Though numenor was lost, middle-earth was largely unaffected by the reshaping,
and was now populated by Faithful Dunedain refugees who fled Numenor before the fall
to found the southern realm of Gondor, including Minas Anor, later called Minas Tirith, Osgiliath,
Minas Ithil, Dol Amroth and Pelargir. As well as the northern realm Arnor, divided into the regions
Arthedain, Rhudaur and Cardolan, ruled from Annuminas until the capital was moved to Fornost.
After the fall of Numenor, Sauron returned to Mordor and continued his plans for conquest,
leading to the War of the Last Alliance, where human,
elves and dwarves won the battle of Dagorlad and Siege of Barad-dur, leading High King Gil
galad of Lindon and High King Elendil of Gondor and Arnor to fight Sauron in personal combat,
ending with all three killed. Isildur, the son of Elendil, then took the one ring of power
but refused to destroy it, allowing the spirit of Sauron to endure and slowly restore his strength.
Other notable middle-earth locations throughout the second age included the rivers Baranduin,
Gwathlo and Anduin, the Elven port city Edhellond within the realm of Gondor, the numenorean lumber
camp at Tharbad, Lake Nenuial ruled for a time by Galadriel, a descendant of Finwe and the
Sindar Prince Celeborn, as well as the lands of the diminutive Druedain, an ancient offshoot of
men allowed to settle in Numenor after the first age, but who eventually left as they
foresaw a great doom approaching. They then settled in the white mountains but were chased
away by Tall men from the east, leaving them to settle the Druadan forest and Drúwaith Iaur.
Thus began the Third Age of Middle-earth, with the seven Dwarf clans continuing to live in the Red,
Misty and Blue Mountains, though these years also saw them afflicted by a number of wars
and tragedies, including dragon attacks from the northern waste and a terrible war to wipe out the
orcs of the misty mountains after the murder of the Longbeard king. The Longbeards of Khazad dum,
AKA Durin’s folk suffered many such disasters in the third age, including the waking of a Balrog
which caused them to flee their home, renamed Moria, and settle other regions like the Blue
Mountains, Grey Mountains, Erebor, the Iron Hills and the White Mountains to the South.
The Avari Elves meanwhile still lived in the lands of the east, while the remaining
Eldar populated Lindon and the Grey Havens under Lord Cirdan, Rivendell under Elrond,
Caras Galadhon in Lothlorien under Galadriel and Celeborn who took over after King Amdir,
son of Amroth abdicated and went west, and finally the Woodland Realm under Thranduil son of Oropher.
Yet as the influence of dwarves and elves waned, the realms of Men rose to prominence,
with the Dunedain populating the kingdom of Arnor in Eriador, and Gondor to the south,
while the Dunlendings lived in Dunland, Bree-land and Callenardhon, and the Northmen,
descended from the middle-men, lived in Rhovanion within the Greenwood, as well as Framsburg,
Lake-town and the city of Dale, through some eventually migrated south to Callenardhon,
renamed it Rohan, established Edoras as their capital and pushed out the Dunlendings,
thereby creating eternal enemies. Another offshoot of men, the short peaceful Hobbit race populated
the Vales of Anduin west of the Greenwood before moving to live in isolation within the Shire.
Consisting of the north, south, east and west farthings, the Shire held the regions of buckland,
tookland, the brandywine river, and the towns of Bywater, Hobbiton, Michel Delving and Tuckborough.
Far to the east in the lands of Rhun numerous Easterlings tribes rose and fell, like the
wagon and chariot riding Wainriders as well as the fearsome Balcoth, while further south the Haradrim
tribes were spread through Far and Near Harad, sometimes unifying and joining forces with nearby
Umbar, populated by Black Numenoreans, those King’s Men colonists who survived the second
age. To the South east of Mordor, there were the lands of Khand, populated by the Variags who
sometimes fought the Easterlings. Yet peace was established when Sauron started regaining strength
and spread his influence throughout the east and south, arranging for the Easterling, Variags,
Haradrim and men of Umbar to put aside their differences and coordinate attacks against Gondor.
In addition to regaining control over Mordor, Sauron took over Amon Lanc in the greenwood,
driving the woodland realm north to establish Elvenking’s hall as their new capital.
Corrupting the area, his stronghold was known as Dol Guldur and the forest became Mirkwood.
Sauron’s forces also held the kingdom of Angmar in the north, under the Witch King of Angmar, leader
of the Nazgul from the fortress of Carn Dum. Over centuries, the Witch King managed to destroy the
three realms of Arnor while also weakening the Elves of Lindon and Rivendell, though Angmar too
was destroyed. The surviving Dunedain of the north became deadly rangers hunting servants
of the enemy throughout Eriador, protecting the Shire and Bree-lands, which consisted of Bree,
Staddle, Combe and Archet, populated by hobbits and bree-men, descended from Dunlendings.
After the final defeat of Sauron, and destruction of the One Ring in the War of the Ring, the Fourth
Age began with the realm of Arnor restored to create the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor,
which over time subdued and made peace with the human slaves of Mordor, the Easterlings of Rhun,
the men of Umbar and tribes of Harad. Lothlorien was abandoned to form East Lorien led by Celeborn,
while Legolas, son of Thranduil founded an Elven realm in Ithilien, the Dwarf Gimli
started a Dwarven colony in the Glittering caves of the White Mountains and eventually
the entire Longbeard clan returned to Khazad dum, since the Balrog was killed during the war.
Other notable middle-earth locations throughout the third and fourth ages included Fangorn Forest,
populated by the tree-like Ent race and sentient tree Huorns, the brownlands,
once home to the great gardens of the Entwives before they were wiped
out by Sauron. The Black gate and dead marshes where many battles against sauron were fought,
Mount Gundabad the revered Dwarven region where the father of the Longbeard clan first awoke,
which was taken over by orcs, Mount Gram from which the orc king Golfimbul attacked and was
defeated by the hobbits of the Shire in the Battle of the Greenfields. Isengard and the
tower Orthanc where the wizard Saruman the White dwelt, the Gladden Fields were Isildur was killed
and the One Ring lost in the river Anduin for over 2000 years, the fortress of Helm’s Deep where the
Rohirrim took shelter in times of crisis, and Bag End within the shire, home to the Baggins family,
made famous by Bilbo Baggins who carried the one ring of power and Frodo Baggins,
who destroyed the ring in the fires of mount doom. Just outside the Shire were teh barrowdowns,
haunted by evil spirits and barrow-wights, as well as the Old Forest where a mysterious, immortal man
named Tom Bombadil lived with his wife Goldberry, a nature spirit and possible maia. Tom was silly
and friendly but had no interest in the outside world, while holding seemingly limitless power
within home region. He may have been the oldest being alive and was the only one who held the
one ring of power and was entirely unaffected. Though little is known about what went on in
the later years of the Fourth Age and beyond, prophecies claim the world would end after Dagor
Dagorath, a final battle in which Morgoth would return through the door of night to
invade Arda. Yet in the end he would be defeated, thus concluding the vision of
Arda sang long ago in the timeless halls. What would happen after that none could be certain,
but one theory stated that the Dwarves would help Eru and the Valar build a new world populated
by humans who were finally granted the unknown destiny promised through the gift of mortality.