‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of power’ is gaining popularity and the show is a success worldwide. The show is set prior to the timeline of the movies, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The series is based on the work of J.R.R Tolkien.
Where the movies were set in the third age, the series of Amazon prime is based in the second age. We watch the time of flourishment of Numenor in the series and also see the nightmare of queen Miriel in episode 4, The great wave. The question arises here, what led to the doom of Numenor and how it took place in the books?
Island Kingdom Of Numenor
Behold, the island kingdom of Númenor. #TheRingsOfPower pic.twitter.com/moOcp09qAD
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) December 13, 2022
Numenor was the prominent kingdom of men during the second age. They fought against the Morgoth, the evil lord. The Valar, angel-like figures, gifted them the island which was risen from the large sea. The men got their gift of bravery and settled a new kingdom called Numenor. Their first ruler was Elros, the son of Earendil.
They thrived under his rule and the Numenoreans were blessed with a longer life span in comparison to their other counterparts. Numenoreans also started to settle in middle earth and spread across. But Valar forbid them to go too far west near the undying land, as this land was prohibited for mortals.
Battle With Sauron
Sauron, the servant of Morgoth, decided to take the middle earth with his evil powers, and in this quest, he deceived the Elf Celebrimbor and made him forge the master Ring known as the One Ring. After this, a war broke out between Elves and Sauron. Numenor marched to help the Elves and successfully defeated Sauron.
After some time, Sauron raised his power and again threatened the world with the evil shadow. Ar-Pharazon, the king of Numenor sailed to middle earth to aid in the war. Sauron surrendered this time and was taken to Numenor. This was all part of a big plan to corrupt the people of Numenor with the temptation of immortality and made them envy the power of Valar. Sauron tricked them into believing that they deserve this kind of virtue and should take it by any means necessary.
The Destruction Of Numenor
The people of Numenor got divided over this issue. Ar-Pharazon and his followers chose the path of Sauron and started to worship Morgoth. They built his large temple. Another group remained faithful to the Valar under the leadership of Elendil. Ar-Pharazon raided middle earth under the influence of Sauron. They started to torture normal people and sacrificed them.
In the hunger for more power and immortality, Ar-Pharazon made an Armada out of his followers and sailed to the west to capture the undying lands. But their malicious attempt was foiled by Eru Iluvatar, the supreme god. Iluvatar changed the shape of Arda (the world) from flat to round in the defence of undying land. Following this, Numenor was destroyed by Eru Iluvatar, who sunk the island into the depths of Belegaer, also known as the Sundering Seas or the Great Sea, killing most of its people. The physical body of Sauron was also destroyed in this disaster because he transformed himself into the form of man. Because of this, He was robbed of his ability to change form afterward.
The Survivors Of Numenor
Elendil and other Faithful were spared by Valar and they left the Numenor in their ships. This group sailed to the east and established the kingdom of Arnor and Gondor. Elendil also remained friends with Elves. The two sons of Elendil named, Isildur and Anarion were also with their father. Later Isildur became the high king of Arnor and Gondor. He fought the War of the Last Alliance and during this, he sliced the finger of Sauron and take the Ring from him leading to the victory of the alliance.
