Menegroth
the Thousand Caves; the halls of Thingol
Name and Position
Menegroth — “the Thousand Caves” — the palace-fortress and capital of the kingdom of Doriath, “the halls of Thingol” hewn in the heart of the forest by the river Esgalduin. In its making the highest art of the time was spent: the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains (Nogrod and Belegost) — the friends of the king — delved the caves and wrought the pillars,; its gates were in the forest, its chambers ran deep beneath the rock, its songs and its counsels the seat of the Sindar’ realm.
The Courts of Thingol
The Fall
In the ruin of Doriath, Menegroth fell twice: first when the
Dwarves of Nogrod, maddened for the Nauglamír, slew Thingol and sacked the halls (the first burning); and then in the Second Kinslaying, when the Sons of Fëanor’s host fought Dior’s people “at the gates and doors” of the thousand caves, and the last of the Sindar lords was slain within its ruined stones. After Melian’s departure the caves stood empty under the fading enchantment, and were hastened under the doom of Beleriand.
Significance
Menegroth is the “underground palace” of the elder world — the archetype (later echoed in Nargothrond and Guilin) of the Elves’ farewell to light; and its destruction closes the greatest film — its scenes are the residence of the greatest stories (the quest of the Silmaril, the death of the king) that pass the hope of the First Age from hand to hand until the drowning.