Following the defeat of Morgoth in the First Age, his lieutenant Sauron rose to power in
Middle Earth, becoming the new Dark Lord of the Second and Third Ages.
Determined to rule over the continent and subjugate all the peoples within, he grew
his strength, breeding armies of orcs and trolls in the lands of Mordor.
Yet the Dark Lord knew that armies alone would not bring him victory, and so he used cunning,
manipulation and subterfuge to help weaken and undermine his enemies.
Taking fair form, Sauron befriended the Elves of Eregion posing as Annatar, the Lord of
Gifts.
Helping them create a set of 19 magical rings.
The Dark Lord, personally had a hand in the creation of 16, while the other 3 were forged
exclusively by Celebrimbor, the grandson of Feanor, the greatest smith who ever lived.
But what the Elves did not know, was that Sauron had crafted another ring in secret,
forging the One Ring of Power in the fires of Mount Doom.
Believing that this was the key to helping him conquer Middle Earth, Sauron gave it immense
power by imbuing it with part of his soul, thereby linking the Dark Lord’s lifeforce
to the One Ring.
Sauron intended to use his creation to gain mastery over those who wore the lesser rings,
with 3 meant for the Elves, 7 for the Dwarf Lords and nine for mortal Men.
However as soon as he put on the One Ring, the Elves felt his dark presence and so immediately
took theirs off, resisting his influence.
Enraged by his failure, the Dark Lord sent his armies to destroy Eregion, and forcefully
took possession of all the rings save for the 3 created by Celebrimor, which were given
to powerful Elves for safe keeping.
Continuing with his plan, Sauron gifted the lesser rings of power to human kings and dwarf
lords, hoping their minds were more susceptible to corruption then those of the Elves.
Yet the Dwarves proved too resilient, and did not fall to the Dark Lord, though the
rings did contribute to their eventual downfall, as it made them increasingly greedy and reckless
in their pursuit of wealth.
While Elves and Dwarves resisted corruption, humans proved far more easily swayed, with
the nine ring-bearers becoming the Nazgul, powerful ring wraith loyal to the Dark Lord.
Although his prized creation largely failed to accomplish its original purpose, so much
of himself was put into the creation of the One Ring, it became the focal point of his
power.
While Sauron held the One Ring, it augmented his natural abilities, ensuring he was as
powerful as possible, and allowed him to survive any harm to his body or spirit so long as
the ring survived.
But at the same time, should he parted from it, he would weaken significantly, and were
it destroyed; the Dark One too would perish.
Seeking more servants for his cause, Sauron made contact with the Easterlings of Rhun,
the Haradrim of the South, enlisting them through lies, manipulation and fear.
He then used his armies as well as his twisted cunning to foment war and suffering throughout
the Second Age, ultimately culminating in the Battle of Dagorlad during the War of the
Last Alliance, when Elves, Humans and Dwarves joined together to face the armies of darkness
and determine the fate of middle earth.
After a vicious battle and 7 years of siege, the Dark Lord’s forces were defeated, leaving
him no choice but to come out of hiding.
Staring down his enemies, the Dark Lord refused to surrender, engaging Elendil High king of
Gondor and Arnor, as well as Gil galad High king of the noldor elves.
Though the Dark Lord killed them both, Isildur, the son of Elendil then picked up his father’s
broken sword, using it to cut the one ring of power from Sauron’s hand, resulting in
the destruction of his body and weakening of his spirit.
Victorious, Isildur had this one chance to destroy ring, by dropping it into the fires
of Mount Doom where it was created, but he refused, having become enraptured by its unnatural
allure.
Yet it would not remain in his possession for long, as Isildur was later ambushed and
killed, leaving the ring to fall into the Anduin River, where it was lost for much of
the Third Age.
Defeated and weakened, Sauron spirit wandered Middle Earth for a thousand years, and slowly
regained his strength, secretly establishing himself in Dol Guldur of southern Mirkwood,
where he was known as the Necromancer.
In the centuries that followed, the Nazgul re-emerged and started attacking the realms
men, while orcs and trolls were bred in Mordor and Angmar.
While most of those in Middle Earth were unaware of the threat amassing in the shadow, the
Valar of Valinor knew that Sauron still posed a significant risk, and sent the Istari, 5
Maiar in the form of elderly wizards to aid the free people’s where possible.
However, to try and prevent these Maiar from becoming corrupted, they were forbidden from
using their full strength or powers directly against the Dark Lord.
Although they each played a role in shaping the events to come, Saruman the White and
Gandalf the Grey, took on much of the responsibility for countering the threat of Sauron directly.
Yet where Gandalf was wise and kind-hearted, Saruman was jealous and prideful, eventually
abandoning the free people and succumbing to his lust for power, believing he could
become even mightier than Sauron were he to possess the One Ring.
And so it would be Gandalf who primarily led the fight against the Dark Lord, spending
his early years wandering around the western lands of middle earth, learning about the
peoples who inhabit the land while making friends and contacts, studying their history
and learning anything possible about their past dealings with Sauron.
By the year 2063 of the Third Age, the grey wizards became suspicious of the growing darkness
in Mirkwood and decided to investigate Dol Guldur, prompting Sauron to escape into the
east, where spent the next four hundred years growing his power among the easterlings of
middle earth.
This period, known as the Watchful peace, ended in 2460 when the Dark Lord returned
to Dol Guldur with renewed strength.
In 2850, Gandalf revisited the location, and at last confirmed the presence of Sauron,
urging the White Council to confront him, but was overruled by Saruman and no action
was taken.
As Sauron’s strength continued to grow, he focused on accomplish two major objectives
to secure his stranglehold over middle earth.
The first was to find the One Ring of Power, thereby ending his slow recovery and returning
him to full strength.
Second, he needed to destroy the Kingdom of Gondor and capture the city of Minis Tirith,
thereby eliminating the realm which posed the most significant threat to his eventual
military campaign.
Standing in opposition to the Dark Lord, Gandalf the Grey took on the role of General and master
strategist for the peoples of the West, having spent centuries gaining an understanding of
the political and military landscape of the region.
Where Sauron had the loyalty of Mordor, Dol Guldur, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, the
Easterlings of Rhun, the Haradrim of Harad, the corsairs of Umbar, and the Variags of
Khand, The peoples of the west, could primarily rely
on support from the human Kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan, The Elves of the Woodland Realm,
Lothlorien, Rivendell, The Dwarves of the Iron Hills and Erebor, and finally the Humans
of Dale, who were allied with the Dwarves.
Unfortunately, in the year 2770, Smaug the terrible, one of the last dragons known to
exist destroyed the city of Dale, and attacked the lonely mountain, driving away the dwarves
of Durin’s folk.
Not only did this eliminate a large portion of their northern defenses, the attack left
a powerful dragon in their place, a weapon of mass devastation which once served the
First Dark Lord Morgoth, and might one day serve the Second Dark Lord as well.
Deciding that this potential ally of Sauron must be neutralized, Gandalf convinced the
Dwarven exile Thorin Oakenshield and his companions to attempt retaking the mountain and eliminating
the dragon.
With the help of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, and a man named Bard the Bowman, they eventually
succeeded in their mission, and restored the Kingdom of Erebor as well as the kingdom of
Dale.
In addition to restoring their northern defenses and slaying the dragon, several other important
events took place during this time period, such as the White council finally moving against
Dol Guldur, forcing Sauron to retreat into Mordor, and the discovery of the One Ring
of power by the hobbit Bilbo baggins.
Many years after being lost in the Anduin River, the One Ring was found by a Stoor named
Deagol, who was quickly killed by his friend Smeagol, who took it into the mountains where
he lived in solitude for many years.
Although the One Ring granted him immortality, it also drove him mad with obsession, becoming
the twisted creature known as Gollum, until it eventually abandoned him and slipped from
his grasp.
The ring was then found by Bilbo Baggins as he travelled through the misty mountains,
during his adventure with the Company of Thorin Oakenshield.
Though Gandalf knew that his small friend had acquired a ring during the journey, and
grew concerned early on, he did not truly begin to suspect the truth until many years
later, when he saw that Bilbo had stopped aging and grew irrationally angry when asked
to part with his precious prize.
After Bilbo moved away and passed the ring to his nephew Frodo, Gandalf at last was able
to confirm his suspicion, and immediately sent the hobbit and his 3 companions on a
journey east, so they might attend the Council of Elrond to be held in Rivendell.
Unfortunately, the Dark Lord also learned of the ring’s location, torturing the creature
Gollum to learn that it was in the possession of a Hobbit from the Shire, sending the Nazgul
for its retrieval.
Despite a harrowing journey, the hobbits eventually arrived in Rivendell and Frodo attended a
meeting where he revealed the One Ring of power to representatives from the free peoples
of the west.
Though many had differing views on what to do, in the end it was decided that Frodo must
continue to carry the ring, as he had proven he was capable of resisting its corruption.
Joined by 8 companions to form the Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo was tasked with travelling
to mordor and destroying the One Ring it in the fires of mount doom, to eliminate the
threat of Sauron once and for all.
Meanwhile, it fell to the free peoples to resist the armies of darkness for as long
as possible, giving the fellowship time to complete their quest.
In this great journey, Frodo Baggins was joined by the hobbits Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took
and Meriadoc Brandybuck, as well as the Wizard Gandalf the Grey, the human ranger Aragorn
who was also the heir of Isildur and rightful king of Gondor, Boromir, a valiant warrior
and son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, the Sindar Elf Legolas son of King Thranduil
of the Woodland Realm, and the Dwarf Gimli of Durin’s Folk, the son of Gloin who had
been one of Bilbo’s companion during the quest to retake Erebor.
Despite their best efforts, the fellowship eventually broke apart, as Gandalf died protecting
them from the balrog of Moria, and Frodo grew increasingly paranoid, believing his companions
would not be able to resist the allure of the One Ring for much longer.
After Boromir fell to temptation and tried to take the ring, Frodo and Sam, left the
others behind and continued the mission on their own.
While Frodo underwent this perilous journey, Sauron started to march his armies west and
at last began the war of the ring.
The conflict was divided into two large scale campaigns fought throughout the Northern and
Southern theatres of war, with Saurion’s primary goal being the capture of Minas Tirith,
which he would accomplish by weakening the alliance between Rohan and Gondor before assaulting
them from three sides.
In the North, the Dark Lord’s Orcs armies in Dol Guldur were ordered to attack the Elves
of Lothlorien, and the Woodland Realm, while a massive Easterling army was sent to sweep
through Dwarven lands and join the fighting in Mirkwood.
After the destruction of the Woodland Realm, the combined army of Easterlings and Orcs
would join the attack on Lothlorien, then passing through Misty Mountain to take Rivendell
before marching south into Rohan.
The defense of the North therefore came down to stopping the Easterling army from joining
their allies in Mirkwood.
Soon it became apparent to Sauron that the Dwarves of Durin’s folk might be of concern
to his plans, and so attempted diplomacy, sending a messenger to seek an alliance with
King Dain II Ironfoot of Erebor.
But Dain dismissed the messenger without giving an answer and prepared his kingdom for war.
When the massive Easterling army at last marched into their territories, the combined forces
of Erebor and the Kingdom of Dale held them back for 3 days before retreating to the Lonely
Mountain.
Although the city of Dale which was sacked and burned, the Dwarves and their human allies
continued to fight at the gates of Erebor, suffering significant losses, including the
death of King Brand, which then led King Dain to rush to his side, where he died defending
his friend’s body.
When they at last barricaded themselves inside the mountain, the Siege of Erebor lasted for
several more days, long enough for the great Easterling host to fail in its mission of
reinforcing the Orcs of Mirkwood.
As a result, the Woodland Realm under King Thranduil repelled the armies sent against
them in the Battle under the Trees, while Lothlorien under celeborn and Galadriel also
defeated the Orcs, and then pursued them to capture and destroy Dol Guldur.
Though it cost thousands of lives, all across the Northern theatre the line was held and
Sauron’s forces were defeated.
Yet what few knew, was that part of the credit for this victory may have belonged to the
Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, as some stories say they went into the east and spent
centuries limiting the influence of Sauron wherever possible, thereby reducing the size
of the army he was able to raise and march into the west.
While all this occurred in the north, the Southern Theater faced a war on several fronts,
with Sauron seeking to prevent Gondor from summoning their full strength or calling their
allies in Rohan.
To accomplish this, Sauron allied himself with Saruman of Isengard, allowing him to
breed his own orc and Uruk-hai armies.
In addition, Saruman rallied the wildmen of Dunland, and used his new great army to raid
and plunder Rohan, leading to the death of Prince Theodred in the Battle of the Fords
of Isen.
Despite the loss of his son, King Theoden was unable to respond properly to the situation,
as his mind was bewitched by his advisor Grima Wormtongue, who was a secret servant of the
Dark Lords.
*allowed Saruman to control body* Fortunately, Gandalf the White soon arrived,
accompanied by Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, breaking the spell and freeing the king.
Although Gandalf the Grey died defeating the Balrog in the misty mountains, his spirit
was sent back to middle earth as Gandalf the White, in order to continue his efforts to
defeat Sauron.
With his mind liberated, Theoden organizes a strategic retreat south to Helm’s Deep,
where they made their last stand in the battle of the Hornburg.
Though the fighting nearly ended in catastrophic defeat, Gandalf arrived late into the battle
with a host of Rohhirim cavalry to reinforce the king and bring them victory.
At the same time, the Ents and Huorns of Fangorn forest, decided to go to war against Saruman
and Isengard, in retaliation for their careless destruction of trees and wildlife.
Encouraged by the Hobbits Merry and Pipin, the Ents attacked and defeated Isengard while,
while the Huorns spread throughout the forests, in order to cut off the enemies retreating
from the battle of the Hornberg.
After their victory, Theoden received a messenger from Gondor, bearing the Red Arrow, a symbol
which represented a call for reinforcements, and so the King gathered his men and rode
to their defense.
In order to further diminish their defensive capabilities, Sauron sent the Corsairs of
Umbar to raid Southern Gondor, forcing local lords to keep their armies at home, sending
only a fraction of their men north for the defence of Minas Tirith.
With Gondor’s allies weakened and defenses reduced, Sauron sent his armies out of Mordor
to capture Osgiliath, before preparing a final assault against the White city.
The War then culminated in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where Sauron’s forces were
sent directly against Minis Tirith, breaching their walls and entering the city.
However The defenders of Gondor were soon joined by the riders of Rohan, as well as
an undead army under the command of Aragorn, men who once betrayed their word to the king
of Gondor, and so were pledged to fulfil their oath before their spirits could pass into
the afterlife.
With these reinforcements, the free peoples were successfully able to defend Minis Tirith.
But the war was not over so long as the one ring of power continued to exist, and so they
decided to mount one last assault, directly against Sauron, in order to give Frodo and
Sam the necessary time and opportunity to travel across Mordor and reach Mount Doom.
Gathering whatever men they could, Aragorn and Gandalf led their warriors to the battle
of the black gate, the last major engagement of the war.
Fortunately, their attack had the desired effect, giving the hobbits the chance to cross
the barren realm of the dark lord.
For a time Frodo was captured and nearly killed, leading Samwise to take the ring in order
to complete the quest on his own if necessary, but he soon managed to save Frodo and possessed
enough will power to voluntarily return the ring.
With both now marked as Ring bearers, they at last reached the crack of Mount Doom, but
by this point Frodo had grown so attached to the One Ring, he refused to destroy it,
choosing to keep it for himself, just as Isildur had done thousands of years earlier.
However, the creature Gollum soon attacked Frodo, engaging in a struggle that caused
him and the one ring to accidently fall into the fiery chasm.
With the ring destroyed, Sauron was at last vanquished, with his spirit diminishing to
such an extent he could no long interact with the world.
After the news of the Dark Lord’s defeat spread into the north, many of the Easterlings
laying siege to Erebor lost the will to fight and deserted.
Two days later the combined armies of men and dwarves, charged out of the Lonely mountain,
and beat back the Easterling invaders, forcing them into retreat.
With the war over, King Thorin Stonehelm III became King of Erebor, while King Brand II
rebuilt and ruled over the Kingdom of Dale.
The Woodland Realm continued under King Thranduil, with most of its Elves choosing to remain
in Middle Earth.
Lothlorien however was largely abandoned, with some following Celeborn to resettle in
East Lorien, formerly known as Dol Guldur, while others followed Galadriel and Elrond
who travelled West to the Undying Lands.
In the south, Aragorn took up his seat in Minis Tirith and became King Elessar of the
reunited kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, ushering in an age of prosperity alongside his allies
in Rohan, who were now led by King Eomer, nephew of Theoden.
Despite his defeat at Isengard, Saruman the White survived the war of the ring but was
brought so low, that he ended his days as small time crime boss in the Shire, where
he was killed by his minion Grima Wormtongue on the front steps of Bag End.
When he died his spirit sought to travel west to Valinor, but it was blown away by a strong
wind, and forbidden from returning.
As the Third Age ended and Fourth Age began, many Elves travelled to the Grey havens and
boarded ship to travel west, so they might join the rest of their kind in the undying
lands of the Aman.
Yet some few non elves were also allowed to make the journey, as Frodo and Bilbo were
now considered honoured ring bearers and so were allowed passage west alongside Gandalf.
Samwise Gamgee meanwhile inherited Bag End as well as the red book of westmarch, where
both Frodo and Bilbo had written about their adventures.