The Fall of Númenor

And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-Earth

English language

Published Sept. 24, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

ISBN:
978-0-00-853785-2
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4 stars (1 review)

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.

It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told. Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth, there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor. Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the …

4 editions

A nice telling of the story of Númenor and the Second Age of Middle-Earth

4 stars

A good collection of stories about the Second Age of Middle-Earth, told in chronological order. The stories are from the writings by J.R.R Tolkien, as collected and edited in various books by Christopher Tolkien. Many of the stories concerns Númenor, from its rise as an island haven for Men in the west after the fall of Melkor (Morgoth), to its downfall (and the end of the Second Age) after being corrupted by Sauron.

The book starts with a look at the geography and ecology of Númenor, followed by what makes Númenoreans different from other men in Middle-Earth. The chronological story of the Second Age is then told, showing the rise of Númenor, first as teachers of the men of Middle-Earth, then becoming arrogant and turning into conquerors. The parallel story of Sauron, who deceives some of the Elves into crafting Rings of Power, only to craft the One Ring to …