The Second Kinslaying
the attack of the Sons of Fëanor on Doriath
The Event
The Second Kinslaying — the slaying of Elves by the Sons of Fëanor at Doriath — is the second of the great murders of the Oath. When Dior (heir of Beren and Lúthien) held the Silmaril at Menegroth (set in the Nauglamír, recovered from the wreck of Doriath), the Oath of the House of Fëanor could not endure that another possessed the jewel: and three of the surviving brothers (Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir) marched against the Hidden Realm.
The Order of the Ruin
- The attack: The Fëanorians with a host, in the darkness after Thingol’s death and Melian’s departure (the Girdle fallen); they “fought… at the gates and in the halls of Menegroth”. Dior and Nimloth and their people defended — and the battle was fought in the thousand caves.
- The deaths: Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir (three of the brothers) were slain in the fight — Dior himself perished (and Nimloth); but the cost of the taking.
- The blackest deed: The twins, the sons of Dior (Eluréd and Elurín), were the most appalling victims of the Oath, “cast forth into the forests to perish” (Christopher Tolkien’s War of the Jewels collects the variants). Only the little Elwing was carried off by faithful servants, and bearing the Silmaril she escaped to the sea.
Consequences
The Second Kinslaying ends Doriath (the oldest Elvish kingdom) and deepens the Fëanorians’ curse
— it is the deed that, with the Third Kinslaying, makes their name a byword of horror among the Elves, and which their own deaths (and the burning of the Silmarils) will repay.