Beleriand

In chapter 14 of The Silamarillion Tolkien goes into great lengths about Beleriand after Dagor Aglareb. It is clear that Tolkien was genius in the detailed care he gave his story. Not only does he create different races with genealogy and languages but also gives as much thought detail to the land they inhabit. The amount of detail in this chapter is mind boggling. You don't go into detail about trees, and landscapes, and rivers, and mountains if you do not have an affinity for God's creation. For this post I am simply going to highlight where some of the key characters settled in bullet point fashion. I do strongly suggest looking at the map of Beleriand at the end of the post for reference if you are not already familiar with the landscape.

• Morgoth (Melkor) resided in the North with the Iron Mountains fencing in his domain
• Angband, the Hells of Iron, was built in the West by Morgoth to stand against any assault from the Valar
• Fingolfin with his son Fingon and their people lived in Hithlum to the West of Morgoth a land of cool air and cold winters. Most of the Elves populated Mithrim.
• Fingon's folk dwelt in Dor-lomin and Eithel Sirion was their main fortress and they had many horses. "Of those horses many of the sires came from Valinor, and they were given to Fingolfin by Maedhros in atonement of his losses, for they had been carried by ship to Losgar" (p. 119, The Silmarillion)
• To the West were the Echoing Mountains and the coasts where weather was much warmer. This is where Turgon, son of Fingolfin, dwelt. There were also many Grey-elves in the region of Nevrast. "All that people took Turgon as their lord, and the mingling of the Noldor and the Sindar came to pass the soonest there; and Turgon dwelt long in those halls that he named Vinyamar, under Mount Taras by the sea" (p. 119, The Silmarillion).
• Angrod and Aegnor, sons of Finarfin and brothers to Finrod, dwelt in the highlands of Dorthonion
• Finrod held the pass of Sirion and built a watch tower on Tol Sirion. After Finrod built Nargothrond and took up occupancy there his bother Orodreth held the pass of Sirion
• The realm of Nargothrond stretched from the River Nenning to the River Sirion save the area of Falas. This is where Cirdan and the shipbuilders dwelt
• With Cirdan's help some of the people of Nargothrond built ships and explored the Island of Balar to prepare it as a place of final refuge should all go ill
• "Thus the realm of Finrod was the greatest by far, though he was the youngest of the great lords of the Noldor, Fingolfin, Fingon, and Maedhros, and Finrod Felgund" (p. 121, The Silmarillion).
• East of the Sirion was the other half of Beleriand and it contained Nan Dungortheb. This is where Ungoliant settled after fleeing Morgoth. "All living things shunned that land, and the Noldor would pass through Nan Dungortheb only at great need, by the paths near to the borders of Doriath and furthest from the haunted hills" (p. 121, The Silmarillion). This land was set between the terrors of Ungoliant and the Girdle of Melian
• South of this no-man's land was Doriath and the Hidden Kingdom of Thingol. None could enter that land save by the will of Thingol or Melian
• Much of the surrounding land benefited from the Girdle of Melian; it was at Amon Ereb where Denethor died in early fighting against Morgoth's forces; but most of those lands were little inhabited; this hill would be important in later tales
• Ossiriand was the land of the seven rivers; of which Adurant was the furthest south and contained the island of Tol Galen (important later tales). The Green Elves dwelt here. "The woodcraft of the Elves of Ossiriand was such that a stranger might pass through their land from end to end and see none of them" (p. 123, The Silmarillion).
• East of Dorthonion the land was most flat and vulnerable to assault from Morgoth (in fact before Dagor Aglareb it's how his forces entered Beleriand). This is where the sons of Feanor dwelt
• Maedhros settled an area afterword known as the March of Maedhros with his chief city at the Hill of Himring
• The Pass of Aglon was heavily fortified by Celegorm and Curufin
• The Ward of Maglor was between the arms of the River Gelion
• To the East of Maglor's Gap all the way to the mountains resided Caranthir's people; the first of the Noldor to meet the Dwarves. Caranthir lived by Lake Helevorn.
• Of the sons of Feanor only Amrod and Amras did not dwell in the North. They dwelt toward the south by the great greenwoods (it's not named in the text but I'm assuming that means Taur-Im-Duinath) and because that land was wild and fair they were often visited by the Elf lords.
• "Of these Finrod Felegun came most often, for he had great love of wondering, and he came even into Ossiriand, and won the friendship of the Green-elves" (p. 124, The Silmarillion).

Middle-earth timeline: circa 61 First Age
Today's reading comes from: The Silmarillion, page 118-124
Relevant map: Beleriand