The Silmarillion
The Tale of Beren and Lúthien
In the dark days of Middle-Earth and the war of the Silmarils against Morgoth, the god of darkness, a light of hope came to Men, Elves and Dwarves. Our story begins in the land of Dorthonion, where Barahir the Man refused to be defeated by the Orcs, who hunted him with the intentions to kill him, and he and his twelve companions were on the run…
I
Barahir ran through the forest of Dorthonion. He could hear the sound of the Orcs behind him, getting closer, needing to quench their bloodthirstiness. He dashed through a clump of trees and darted past a rock. The memories flashed back through his mind on how he got to where he was now…
Barahir and his band of twelve outlaws were one of Middle-Earth's hopes against the dark army of Morgoth. The war had been kindled when he stole the holy jewels known as the Silmarils from the Noldor Elves. The Noldor had blamed the gods and set out to reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth, but they were utterly defeated, and the leader of the Noldor, Fĕanor, was killed. The gods then requested that the Silmarils be retrieved from Morgoth's stronghold of Angband, and the Elves, Men, and Naugrim, or Dwarves as they are commonly called, went to a long war against Morgoth and the Orcs. Barahir and his twelve outlaws were one of the great fighting forces of the Men of Dorthonion against the Orcs.
Earlier that year, his band and he had eavesdropped on a band of Orcs, and they heard that Morgoth's second in command, a maia, or spirit named Sauron had ordered that all the Orcs in the vicinity search for Barahir and kill him if found. His outlaws and him then took refuge in a cave near the lake of Tarn Aeluin, a lake steeped in legend, for it was said that Melian, a maia who now sat as queen next to Thingol, the king of the Sindar Elves, had hallowed the lake. Barahir and his outlaws stayed in that cave for years, and Sauron's forces never found them.
One of the twelve outlaws of Barahir was a man named Gorlim. Gorlim was married to a woman named Eilinel, and he worried about her whenever he was gone from her, for Orc raids were frequent in Dorthonion. On the day they returned to their village, they saw that it had been sacked. Gorlim ran to the house of Eilinel, and found their house ransacked. She was not there. Gorlim didn't know whether she was killed or kidnapped. The outlaws camped near the ransacked town. On the fourth day of their stay, Gorlim went to visit the house again. He saw a light in the window, and what might have looked like Eilinel was in it. He went up to the window, but then he felt a strong grip as an Orc leader brought him to Sauron who was in the house. The Eilinel was an illusion. "Have him tortured," commanded Sauron, and Ourcs proceeded to do so. After it was done, Sauron said, "So, now that you have been tortured, tell us the whereabouts of Barahir and his outlaws." Gorlim however, did not speak. They had him tortured profusely, but he would not tell. So Sauron then said, "If you cooperate with us we will give Eilinel back to you, and leave you in peace ever afterwards." This struck Gorlim, for he longed for his wife more than ever.
"Alright," he said. "Barahir has made camp at the outskirts of this village." So Sauron stood and ordered Gorlim to lead them to the camp. But when they got there, they saw that the rest had already left. So Gorlim led them to the cave at Tarn Aeluin. So the Orcs had chased Barahir out of the cave and through the woods, and then Sauron said to Gorlim, "By the way, I must tell you, Eilinel is dead."
"What?" exclaimed Gorlim.
"But I will have you meet her again," said Sauron. Then he took his sword and ran it through Gorlim's chest, and he fell dead. "In the afterlife," Sauron finished.
Barahir tripped on a rock jutting out of the ground. He heard an Orc bark something, and a net fell over him. This was surely the end.