NÚMENÓREAN EMPIRE
in the Second Age
At the beginning of the Second Age of the Sun, the Valar raised a star-shaped island in the Western Sea. This was Númenor, which became the greatest kingdom of Men on Arda. The Númenóreans were granted a span of life far greater than ordinary Men, and through the centuries their strength and wealth increased and their navy sailed over all the seas of the mortal world. Númenor, often translated as Westernesse in the language of Men, was also called Andor ‘Land of Gift’, Elenna-nórë ‘Land of the Star’ and Atalantë ‘The Downfallen’; for it was, in fact, Tolkien’s re-invention of the ancient myth of the lost land of Atlantis.
The second age was the Age of the Númenóreans. As has been told in the ‘Akallabêth’ or ‘The Downfall of Númenor’, these were Men who were descended from the Edain of the First Age and to whom the Valar had given the newly created land in the midst of the wide sea between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands.
Tolkien’s Númenor was an island kingdom shaped like a five-pointed star. At its narrowest, it measured two hundred and fifty miles across, and nearly twice that distance from the farthest promontories. It was divided into six regions: one for each peninsula and one for its heartland, where stood the sacred mountains, Meneltarma, or ‘pillar of heaven’, the tallest mountains on Númenor. On its slopes stood Armenelos, the ‘city of kings’, where the king and the largest single number of Númenóreans lived. Farther below was the royal port of Rómenna. The other prominent city-ports, Eldalondë and Andúnië, faced west towards the Undying Lands.
The first king of Númenor was Elros, son of Eärendil and the twin brother of Elrond Half-elven. At the end of the First Age, when the Half-elven twins were told by the Valar that they must choose their fate, Elrond chose that of the immortal Elves, while Elros became king of the mortal Edain. However, being Half-elven, he was granted a life-span of five hundred years and he ruled as the king of Númenor until the year 442 of the Second Age.
While the Númenóreans prospered on their island, the High Elves of Middle-earth gathered under the banner of Gil-galad, the last High Elf-king in the realm of Lindon. The Sindar Grey Elves established kingdoms among the Silvan Elves in Greenwood the Great and the Golden Wood of Lothlórien in the Vales of the Great River, Anduin. In the eighth century, the Noldor Elves of Celebrimbor established the kingdom of the Elven-smiths of Eregion, just to the west of the Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm in the Misty Mountains. However, another power also prospered in this time, for Sauron the Sorcerer remained in the mortal world and secretly conspired to succeed Melkor as the Dark Lord of Middle-earth.
In the year 1,000, Sauron secretly began to build his odious realm of Mordor, enslaving the barbarian races of Men of the East and South and gathering Orcs and other beings to his kingdom. He also began building the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr. He assumed the fair form of one named Annatar, meaning ‘lord of gifts’ in Quenya, and attempted to seduce the Elves with his wisdom and power. Only Celebrimbor and the Elven-smiths of Eregion were deceived. Using the combined powers of magic and metallurgy, Sauron and the Elven-smiths collaborated in the making of many fantastic creations. By the year 1500, they reached the peak of their ability and, under Sauron’s instruction, began to forge the Rings of Power. By 1600, all the Rings were completed, and Sauron treacherously returned to Mordor, where he completed the building of the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr and forged the One Ring, thus becoming the Lord of the Rings. When the Elven-smiths realized they had been duped into helping Sauron become the all-powerful Lord of the Rings they rose up against him, and from 1693 to 1701 the bloody War of the Elves and Sauron raged. In that conflict Sauron slew Celebrimbor, destroyed the city of the Elven-smiths, ruined Eregion, and overran nearly all of Eriador. The Dwarves of Khazad-dûm retreated from the conflict and shut their doors on the world. Thereafter, this hidden realm was known as Moria, the ‘black chasm’ in Sindarin. In the terrible struggle most of the Elves of Eregion were slain; only a small number survived. These were led by Elrond Half-elven into the foothills of the Misty Mountains, where they founded the colony of Imladris, which Men later called Rivendell.
After his victory over Celebrimbor, Sauron gathered his forces and marched against Gil-galad in Lindon. At the last moment, a mighty fleet of Númenóreans joined the Elvish ranks. Sauron’s legions were utterly crushed, and he was forced to retreat to Mordor.
For a thousand years Sauron made no move against the Elves, but worked instead among the barbarian Easterlings and Haradrim tribes. Among their savage kings, he distributed the Nine Rings of Mortal Men. By the twenty-third century they had become the Nazgûl, his chief servants, who Men knew as the Ringwraiths. Meanwhile, the Númenóreans had become the mightiest sea power the world had ever seen. On the coastlands of Middle-earth they created many colonies, as well as the fortress-ports of Umbar and Pelagir.
In the year 3261, the Númenóreans landed a huge armada at Umbar and disgorged a massive force that marched on Mordor. When Sauron saw their terrible might, all the peoples of the world were amazed to see the Ring Lord descend from his Dark Tower and surrender himself unto them.
The Númenóreans put Sauron in chains, took him to their own land and imprisoned him in their strongest dungeon. But, by guile, Sauron achieved that which he could not by strength of arms. He falsely counselled the proud Númenórean kings and corrupted them, so they plotted against the Valar themselves. So successful was this corruption that the Númenóreans dared to raise the greatest fleet of ships that ever was, and sailed into the west to make war on the Powers of Arda. For this act, Ilúvatar caused the fair island of Númenor to burst asunder. The mountains and the cities fell, the sea arose in wrath and all Númenor collapsed into a watery abyss.
In that cataclysm came the Change of the World. The Undying Lands were set beyond the Spheres of the World and were forever beyond the reach of all but the Chosen, who travelled in Elven ships along the Straight Road. This was the end of the Age of Atlantis as we now know it in myths, and the world turned in on itself. It was no longer a flat world bounded by the Encircling Sea and enclosed within the Sphere of Air and Ether, but became the globed planet that we now know it to be.
But the Second Age did not end with the sinking of Númenor in the year 3319, nor did the heritage of its people vanish. For as the tales of the time tell, there were those among the Númenóreans who were led by the Princes of Andúnië, who called themselves the Faithful and refused to forsake the Valar and the Eldar. Led by Elendil the Tall, they sailed nine ships eastward toward the shores of Middle-earth at the moment of the cataclysm. These were the Dúnedain, the faithful surviving Númenóreans, who established the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor upon Middle-earth.
Yet soon there was strife and conflict, for, by the power of the One Ring, Sauron also escaped the sinking of Númenor and returned to Mordor, wherein he plotted to destroy all remaining Elvish and Dúnedain kingdoms upon Middle-earth.
In retaliation, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men formed, and Sauron’s army was defeated at the Battle of Dagorlad. Entering Mordor itself, the Alliance laid siege to the Dark Tower for seven long years before Sauron was overthrown. In this last struggle, the Dúnedain High King Elendil and his son Anárion, along with the last High King of the Eldar on Middle-earth, Gil-galad, were all slain before the Dúnedain King Isildur at last cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. With the conquest of Mordor, the destruction of the Dark Tower, the banishment of the Ringwraiths, and the downfall of Sauron, in the year 3441, the Second Age came to an end.
The port and city of Umbar was the most powerful outpost of the Númenóreans on Middle-earth during the Second Age. Corrupted by Sauron the Ring Lord, they survived the downfall and the Change of the World. Just as the ‘Faithful’ Númenóreans who founded the Dúnedain kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor among the North Men of Middle-earth, the Black Númenóreans of Umbar formed a powerful alliance with the Men of the South, known as the Haradrim. Throughout the Third Age, powerful armadas of the black ships frequently sailed out of Umbar to join forces with the allies of Mordor against their sworn enemies, the Dúnedain in the north kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
