An Atlas of Tolkien

by David Day

  The Battle of

  Sudden Flame

  For nearly four centuries the Elves kept a close watch on Angband, and Beleriand enjoyed peace. But Morgoth was not idle, and in the year 455 smoke and fire belched forth from Thangorodrim, and under the cover of darkness and clouds of ash a vast force of Balrogs, Orcs and fire-breathing dragons erupted from Angband. Elves and the Edain fought valiantly side by side, but they were beaten back, relentlessly. Within sixty years, all of the Elven kingdoms of Middle-earth were either destroyed or occupied by hostile forces.

  The terrible onslaught of Morgoth’s forces

  Lúthien sang before Morgoth

  Quest of the Silmaril

  While armies of thousands perished in the long War of the Jewels and the Battle of Sudden Flame, it was only by the efforts of two star-crossed lovers – the mortal Beren and the Elf princess Lúthien – that one of the three stolen Silmarils was won back from the terrible Valarian lord, Morgoth, the Dark Enemy. This was achieved in the Quest of the Silmaril when by the power of the spells of Lúthien, the lovers gained entry into the great armoury and underground fortress of Angband. There in the horror of its nethermost chamber, Lúthien – the most beautiful child of the Elven race – stood before the throne of Morgoth the Dark Enemy, and sang a wondrous song of enchantment.

  Gothmog the Balrog

  Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, was one of the greatest and most terrible of the spirits who came to Arda with Melkor. He bore a whip of flame, and sometimes wielded a great black axe. During the wars of Beleriand, he led armies of Balrogs, Orcs and Trolls, and laid waste to many lands of Elves, Dwarves and Men. His greatest challenge came when he faced Ecthelion of Gondolin, during the terrible sack of the Hidden City.

  Few could withstand Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs

  The hidden city of Gondolin fell to the might of Morgoth, the Dark Enemy

  The Fall of Gondolin

  The most beautiful Elven city built on Middle-earth was said to be Gondolin, the Hidden Kingdom. This was the last Elf-Kingdom to survive the War of the Jewels. Its king was Turgon, the Noldor lord, who wisely chose to conceal the city in the Encircling Mountains. But in the end the Servants of Morgoth discovered it, and Orc legions appeared before its gates, together with Trolls and fire-breathing dragons driven on by the Balrog demons. Though the Elves battled valiantly Gondolin was sacked, and with its destruction the Elf-realms of Beleriand were brought to an end.

  Destruction of Angband

  After watching the defeats and sufferings of the Elves and Men of Beleriand, the Valar could no longer tolerate the evil dominion of Morgoth over the lands of Middle-earth. So the Valar and Maiar joined in the War of Wrath against Morgoth’s cruel kingdom of Angband. All the world was rent by this great war. The Iron Mountains were broken open, and the dungeons and great chambers of torture were destroyed. Morgoth’s dragons and demons came into battle but were slain by the Valarian host. The servants of Morgoth were scattered, and he himself was cast into the Void. So ended the First Age of the Sun, and with it the chief architect of wickedness vanished forever, though much that Morgoth had made remained within the Spheres of the World.

  Angband could not withstand the wrath of the Valar

  NÚMENÓREAN EMPIRE

  in the Second Age

  Númenor

  At the beginning of the Second Age of the Sun, the Valar raised a star-shaped island in the Western Sea. This was Númenor, which became the greatest kingdom of Men on Arda. The Númenóreans were granted a span of life far greater than ordinary Men, and through the centuries their strength and wealth increased and their navy sailed over all the seas of the mortal world. Númenor, often translated as Westernesse in the language of Men, was also called Andor ‘Land of Gift’, Elenna-nórë ‘Land of the Star’ and Atalantë ‘The Downfallen’; for it was, in fact, Tolkien’s re-invention of the ancient myth of the lost land of Atlantis.

  The Second Age of the Sun

  The second age was the Age of the Númenóreans. As has been told in the ‘Akallabêth’ or ‘The Downfall of Númenor’, these were Men who were descended from the Edain of the First Age and to whom the Valar had given the newly created land in the midst of the wide sea between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands.

  Tolkien’s Númenor was an island kingdom shaped like a five-pointed star. At its narrowest, it measured two hundred and fifty miles across, and nearly twice that distance from the farthest promontories. It was divided into six regions: one for each peninsula and one for its heartland, where stood the sacred mountains, Meneltarma, or ‘pillar of heaven’, the tallest mountains on Númenor. On its slopes stood Armenelos, the ‘city of kings’, where the king and the largest single number of Númenóreans lived. Farther below was the royal port of Rómenna. The other prominent city-ports, Eldalondë and Andúnië, faced west towards the Undying Lands.

  The first king of Númenor was Elros, son of Eärendil and the twin brother of Elrond Half-elven. At the end of the First Age, when the Half-elven twins were told by the Valar that they must choose their fate, Elrond chose that of the immortal Elves, while Elros became king of the mortal Edain. However, being Half-elven, he was granted a life-span of five hundred years and he ruled as the king of Númenor until the year 442 of the Second Age.

  Years 30,601–34,042

  While the Númenóreans prospered on their island, the High Elves of Middle-earth gathered under the banner of Gil-galad, the last High Elf-king in the realm of Lindon. The Sindar Grey Elves established kingdoms among the Silvan Elves in Greenwood the Great and the Golden Wood of Lothlórien in the Vales of the Great River, Anduin. In the eighth century, the Noldor Elves of Celebrimbor established the kingdom of the Elven-smiths of Eregion, just to the west of the Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm in the Misty Mountains. However, another power also prospered in this time, for Sauron the Sorcerer remained in the mortal world and secretly conspired to succeed Melkor as the Dark Lord of Middle-earth.

  Númenor was the most splendid realm of Men

  In the year 1,000, Sauron secretly began to build his odious realm of Mordor, enslaving the barbarian races of Men of the East and South and gathering Orcs and other beings to his kingdom. He also began building the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr. He assumed the fair form of one named Annatar, meaning ‘lord of gifts’ in Quenya, and attempted to seduce the Elves with his wisdom and power. Only Celebrimbor and the Elven-smiths of Eregion were deceived. Using the combined powers of magic and metallurgy, Sauron and the Elven-smiths collaborated in the making of many fantastic creations. By the year 1500, they reached the peak of their ability and, under Sauron’s instruction, began to forge the Rings of Power. By 1600, all the Rings were completed, and Sauron treacherously returned to Mordor, where he completed the building of the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr and forged the One Ring, thus becoming the Lord of the Rings. When the Elven-smiths realized they had been duped into helping Sauron become the all-powerful Lord of the Rings they rose up against him, and from 1693 to 1701 the bloody War of the Elves and Sauron raged. In that conflict Sauron slew Celebrimbor, destroyed the city of the Elven-smiths, ruined Eregion, and overran nearly all of Eriador. The Dwarves of Khazad-dûm retreated from the conflict and shut their doors on the world. Thereafter, this hidden realm was known as Moria, the ‘black chasm’ in Sindarin. In the terrible struggle most of the Elves of Eregion were slain; only a small number survived. These were led by Elrond Half-elven into the foothills of the Misty Mountains, where they founded the colony of Imladris, which Men later called Rivendell.

  After his victory over Celebrimbor, Sauron gathered his forces and marched against Gil-galad in Lindon. At the last moment, a mighty fleet of Númenóreans joined the Elvish ranks. Sauron’s legions were utterly crushed, and he was forced to retreat to Mordor.

  For a thousand years Sauron made no move against the Elves, but worked instead among the barbarian Easterlings and Haradrim tribes. Among their savage kings, he distributed the Nine Rings of Mortal Men. By the twenty-third century they ha
d become the Nazgûl, his chief servants, who Men knew as the Ringwraiths. Meanwhile, the Númenóreans had become the mightiest sea power the world had ever seen. On the coastlands of Middle-earth they created many colonies, as well as the fortress-ports of Umbar and Pelagir.

  The arrogant Númenóreans perished when they sought to challenge the Valar

  In the year 3261, the Númenóreans landed a huge armada at Umbar and disgorged a massive force that marched on Mordor. When Sauron saw their terrible might, all the peoples of the world were amazed to see the Ring Lord descend from his Dark Tower and surrender himself unto them.

  The Númenóreans put Sauron in chains, took him to their own land and imprisoned him in their strongest dungeon. But, by guile, Sauron achieved that which he could not by strength of arms. He falsely counselled the proud Númenórean kings and corrupted them, so they plotted against the Valar themselves. So successful was this corruption that the Númenóreans dared to raise the greatest fleet of ships that ever was, and sailed into the west to make war on the Powers of Arda. For this act, Ilúvatar caused the fair island of Númenor to burst asunder. The mountains and the cities fell, the sea arose in wrath and all Númenor collapsed into a watery abyss.

  In that cataclysm came the Change of the World. The Undying Lands were set beyond the Spheres of the World and were forever beyond the reach of all but the Chosen, who travelled in Elven ships along the Straight Road. This was the end of the Age of Atlantis as we now know it in myths, and the world turned in on itself. It was no longer a flat world bounded by the Encircling Sea and enclosed within the Sphere of Air and Ether, but became the globed planet that we now know it to be.

  But the Second Age did not end with the sinking of Númenor in the year 3319, nor did the heritage of its people vanish. For as the tales of the time tell, there were those among the Númenóreans who were led by the Princes of Andúnië, who called themselves the Faithful and refused to forsake the Valar and the Eldar. Led by Elendil the Tall, they sailed nine ships eastward toward the shores of Middle-earth at the moment of the cataclysm. These were the Dúnedain, the faithful surviving Númenóreans, who established the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor upon Middle-earth.

  Yet soon there was strife and conflict, for, by the power of the One Ring, Sauron also escaped the sinking of Númenor and returned to Mordor, wherein he plotted to destroy all remaining Elvish and Dúnedain kingdoms upon Middle-earth.

  In retaliation, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men formed, and Sauron’s army was defeated at the Battle of Dagorlad. Entering Mordor itself, the Alliance laid siege to the Dark Tower for seven long years before Sauron was overthrown. In this last struggle, the Dúnedain High King Elendil and his son Anárion, along with the last High King of the Eldar on Middle-earth, Gil-galad, were all slain before the Dúnedain King Isildur at last cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand. With the conquest of Mordor, the destruction of the Dark Tower, the banishment of the Ringwraiths, and the downfall of Sauron, in the year 3441, the Second Age came to an end.

  The Black Númenóreans

  The port and city of Umbar was the most powerful outpost of the Númenóreans on Middle-earth during the Second Age. Corrupted by Sauron the Ring Lord, they survived the downfall and the Change of the World. Just as the ‘Faithful’ Númenóreans who founded the Dúnedain kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor among the North Men of Middle-earth, the Black Númenóreans of Umbar formed a powerful alliance with the Men of the South, known as the Haradrim. Throughout the Third Age, powerful armadas of the black ships frequently sailed out of Umbar to join forces with the allies of Mordor against their sworn enemies, the Dúnedain in the north kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.

  Umbar was a colony of Númenor until its capture by the Men of the South

  DÚNEDAIN KINGDOMS

  in the Third Age

  Years 34,042–37,063

  The Third Age of the Sun

  The globed, mortal world was forever separated from the Undying Lands. Only the ships of the Elves were permitted to sail the Straight Road to reach it. At the end of the Second Age, the Dúnedain – or surviving Númenóreans – founded Arnor and Gondor, and with the Elves destroyed Sauron and Mordor. However, the Ring Lord secretly returned in the Third Age and rebuilt Mordor. Finally, Sauron’s plots against the Dúnedain and the Elves culminated in the War of the Ring.

  The Dark Tower of Mordor

  By the power of the Ruling Ring, Sauron made the foundations of Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower of Mordor. The Last Alliance of Elves and Men laid siege to that Tower for seven years at the end of the Second Age before finally forcing Sauron into open battle. Though many of the greatest Eldar and Dúnedain lords were slain, the Alliance was granted victory and the One Ring was cut from Sauron the Ring Lord’s hand.

  For more than a thousand years Sauron had no shape and wandered Earth as a powerless shadow. Yet because the One Ring was not destroyed, Sauron and his Tower were not ended. Both he and the tower were to arise in the Third Age, and once again Sauron the Ring Lord would seek to dominate the world.

  The dreadful tower of Barad-dûr loomed over Mordor

  At the end of the Second Age, Sauron battled with the Men of Númenor

  Sauron

  At first, Sauron was one of the Maiar of Aulë, but he was soon corrupted by Morgoth, and he became the Dark Lord’s chief lieutenant. When Morgoth was cast into the Void at the end of the First Age, Sauron returned to Middle-earth, calling himself Annatar, ‘giver of gifts’, and appearing to offer friendship to the Elves of Eregion and the Men of Númenor. He taught the Elves the art of making Rings of Power, but unknown to them, he forged for himself the One Ring, which controlled all the others. Finally the Númenoréans made war on Sauron, and he fought with their leaders before the gates of Barad-dûr. In the Third Age, he took the form of a great lidless eye, ceaseless in his search for the One Ring, which seemingly had been lost forever.

  The Third Age of the Sun

  The two dominant concerns of Tolkien’s history of the Third Age of the Sun are the survival of the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, and the not unrelated fate of the One Ring of Sauron, the Ring Lord.

  At the end of the Second Age, when Sauron the Ring Lord was overthrown, it was Isildur, the High King of the United Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor, who cut the One Ring from his hand.

  At the time, this was deemed a righteous act and the only means of destroying the power of the Dark Lord; however, once Isildur himself seized the One Ring, a part of him was corrupted by its evil power. For strong and virtuous though he was, Isildur could not resist its promise of power.

  Though he stood on the volcanic slopes of Mount Doom itself, in whose fires the Ring was forged and the only place where it could be unmade, he could not bring himself to destroy it. Isildur succumbed to temptation and took the One Ring as his own, and thus its curse soon fell upon him. In year two of the Third Age, Isildur and his three eldest sons were marching northward through the Vales of Anduin when the entourage was ambushed by Orcs.

  This was the Battle of Gladden Fields which resulted in the death of Isildur and his three sons and the loss of the One Ring in the waters of the River Anduin. The disastrous consequences of Gladden Fields took over 3,000 years to right. The loss of the One Ring meant that the wicked spirit of Sauron could not be brought to rest until the Ring was found and destroyed, while the death of the High King of the United Kingdom of the Dúnedain resulted in the splitting of the realm into two separate kingdoms: Arnor and Gondor.

  In effect, because Isildur succumbed to the temptation of the One Ring, the curse of the Ring was visited on the whole of the Dúnedain people. This curse of the Ring consumed the whole of the Third Age, for the United Kingdom could not be healed and made whole again until the One Ring was destroyed and a single legitimate heir (who had the strength to resist the temptations of the Ring) was recognized by the whole of the Dúnedain people. Only then could a High King once again rule in the Reunited Kingdom of the Dúnedain.

  Nevertheless, duri
ng the first millennium of the Third Age, the power of the South Kingdom of Gondor grew, despite constant conflicts on its borders and the Easterling invasion of the fifth and sixth centuries. By the ninth century, Gondor had built a powerful navy to add to the military might of its army. By the eleventh century, Gondor had reached the height of its power, pushing back the Easterlings to the Sea of Rhûn, making Umbar a fortress of Gondor and subjugating the people of Harad.

  Although the North Kingdom of Arnor never expanded its boundaries beyond Eriador, it prospered well enough until the ninth century. At that time internal disputes resulted in its division into three independent states, and these eventually fell to quarrelling among themselves.

  By the twelfth century, the spirit of Sauron had secretly returned to Middle-earth in the form of a single eye wreathed in flame. He found refuge in southern Mirkwood in the fortress of Dol Guldur. From this time onward, the forces of darkness grew steadily stronger throughout the lands of Middle-earth.

  From the thirteenth century forward, Arnor was steadily diminished by a combination of natural disasters and internal strife. However, the greatest of its curses was Sauron’s chief servant, the Lord of the Ringwraiths, who became the Witch-king of Angmar and maintained a state of war for over five centuries against Arnor’s kings. Finally, in 1974, the Witch-king stormed the last Arnorian stronghold of Fornost, and Arnor ceased to exist as a kingdom. After the death of Arnor’s twenty-third King, the royal bloodline was continued by the tribal Chieftains of the Dúnedain.