The Fall of Numenor

J.R.R. Tolkien, as is well known, described the Second Age of Middle-earth as years for which "not much information has been preserved." Therefore, for a time, readers had to settle for thrilling excerpts found on the pages of "The Lord of the Rings" and its appendices, including the creation of the Rings of Power, the construction of Barad-dûr, and the rise of Sauron. A more complete history could only be told after the publication by Christopher Tolkien of "The Silmarillion." Although much of the book concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, at its end, there were two stories that revealed the tumultuous events surrounding the rise and fall of the island of Numenor. Raised from the Great Sea and gifted to the people of Middle-earth as a reward for their aid to the Valar and Elves in the victory over the Dark Lord Morgoth and his imprisonment, the kingdom became an influential and wealthy center of Middle-earth; but as the power of the Numenoreans grew, the seed of their downfall was inevitably sown, culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. "The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth" and the twelve-volume "History" provided readers with new information, and editor Brian Sibley compiled in this volume a new chronicle of the Second Age, based on various texts by J.R.R. Tolkien.