This sentence, just before the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, is so beautiful:
“The light of the drawing of the swords of the Noldor was like a fire in a field of reeds; and so fell and swift was their onset that almost the designs of Morgoth went astray.”
This gives me chills every time. It’s so stirring. IT’S AMAZING. It makes me go berserk.
First, the structure of “the light of the drawing of the swords of the Noldor” reads more slowly as it builds on itself, so that when you reach “like a fire in a field of reeds” it’s much faster, just like fire catching and blazing across a field. I LOVE THAT SO MUCH.
Second, the imagery is just incredible. The sight of countless swords being drawn at once so that the light reflected in them looks like fire spreading across a field? UNPARALLELED. And the alliteration and internal rhyme of “fire in a field of reeds” just adds to that effect.
Finally, “so fell and swift was their onset that almost the designs of Morgoth went astray”—there’s so much contained in this one line! “So fell and swift was their onset” carries forward the speed and ferocity of the fire that was mentioned; but “almost” betrays what we already know: the battle will be lost.
But just for one moment…they could have won! Just for one moment, there is this image of the light of their swords, the fire and intensity of their first offensive. It’s such an incredible line, and the entire opening scene of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad deserves so much more attention.
