Building the "Greatest Poetry Works of Beleriand"
Lay of Leithian
Narn i Chîn Húrin
Aldudénië
... and then the Noldolantë. Maybe. If Pengolodh would tell me if there was a proper lay for the Fall of Gondolin, I want that too, and frankly that ranks higher. And not even getting into Bilbo's poem for Eärendil (with input from Aragorn) which is an original creation from the old hobbit but as the whole inception for all of Tolkien's Middle-earth comes from a line in a poem about Earendel, there must be an elven song. (And then all the hymns to the Valar, Elbereth in particular).
But to break it down:
"Of the deeds of that day much is told in the Aldudénië, that Elemmírë of the Vanyar made and is known to all the Eldar."
The Silmarillion, pg 81
Okay- all the Eldar - that is, non-Avari elves- know this poem. Which means it's composed before the Noldor leave and they carry it with them to Beleriand. Or comes to Middle-earth during the War of Wrath and afterwards. But it's not just an Amanyar-only poem.
"Many songs are yet sung and many tales are yet told by the Elves in the Lonely Isle of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, in which Fingon fell and the flower of the Eldar withered. But here I will tell as I may a Tale of Men that Dírhaval (5) of the Havens made in the days of Earendel long ago. Narn i Chin Hurin he called it, the Tale * of the Children of Hurin, which is the longest of all the lays that are now remembered in Eressea, though it was made by a man.
...
This lay was all that Dírhaval ever made, but it was prized by the Eldar, for Dírhaval used the Grey-elven tongue, in which he had great skill."
HoMe The War of the Jewels pg. 232
The Narn is a really important and treasured piece of culture and history, and for all that the primary protagonist is a man and the author is a man, it was prized by the elves (Tol Eressëa means Aman as well as Middle-earth) as well and is in fact their longest literary work.
Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien. Of their lives was made the Lay of Leithian, Release from Bondage, which is the longest save one of the songs concerning the world of old; but here is told in fewer words and without song.
The Silmarillion, pg 190
Man, I don't even have to explain this one's cultural importance. "Most fair still" - they are still quoting and name-dropping and doing full recitals of this poem late in the Third Age. What I'd love to know is the author of the Lay, but I haven't found the quote yet.
Of the enslaving at Alqualondë more is told in that lament which is named Noldolantë, the Fall of the Noldor, that Maglor made ere he was lost.
The Silmarillion, pg 95
And for Maglor, he that is second only to Daeron?* Well, there is a record of the name of a lament he wrote. So some of it must have been preserved. Nothing about how widely known or appreciated, so we assume what we can.
Is it the greatest work written? No. Not even the one the elves get the most emotional over.
Please, the next time someone says anything about how great the Noldolantë was, prove to me that it even ranks up there with the three poems and epics also named in the Silmarillion that were explicitly pointed out as well-known and prized by the elves, let alone the humans.