elves shall awake and the Powers will be young again. Also, according to Dwarven legends, they will help their maker Aulë recreate Arda in all its glory again. It is also thought that at that time, the substance that was used to create the Silmarils will be revealed.

Following this, there will be a Second Music of the Ainur. This song will sing into being a new world. The Children of Ilúvatar (or, in the published Silmarillion, Men only) will sing it with the Ainur. It is unknown what the fate of the old races, or of the old world, will be in the new one. Even the Ainur do not know anything of the second world or the Second Music. All the Ainur know is that the Second Music will be greater than the First Music.

In some of his later writings Tolkien made changes which might indicate that no Vala had definite knowledge of what would happen at the end of the world, beyond that a Last Battle would be fought between the forces of Light and Darkness. However, other contemporaneous texts continue to show further updates to the Second Prophecy of Mandos and thus it is uncertain what Tolkien's final views on the matter may have been.