Sunder-battle

The Sunder-battle was a decisive conflict of the First Age fought in the heights of Biriz-zahar, the city built by Mótsog during the Greymaul Rebellion. The battle brought an end to the long war between the Longbeards and the rebel Greymauls when both sides were forced to unite against a sudden betrayal by the forces of Morgoth. The violence of the battle was said to have sundered the mountain itself, giving rise to the later name Sundergrót ("Split-stone") for the ruined city.

The Sunder-battle occurred after nearly ten years of war between the Longbeards under Durin the Deathless and the Greymauls led by Mótsog. The rebellion began after Mótsog, once one of Durin's closest companions, was left to rule Mount Gundabad while Durin departed to found Khazad-dûm. In Durin's absence Mótsog raised the Greymauls in revolt, establishing the city of Biriz-zahar south of Gundabad as the centre of his power. After years of inconclusive warfare, Durin devised a desperate plan to bring the conflict to an end. He allowed himself to be captured and brought in chains to the summit of Biriz-zahar, where the Greymauls gathered to mock the fallen king. While Mótsog celebrated his apparent victory, Durin addressed the assembled rebels and urged them to abandon their alliance with Orcs and return to their kin among the Longbeards.

Durin's capture was part of a greater stratagem. While the rebels were distracted by their captive king, Ragna the Fierce, queen of Durin, led an army of Longbeards through secret paths into Biriz-zahar. With many of the city's defenders gathered at the summit, the gates stood largely unguarded, allowing Ragna's forces to enter the city and begin their ascent to the heights where Durin was held. Fighting soon erupted throughout the city as Longbeard warriors clashed with Greymaul rebels and their Orc allies. The battle spread across the high streets and halls of Biriz-zahar, and the struggle threatened to destroy both factions of the Dwarves. Unknown to either side, however, the conflict had drawn the attention of Morgoth and his lieutenant Sauron, who had secretly planned to destroy both hosts.

At a prearranged signal Sauron's forces betrayed the Greymauls. Orcs turned upon both Longbeard and Greymaul alike while a host of terrible creatures descended upon the city. Nine dragons swept from the northern skies to rain fire upon the mountainside, among them Thorog and Etterfang Foulmaw. A Balrog known to the Dwarves as Askâdurs also entered the battle, spreading flame and terror through the streets of Biriz-zahar. The devastation was immense, and countless Dwarves were slain as dragon-fire and shadow fell upon the city.

Despite the chaos, Ragna fought her way through the burning city and reached the summit of Biriz-zahar, where she freed Durin from captivity. Yet even with their king restored, the Dwarves remained divided, for neither Longbeard nor Greymaul trusted the other enough to fight side by side. By this point the majority of the Dwarven host had already fallen to the enemies sent by Sauron. Realising that all their people would perish if the feud continued, Durin appealed directly to Mótsog. Setting aside their rivalry at last, the two leaders united their warriors against the invaders. Greymaul and Longbeard fought together, and the fury of their combined assault turned the tide of the battle. Dragons were slain by Dwarven weapons, the Balrog Askâdurs was driven away, and the Orc host was shattered.

The struggle was so violent that the mountain itself was said to have split beneath the blows of the combatants, giving the battle its name. Though the Dwarves emerged victorious, the cost was terrible. Many of Mótsog's closest companions were slain, including Lóthi, Methin, Hálm, and Víthur, as well as his youngest son Módvit. Two thirds of the Dwarven host had perished by the time the battle ended.

With their plans thwarted, Sauron and the surviving dragons withdrew from the field, and the shattered Orc armies fled the Misty Mountains. The Sunder-battle ended the Greymaul Rebellion and preserved the Dwarves from destruction. Though victorious, the surviving Dwarves were left with deep scars from the conflict. In the aftermath, Mótsog surrendered himself to Durin and asked for death as punishment for his treachery. Durin refused to slay his former friend, declaring that too much Dwarven blood had already been shed. At the urging of Ragna the Fierce, the surviving Greymauls were instead forced to cut their beards short as penance for their rebellion and alliance with the Orcs. For generations afterward the descendants of the Greymauls were forbidden to wear long beards, and many among the Longbeards continued to distrust them.

Mótsog himself withdrew into exile in a hidden chamber deep beneath Gundabad, where he lived as a hermit for the remainder of his life. The once-great city of Biriz-zahar lay ruined after the battle and was later known as Sundergrót, a broken stronghold overlooking the Wells of Langflood. The memory of the Sunder-battle endured among the Dwarves as one of the darkest moments in their history, a reminder of the danger of division among their people and of the treachery of the Enemy.