Annals of Beleriand

The Annals of Beleriand or Grey Annals are countings of years of the late First Age taking place in Beleriand, written in an annalistic style by Pengolod.

History

These and the Annals of Valinor were written by Pengolod the Wise of Gondolin, before its fall, and after at the Havens of Sirion, and at Tavrobel in Tol Eressëa after his return unto the West. A later version says that they were made in Aman by the survivors of the Havens and Doriath, and enlarged from the records and memories of the remnant of the Noldor of Nargothrond and Gondolin.

True-life history

Tolkien began to write these Annals along with the Annals of Valinor as parallel works to the Silmarillion, to help him handle the complex history of the First Age. Therefore there are different versions attached to the current version of the Silmarillion he was writing at the moment.

• "The Earliest Annals of Beleriand", written in early 1930s. Published in The Shaping of Middle-earth.
• "The Later Annals of Beleriand", written in late 1930s. Published in The Lost Road and Other Writings.
• "The Grey Annals", written in 1950-51. Published in The War of the Jewels. They were one of the main sources used by Christopher Tolkien for his edition of The Silmarillion.

See also

• The Texts and their Relations