We have fought the long defeat

defeatresistance

I have dwelt with [Celeborn] years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.

(Galadriel describing she and Celeborn’s activity in the land of Middle-Earth: i.e. the long defeat)

J. R. R. Tolkien. (2005) The Lord of the Rings: One Volume. pg. 357