Elven-hosts

A name used for any of the great armies of the Elves, especially during the Wars of Beleriand between the Noldor and the Dark Lord Morgoth. After the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, they fought the Dagor-nuin-Giliath under the stars before the first sunrise, and there the Elven-host routed the Orcs that had attacked them. From that time onward, the Eldar held Morgoth in check through a period of centuries, and after the Glorious Battle of the Dagor Aglareb they maintained the Siege of Angband around Morgoth's northern stronghold of Angband.

The Siege was broken in the Dagor Bragollach of I 455, and in response Maedhros the son of Fëanor gathered the scattered forces from across Middle-earth into an immense Elven-host. In I 472 these forces were unleashed against Morgoth. The armies were divided into two hosts, with Maedhros planning to lead an attack from the east, while the western host would descend from concealment on the embattled Orcs. Through the treachery and guile of Morgoth and his servants, these plans were foiled, and in the end the vast Elven-host was overcome and destroyed by the Dark Lord in the battle that came to be known as the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.

In later Ages, such great Elven-hosts were seen more rarely, but the Elves still marched to war at times. They fought, for example, in the War of the Elves and Sauron that followed the forging of the One Ring. The end of the Second Age saw the formation of the last great Elven-host, when King Gil-galad gathered Elves from across Middle-earth to join the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Led by Gil-galad and Elendil, the host marched against Mordor, and after a seven-year campaign, succeeded in defeating the second Dark Lord.

After the great events that brought the Second Age to an end, many of the surviving Elves had departed from Middle-earth, and their numbers were much reduced. After this point, history records no further great Elven-hosts, though the Elves would still go to war at times during the long years of the Third Age.