The Peoples of Middle-earth (31 page)

Avallon.

50. Foundation of Numenor. [Added: About the same time the works of Moria were begun by Durin the Dwarf and his folk from the ruins of the ancient dwarf-cities in the Blue Mountains. This was struck out and replaced by: About this time many dwarves fleeing from the ruins of the dwarf-cities in the Blue Mountains came to Moria, and its power and the splendour of its works were

greatly increased.](9)

460. Death of Elros Earendil's son, first King of Numenor.

500. Sauron, servant of Morgoth, begins to stir again in Middle-earth.

700. First ships of the Numenoreans return to Middle-earth.

At first they came only seldom, and the Numenoreans did not stay long in any place.

750. Foundation of Imladris (or Rivendell) and of Eregion (or Hollin) as dwellings of the Noldor or High Elves.

Remnants of the Telerian Elves (of Doriath in ancient Beleriand) establish realms in the woodlands far eastward, but most of these peoples are Avari or East-elves.

The chief of these were Thranduil who ruled in the north of Greenwood the Great beyond Anduin, but Lorien was fairer and had the greater power; for Celeborn had to wife the Lady Galadriel of the Noldor, sister of Gil-galad [> sister of Felagund Gil-galad's sire].(10) 900. Sauron in secret begins the building of the fortress, Barad-dur, in Mordor, and makes there the forges of Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire. But he professes great friendship with the Eldar, and especially with those of Eregion, who were great in smith-craft.

1200-1500. The Rings of Power are forged in Eregion; but the Ruling Ring is forged by Sauron in Orodruin.

1550. War of the Elves and Sauron begins. The 'Days of Flight'

begin, or the 'Dark Years' properly so called, being the time of the dominion of Sauron. Eregion is laid waste. The Naugrim (or Dwarves) close the gates of Moria. Many of the remaining Noldor depart west over Sea.

1700. The great voyages of the Numenoreans begin. Gil-galad defends Lindon and the Grey Havens. Imladris is besieged but holds out under the command of Elrond Earendil's son. The Numenoreans come with many ships to Lindon and they aid Gil-galad and Elrond.

Sauron retreats from Eriador (west of the Misty Mountains).

1900. Barad-dur is completed with the power of the Ruling Ring.

c.2000. The Shadow falls on Numenor. The Numenoreans begin to murmur against the Valar, who will not permit them to sail west from their land; and they become jealous of the immortality of the Eldar. [Added: (c.2250).] A division appears among the Numenoreans between the Elf-friends, the smaller party, and the King's Folk. The latter become slowly estranged from the Valar and the Eldar, and abandon the use of the Elven tongues; the kings take names of Numenorean form. The Elf-friends, dwelling most in the east of Numenor,(11) remain loyal to the kings except in the matter of rebellion against the decrees of the Valar.

2000-3000. The Numenoreans now make permanent

dwellings on the shores of Middle-earth, seeking wealth and dominion; they build many havens and fortresses.

The Elf-friends go chiefly to the North-west, but their strongest place is at Pelargir above the Mouths of Anduin. The King's Folk establish lordships in Umbar (12) and Harad and in many other places on the coasts of the Great Lands.

During the same time Sauron extends his dominion slowly over the great part of Middle-earth; but his power reaches out eastward, since he is withheld from the coasts by the Numenoreans. He nurses his hatred for them, but cannot yet challenge them openly. Towards the end of this time the Ulairi, the Ringwraiths, servants of Sauron and slaves of the Nine Rings first appear.

3118. Tar-kalion, calling himself Ar-Pharazon the Golden, thirteenth king of the line of Earendil, ascends the throne of Numenor. He resolves to challenge Sauron the Great, and builds an armament.

3125. Ar-Pharazon sets sail for Middle-earth. The might and splendour of the Numenoreans fills the servants of Sauron with fear. Ar-Pharazon lands at Umbar, and in pursuance of his own secret design Sauron humbles himself and submits. Sauron is taken as a hostage to Numenor.

3140-3310. Sauron slowly gains the confidence of ArPharazon, until he dominates his counsels. He urges Ar-Pharazon to make war on the Lords of the West to gain everlasting life.

Most of the Numenoreans fall under the sway of Sauron, and they persecute the Elf-friends; and they become tyrants over men in Middle-earth.

3310. Ar-Pharazon feeling the approach of death at last takes the counsel of Sauron and prepares a vast fleet for an assault upon Avallon and Valinor. Valandil

[> Amandil](13) the faithful breaks the ban of the Valar and sails west, hoping to repeat the embassy of Earendil, and obtain the help of the Lords of the West. He is never heard of again. His son Elendil, as his father had bidden, makes ready ships on the east coast of Numenor, preparing for flight with all the faithful that he can gather.

3319. The great fleet of Ar-Pharazon sets sail into the West and encompassing Avallon assails the shores of Valinor.

Numenor is destroyed, and swallowed up by the sea.

The world is broken and Valinor separated from the lands of the living.

Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion escape and fly east with nine great ships (14) to Middle-earth. They bring with them the Seven Stones or Palantiri, gifts of the Eldar of Avallon, and Isildur brings also a seedling of the White Tree of Avallon.

3320. Foundation of the realm of Arnor in the north of the Westlands, with the city Annuminas; and of Gondor about the waters of Anduin in the south, with the city Osgiliath. The Stones are divided: Elendil retains three in the North-kingdom, at Annuminas, and on Amon Sul, and in the tower of Emyn Beraid (the Tower Hills).(15) His sons take four, and set them at Minas Ithil, at Minas Anor, at Osgiliath, and at Orthanc.

In the same year Sauron returns to Middle-earth, and being at first filled with fear by the power and wrath of the Lords of the West he hides himself in Mordor and is quiet.

3430-3 [> 3429-30]. Sauron, being at last ready again, makes war upon Gondor. Orodruin bursts into smoke and flame, and Men of Gondor seeing the sign re-name it Amon Amarth, Mount Doom.(16) Sauron comes forth and assails Minas Ithil, and destroys the White Tree that Isildur planted there. Isildur takes a seedling of the Tree and escapes by ship down Anduin with his wife and sons. He sails to Elendil in the North. The Last Alliance is formed between Gil-galad Elven-king and Elendil and his sons. They march east to Imladris summoning all folk to their aid.

3434. The Host of the Alliance crosses the Misty Mountains and marches south. They encounter the host of Sauron upon Dagorlad north of the gates of Mordor, and they are victorious. Sauron takes refuge in Barad-dur.

3434- Siege of Barad-dur begins and lasts seven years.

3440. Anarion is slain in Gorgoroth.

3441. Sauron comes forth, and wrestles with Elendil and Gilgalad. They overthrow him but are themselves slain.

The One Ring is taken from the hand of Sauron by Isildur as the weregild of his father, and he will not permit it to be destroyed. He plants the seedling of the White Tree in Minas Anor in memory of his brother Anarion, but he will not himself [added: long] dwell there. He delivers the South-kingdom to Meneldil son of Anarion and marches north up the vale of Anduin, purposing to take up the realm of Elendil. He is slain by Orcs near the Gladden fields and the Ring is lost in the River.(17) The Ringwraiths fall into darkness and silence.

The Second Age ends.(18)

In this fourth text of the Tale of Years the pattern of dating seen in T 1, T 2, with its great differences from the final form in Appendix B, is preserved. Thus Rivendell was still founded far earlier, in 750; Barad-dur was begun in 900 and its building still took a thousand years; the making of the Rings of Power in Eregion, and the War of the Elves and Sauron, are dated as they were, extending over far greater periods of time. The work was becoming a condensed history rather than a list of dates; but scarcely any new dates were introduced.

In new material in the entry for c.2000 the sentence 'The Shadow falls on Numenor' is clearly related to the Akallabeth 'Scheme' (p.

150), where it is noted of the reign of Tar-Atanamir (c.1790-c.2061) that 'In his time the Shadow first fell on Numenor'. The fullness of the entries concerning the reign of Ar-Pharazon reinforces the view that my father made these early versions of the Tale of Years when he was writing the Akallabeth, as do a number of particular features, such as the sentence concerning the Great Battle in the headnote to T 4 (see note 5) and the occurrence of the name Ulairi of the Ringwraiths in the entry for 2000-3000 (see p. 153, $30). The fact that Avallon was still the name of Eressea (and not that of the haven) shows beyond doubt that the Akallabeth was still at the stage of the earliest manuscript (see note 6).

I think it extremely probable that this text T 4 (of which the part pertaining to the Third Age is very much longer) belongs in time with the texts F 2 and D 2 of the Appendices on Languages and on Calendars, and with the third text of The Heirs of Elendil, given in the next chapter. But external evidence of date seems to be entirely lacking.

From T 4 an amanuensis typescript T 5 was made, carefully following the original. At some stage my father subjected one of the copies to very heavy correction, but his chief (though not the only) purpose in doing so seems to have been to abbreviate it by the omission of phrases. By this time the 'second phase' of the Akallabeth (see p. 154, $31) had entered, and the last years of Numenor were altered on the typescript (cf. p. 175):

3118. Birth of Ar-Pharazon.

3255. Ar-Pharazon the Golden, twenty-fifth king of the line of Elros, seizes the sceptre of Numenor. He resolves to challenge Sauron the Great, and builds an armament.

3261. Ar-Pharazon sets sail for Middle-earth. The might of the Numenoreans fills the servants of Sauron with fear. Ar-Pharazon lands at Umbar, and Sauron humbles himself and submits. Sauron is taken as a hostage to Numenor.

3262-3310. Sauron slowly gains the confidence of Ar-Pharazon ...

The opening dates of the Second Age were also changed: Year 1, Foundation of the Grey Havens; 32 Foundation of Numenor; 442 Death of Elros; 600 First ships of the Numenoreans return to Middle-earth.

Other changes were the replacement of Ulairi by Nazgul in the entry for 2000-3000 (changed to 2200-3000), and the removal of Avallon at all occurrences, either by altering it to Eressea or by the omission of any name.

The evident reason for the revision of the typescript (in respect of the abbreviation of the text) is discussed later (see p. 246). The next stage in the development was an attempt to reduce the Tale of Years much more drastically. This is represented by a confused collection of typescript pages (from which a good deal of the Third Age is missing) made very evidently under stress: the deadline for the publication of The Return of the King was fast approaching, and the situation was indeed afflicting. Not only must the record of events be further pruned and curtailed, but fundamental features of the chronology of the Second Age were not yet established; and this work must be done against time.

I give in illustration a portion of the first version of the Second Age chronology comprised in this material. My father was typing very rapidly, faster than he could manage, and there are very many errors, which I have of course corrected; I have also introduced divisions to indicate successive shifts in the dating, though there is no suggestion of these in the typescript, where the rejected passages are not even struck through. Thus the text that follows has a very much more ordered appearance than does the original.

900. Sauron secretly begins the building of Barad-dur. He makes the forges of the Mountain of Fire.

1200. Sauron seeks the friendship of the Elves, especially those of Eregion, who are great in smith-craft.

1200-1500. The Rings of Power are forged in Eregion; but the Ruling Ring is forged by Sauron in Mordor.

1550. The war of Sauron and the Elves begins. The 'Dark Years'

follow, the time of the dominion of Sauron. Many of the remaining Eldar depart west over Sea. The great voyages of the Numenoreans begin.

1600. Eregion is laid waste. The gates of Moria are shut. The forces of Sauron overrun Eriador. Imladris is besieged, but holds out under the command of Elrond Earendil's son, sent from Lindon. The forces of Sauron overrun Eriador. Gil-galad defends Lindon and the Grey Havens.

1603. A Numenorean navy comes to the Grey Havens. The Numenoreans aid Gil-galad, and Sauron's forces are driven out of Eriador and Sauron retreats from Eriador. The Westlands have peace for some while.

From the time of the defeat in Eriador Sauron does not molest the Westlands for many years, but plots in secret. He slowly extends his dominion eastward, since he is withheld from the coasts by the Numenoreans. He nurses his hatred for them, but cannot yet challenge them openly.

1700. Barad-dur is completed with the power of the Ruling Ring.