Belegost

The Great Fortress

Belegost, called Gabilgathol by its own people and Mickleburg in the older English rendering, was the northern of the two Dwarf-cities of the Blue Mountains, lying north of Mount Dolmed while Nogrod lay to the south. Of all the Dwarves of the Elder Days the folk of Belegost had the closest friendship with the Elves. It was they who came down into Beleriand before the Sun and offered their skill to Thingol; with Melian's guidance they delved the Thousand Caves of Menegroth, and Thingol paid them in pearls from the coast, chief among them the great pearl Nimphelos. They forged weapons and mail for the Sindar before the first orcs ever reached Beleriand and taught the Elves much of stone-work. Their armourers were famous for hauberks of linked rings and for the grim visored helms called Dwarf-masks, made of steel and worked in the likeness of a dragon's face, which served the Dwarves against fire and terror.

Azaghâl and the dragon

At the Nirnaeth Arnoediad the lord of Belegost, Azaghâl, marched in the host of Maedhros. When Glaurung came against the eastern army the Dwarves alone stood their ground, being hardier against fire than Elves or Men and protected by their masks. Azaghâl was crushed beneath the dragon, but as he fell he wounded it in the belly with a knife, and Glaurung and the creatures with him fled the field. The Dwarves lifted their lord's body and marched away from the battle chanting a dirge, and none dared to hinder them. The Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, made by Telchar of Nogrod, had been Azaghâl's gift to Maedhros in thanks for rescue on the Dwarf-road, and passed by him to Fingon and the house of Hador.

The last years

When the Dwarves of Nogrod resolved to attack Doriath after the death of Thingol, Belegost refused to join them and tried to hold them back. The city endured until the War of Wrath broke the mountains; afterward its people abandoned the ruins and, with those of Nogrod, passed east to Khazad-dûm.