The End of An Age

The final two sections of the Sketch and Quenta bring the earliest Silmarillion to a close. Once again there are many details that are much different for those familiar with the published work. Yet with each incarnation it become closer and closer. Here are some highlights:

• The hosts of Valinor met the hosts of Morgoth at "...the Last Battle, the Battle Terrible, the Battle of Wrath and Thunder" (p. 157, The Shaping of Middle-earth). The world was rent and broken in this great conflict but Morgoth was overthrown. 
• All of the Balrogs were destroyed in this battle. Obviously this storyline needed adjusted after Tolkien's completion of The Lord of the Rings.
• All of Morgoth's Dragon's, save two, were destroyed. In the Quenta there is an air-battle with Ancalagon the black, chief of Morgoth's winged dragons. I think it's interesting to see where Tolkien was going with this idea--that not all the dragons were destroyed: "For a while the last dragons and Orcs shall grieve the earth, but in the end all shall perish by the valor of men" (p. 40, The Shaping of Middle-earth). One the one-hand this allowed the easy insertion of Smaug into The Hobbit on the other hand I think Tolkien had other designs. This would allow for his mythology to the into others (read Fafnir of Norse Mythology or the Beowulf Saga). 
• There are various versions of the last of Fëanor's songs (Maglor and Maidros) and how they handled the Silmarils. In the Sketch they submit to the hosts of Valinor and march back to the Blessed Lands. Along the way Maglor steals a Silmaril and casts it into the earth (for he is now to unholy to keep it) and kills himself. Yet, it is Maidros who, in the end, breaks the Silmaril for the rekindling of the Two Trees. By the Quenta versions it's almost spot on with the Silmarillion.
• Eärendel is awarded a Silmaril and sent into the Outer Seas with it on his brow being a bright star for all Men to see. 
• Lastly there is some cool stuff regarding the End of the mythology. After all, doesn't every great myth have and ending (See Ragnarök or in the true myth (as Tolkien described) Revelation in the Christian tradition). Morgoth sneaks back into the world and with the aid of Thû who evaded capture (and allows him to be easily inserted into The Hobbit, which, I should have said before, was written around this time) wages war on the world. My favorite bit: "...and it shall be the black sword of Túrin that deals unto Melko his death and final end; and so shall the children of Húrin and all Men be avenged" (p. 165, The Shaping of Middle-earth). If you know the story of Húrin's children that is a fitting end indeed!