It was the greatest of all the realms of Men.
A shining beacon in the world of Arda.
The island kingdom that would show the heights the race of Men could achieve...and the depths
to which they could fall.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we’re doing an overview of the great second age kingdom of Numenor.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the Rise and Fall of Numenor.
At the end of the First Age, with the lands of Beleriand destroyed by the War of Wrath,
the map of Arda is forever changed.
While most of the change would be a loss of land, there is an exception - an island southwest
of the mainland of Middle-earth.
This island is a gift of the Valar to the Edain - the men of the First Age who fought
with the Host of Valinor against Morgoth.
These men are led by Elros, the brother of Elrond, who chose to be counted among men.
They sail from the coast of Middle-earth, following the Star of Earendil, Elros’ father,
arriving in the year 32 of the Second Age.
The island comes to be known as Numenor, and Elros is its first King, leading his people
for the next 410 years, before dying at the age of 500 (442 SA).
The Numenoreans would come to be known as the mightiest of men in both their nobility
and their physical stature, believed to have a typical height of around 7 feet tall.
Over their early centuries, they develop a close friendship with the Eldar of Tol Eressea,
who bear many gifts to the island - giving the Numenoreans birds, plants, lore, skills,
and most notably the White Tree of Nimloth - the ancestor of the White Trees of Gondor.
First in a long line of Kings, Elros takes on the royal name of Tar-Minyatur, a Quenya
title meaning “High First-Lord”.
Throughout history, taking a Quenya title would be a tradition of the Kings and Queens of Numenor.
The Numenoreans would become excellent ship-builders and mariners.
The only restriction on their seafaring was the Ban of the Valar - which decreed that
they should not sail west so far that their own coasts could not be seen.
Due to the Ban, they choose instead to explore the world to the east, coming to the shores
of Middle-earth in 600 SA.
They sail to the realm of Lindon and establish a close friendship with High King Gil-galad
and the elves of his realm.
The Numenoreans also came to meet the Men of Middle-earth, who had long lived under a Shadow.
They discover that while their languages are different, they share a common origin, and
have many common words.
Starting from simple conversations, they become friends, and the Numenoreans teach their new
allies things such as agriculture and the working of iron.
The Men of Middle-earth come to revere these tall sea-kings, even thinking of them as gods
in the times between the Numenorean voyages to their shores.
In 750 SA, Prince Aldarion founds the Guild of Venturers - a group of mariners that would
accompany him on his voyages to Middle-earth, and participate in the building of greater and greater ships.
Aldarion not only sails to Lindon, but also establishes the haven of Vinyalonde where
the Gwathlo River meets the sea.
We’ll cover the story of Aldarion and Erendis in a future video, so for today’s summary
of Numenor, we will stick to our overview of the events in the Kingdom.
Due to an order of his father, Tar-Meneldur, Aldarion was no longer permitted to fell trees
in Numenor to build his ships, leading the mariner to take trees from the areas of Minhiriath and Enedwaith.
This development would come to fuel animosity between the native men and the Numenoreans.
These Middle-men would eventually begin to attack and ambush the Numenoreans when they
could, leading the Numenoreans to drive deeper into the mainland, expelling their attackers
from their forest homes.
This animosity would enture throughout the centuries, to the very conflicts in the War
of the Ring - as the Dunlendings ally with Saruman.
In 882 SA, Tar-Meneldur receives a warning, and a plea for future help from Gil-galad.
The elf king warns of a new shadow rising in the East, some dark servant of Morgoth.
In response, Tar-Meneldur gives the sceptre to his son, making Tar-Aldarion the Sixth
King of Numenor - for his experience in Middle-earth would be needed in what was to come.
The Numenoreans begin preparing forces and supplies in case of war.
By the early 1200s, Numenor makes permanent settlements in Middle-earth.
As Sauron nears his eventual invasion of Eriador, he uses the animosity of the Middle-men toward
Numenor for his advantage, sending them on raids against these settlements and disrupting
their lumber industry.
Finally, in 1695, long after Aldarion’s time, Tar-Minastir, the 11th King of Numenor,
receives word from Gil-Galad.
Sauron (who by this time has forged the One Ring) has invaded Eriador.
The time for Numenor’s aid had finally come.
As Sauron continues his devastating march through Eriador, the Numenoreans finally arrive
with tremendous force in 1700 SA.
Their fleet turns the tide of the war, and Sauron is decisively defeated in the Battle of the Gwathlo in 1701.
The dark lord retreats to Mordor, vowing vengeance upon Numenor.
It is said that in the very reign of Tar-Minastir, a shadow begins to fall upon Numenor.
While the king was a friend of the Eldar and cared greatly for them, he also begrudged
them of their immortality.
Over the years, this envy also grew in the hearts of the men of Numenor.
By 1800, they begin establishing dominions on the coasts of Middle-earth, and their views
toward the Men of those lands changed.
Rather than being teachers and friends, they sought to set themselves above these men,
making them subjects and requiring tribute.
The reign of Tar-Atanamir, the 13th king, marks a turning of the tide in Numenor.
During this time, those that followed the king spoke openly against the Valar and the
Eldar, though they still honored the Ban of the Valar out of fear.
In 2221 SA, under the 14th king, Tar-Ancalimon, the Numenoreans are divided into two parties
- the King’s Men, who followed the King and his teachings, and the Faithful - or elf-friends
- who remained true to the Valar and the Eldar.
The King’s Men would explore the coasts along the south of Middle-earth, far from
the elves, making trading posts into cruel vice-kingdoms, such as Umbar.
Meanwhile, (2350), the Faithful Numenoreans build the great port city of Pelargir, in
what would one day become Gondor.
The pride and cruelty of the Kings of Numenor and their men would grow over the coming centuries,
hitting a new level in 2899, when the son of King Tar-Ardamin ascends to the throne.
This 20th king of Numenor forsakes the Quenya naming of his fathers and instead takes the
Adunaic name Ar-Adunakhor - a blasphemous name, meaning “Lord of the West” - a title
properly referring to Manwe, the lord of the Valar.
Ar-Adunakhor forbids his people from speaking the elven tongue and begins persecuting the
Faithful, leading the elven ships from Tol Eressea to come only in secret, and very seldom.
The Faithful would not have hope in their own lands until 3177 SA, when the 24th King
would come of their own people.
Tar-Palantir, “the Far-sighted”, would be taught in secret by his mother of the friendship
of the elves and some of Numenor’s former glory would be restored.
During his rule, the White Tree would be properly tended and he would once again take part in
the three annual religious ceremonies of their people.
Tar-Palantir’s foresight led him to conclude that should the White Tree ever perish, the
line of the Kings of Numenor would also come to an end.
With the King’s Men greater in number and their ways entrenched in the lands, Tar-Palantir’s
rule is met with both strife and rebellion.
Despite being a just and good ruler, the Valar did not respond to Tar-Palantir’s repentance
on behalf of his people.
Too great was the hostility of his people toward the Valar, and the insolence of the kings before him.
Chief among those against the king were his brother and nephew, Gimilkhad and Ar-Pharazon.
When Tar-Palantir dies in 3255, his daughter, Tar-Miriel had the right to the throne and
thus should have become the fourth Ruling Queen of Numenor.
However, her cousin Ar-Pharazon leads a rebellion, takes her unwillingly as his wife, and claims
the sceptre for his own, declaring himself Ar-Pharazon the Golden.
By 3261, Sauron had begun to declare himself King of Men and Lord of the Earth, among other
titles, and began boasting of his desire to destroy Numenor.
Enraged at this and Sauron’s attacks upon Numenorean settlements in Middle-earth, Ar-Pharazon
sails with a mighty force to challenge the Dark Lord himself.
So mighty was the army of Numenor that the servants of Sauron fled before any battle had even begun.
Realizing the futility of fighting, Sauron instead submits to Ar-Pharazon and is taken
as prisoner back to Numenor (3262).
In a remarkably short timespan, Sauron goes from captive to chief advisor to the king.
With his lies and deceit, he poisons the mind of the king and leads the greater part of
Numenoreans to the worship of Morgoth.
For now, having the ears of men, Sauron with many arguments gainsaid all that the Valar
had taught; and he bade men think that in the world, in the east and even in the west,
there lay yet many seas and many lands for their winning, wherein was wealth uncounted.
And still, if they should at the last come to the end of those lands and seas, beyond all lay the Ancient Darkness.
With the words of Sauron in his ear, Ar-Pharazon leads his people to become even more warlike and brutal.
They hunt the men of Middle-earth and make them into slaves.
He also builds a 500 foot temple on the island for the worship of Melkor.
There, they would practice human sacrifice - most often of the Faithful Numenoreans.
In another sacrifice to Melkor, Ar-Pharazon has the white tree of Nimloth cut down and burned in the temple.
Luckily, Isildur - the very same who would later claim the One Ring, saved a fruit from
the tree at great personal risk, which allowed the ancient line of the trees to live on.
By 3310 of the Second Age, Ar-Pharazon is nearing 200 years old and the shadow of death
begins to loom over him.
Playing upon his fear of death, Sauron convinces Ar-Pharazon that he should make war upon the
For the next nine years, the king builds up an armada, known as the Great Armament.
In 3319, he boards his flagship and sails toward Aman.
Sauron remains behind, delighting in the chaos and darkness he had wrought from within.
Ar-Pharazon lands on the shores of Aman and makes camp at the hill of Tuna.
In this moment, Iluvatar opens a massive chasm in the sea, swallowing the fleet of Numenor.
Ar-Pharazon and his host on the land is buried under falling hills and the shape of the world
is changed from flat to round, with Aman and Tol Eressea being made so that no mortal sailor
could ever reach the Undyling Lands again.
Meanwhile, in Numenor, the island is covered by massive waves and sinks into the abyss below, under the sea.
As the catastrophe comes upon her homeland, Tar-Miriel rushes to reach the sacred peak
of Meneltarma, but is taken by a great wave.
Sauron is in the Temple of Melkor as the waves come for the island.
His body is destroyed, but his spirit survives.
He would return to Mordor in 3320.
Unable to ever again assume his fair form, he abandons his previous tactics of secrecy
and treachery, and begins to rule through terror and force, much like his master before him.
Precious few Numenoreans survived the destruction of their Kingdom.
The most famous of which were Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion, with their nine ships of the Faithful.
Aside from the faithful, there were other Numenoreans who survived - those who already
dwelt in the settlements of Middle-earth and were among the King’s Men.
These men continue their loyalty to Sauron, and come to be known as the Black Numenoreans.
It was one of the Black Numenoreans who would become the Mouth of Sauron.
As for the Faithful, they would bring the seedling of Nimloth, the seven palantiri,
and other important artifacts to Middle-earth as they are cast ashore by the tumultuous
storm that destroyed their home.
They establish the Numenorean realms in exile: Arnor and Gondor - realms that would play
vital roles in the remainder of the Second Age, and beyond.
Numenor would from then on be known as Akallabeth or Atalante - meaning “the Downfallen”.
Ever after, the survivors of Numenor would yearn for their lost home.
Elendil would gaze into one of the palantiri in an attempt to see the island of his youth,
only to see the waters where it had been.
In later days after the Fall, those who survived Numenor’s destruction came to believe that
the sacred mountain of Meneltarma survived the destruction and was raised to be an island of its own.
Over time, Elendil’s heirs would once again build great ships in search of the mountain,
but they would not find any such land.
They would sail west only to discover that the world was now round, and that their great
island realm was truly gone forever.
Never again would the kingdoms of men reach such heights as Numenor, though over the years,
among their people, their rulers, and their kings, there would be glimpses of the greatness of old.
The remnants of Numenor living on in the Dunedain - the Men of the West of Gondor and Arnor.
Now this is just the first in what I’m sure will be many videos on Numenor.
There’s some great stories and lore to cover for this incredible island realm, so if you
have a topic or character you’d like to see covered, let me know in the comments.