We have fought the long defeat
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