Glorious Battle

Seeking to catch the Elves unprepared, a twin force of Orcs marches from Angband to attack Beleriand from both the west and the east.

(1)	In the west, the Orcs break through the Pass of Sirion.
(2)	In the east, a second contingent of Orcs passes through the low hills of Maglor's Gap. Both elements of this dual force make for the land of Dorthonion.
(3)	Fingolfin leads a force from Barad Eithel and drives into the western Orcs.
(4)	Maedhros attacks the flanks of the eastern Orcs from his fortress on Himring.
(5)	Orcs from both armies flee back toward Angband, with the forces of Fingolfin and Maedhros pursuing them across the plain of Ard-galen.

The third of the great battles of the Wars of Beleriand, and the most decisive victory for the Elves. Some sixty years after the Return of the Noldor to Middle-earth, Morgoth sent out armies of Orcs to test the northern defences of Beleriand. The Orcs attacked in the west through the Pass of Sirion, and in the east through Maglor's Gap. Both of these assaults were repulsed by the Noldor, and the armies of Morgoth were destroyed completely: it was said that not a single one of the thousands of Orcs ever returned to Angband.

To commemorate this great victory, the Elves gave it the name Dagor Aglareb, which translates as the 'Glorious Battle'. With the Orcs defeated, the Noldor set a siege around the Dark Lord's domain - the Siege of Angband - that kept Beleriand safe from any similar invasion for nearly four hundred years.