Denethor

Name and Lineage

Denethor — the son of Lenwë (the prince of the Nandor who refused the River-crossing) — led a company of the Green-elves (the Laiquendi) westward at last over the Ered Luin into Ossiriand, where they dwelt — he was — the first kingly leader the Nandor had in the West, under whose word the “Land of the Seven Rivers” opened to his folk.

The First Battle and His Fall

When Morgoth (in the age’s early wars) sent his Orcs against the western lands, the

First Battle of the wars of Beleriand came upon the Green-elves — and Denethor, reckless in the wood-marches, was caught and slain with the greater part of his host (despite the Sindar’s aid, too late); the Quenta: — the “First Battle” and its loss cowed the Laiquendi. The remnant thereafter and (in later accounts) intermingled with the Sindar of Doriath’s edge.

Significance

Denethor’s brief star-setting marks the Green-elves’ entry into the wars — and their loss of all ambition: after his death, the Nandor of Ossiriand — they faded into the green twilight, yet their name (and Denethor’s) is the emblem of the first of the age’s many lost leaders. (Not to be confused with the later Steward Denethor of Gondor — a name Tolkien re-used in a later age.)

Related

• Lenwë
• Nandor
• Ossiriand
• The First Battle
• Sindar