Beleg

   (King of Arthedain)

 / Beleg

   The second King of Arthedain, who inherited the throne from his father Amlaith of Fornost, the founder of that Kingdom. His name means 'great' or 'large', which may be a reference to his stature (although he may simply be named for the famous Elf of the First Age who shared this name, Beleg Strongbow).

   Beleg's reign saw two events that would have a huge impact on Middleearth's history, but whose importance wasn't fully recognized at the time. The first of these was the arrival across the Misty Mountains of a strange race of beings: similar to Men, but far shorter and with hairy, bootless feet. The Dúnedain called them periannath, 'halflings', and they were the first Hobbits to enter the western lands.

   The second historic event was the descent of a strange shadow on Greenwood the Great. This was wholly mysterious at first, but before the end of Beleg's reign, the Wise had discovered that its source was at Dol Guldur in the southern part of the Forest, whose name came to be changed to Mirkwood in these times. It was not discovered until long after Beleg's time that his reign had seen the return of Sauron himself, the first move in a game that would end in the War of the Ring nearly two thousand years in the future.

   Beleg ruled Arthedain for eighty-one years, and was succeeded by his son Mallor.