Doriath: The Hidden Kingdom That Fell to Greed | Silmarillion Deep Dive

The story of Doriath, the greatest and longest-enduring Elven kingdom of the First Age, built by Elu Thingol and his Maia queen Melian as a living echo of Valinor east of the Sea. Protected for over two ages by the Girdle of Melian, an enchanted veil of shadow around its forests, Doriath falls not to Morgoth but to two kin-slaughters committed by the so-called free peoples themselves. Dwarves of Nogrod murder Thingol in his treasury after he insults them over the Silmaril-set Nauglamir. The Sons of Feanor then slaughter his heir Dior in the Second Kinslaying. Yet everything that saves Middle-earth in later ages runs through Doriath: Elwing and Earendil, Elros and Elrond, Aragorn and Arwen, the Sindarin tongue, Daeron runes, and Galadriel Lothlorien. A hidden kingdom that ended by going everywhere.