The War of Wrath, or the Great Battle, is a key plot development in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium, portraying the final war against Morgoth at the end of the First Age.
Elrond, at his Council, makes comparison to the Last Alliance of Elves and Men of the Second Age in The Lord of the Rings saying,
I remember well the splendour of their banners ... It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken...
In the Tale of the Years it is called the Great Battle and the army, the Host of Valinor. The best known and most poetical account is in The Silmarillion, itself closely drawn from the earlier Quenta Silmarillion. The most detailed account of the course of the war is in The Later Annals of Beleriand. Other accounts and fragmentary details about the war are scattered, appearing in the earliest versions of the legendarium.
The experience of distance to the War of Wrath is greatest in Lord of the Rings, drawing nearer to it in The Silmarillion, closer still in the Annals and Quentas of the History of Middle-earth and closest, in aspects, in The Lost Tales.
Read more about War Of Wrath: The Silmarillion Account, The History of Middle-earth Accounts, Impact On Popular Culture
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“Its shrill scream seems yet to linger in its throat, and the roar of the sea in its wings. There is the tyranny of Jove in its claws, and his wrath in the erectile feathers of the head and neck. It reminds me of the Argonautic expedition, and would inspire the dullest to take flight over Parnassus.”
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