The History of Middle-Earth: The First and Second Ages

The Beginning

In the beginning, there was the One God, Eru (called by the Elves Ilúvatar). He created angelic beings known as the Ainur, and sang to them a song of the creation of Arda, the world, in which each of them took a part. Some departed to become its caretakers and guardians and they are known as the Valar, while the lesser angels are known as the Maiar.

But there was one of the Valar who sang a song not of the One’s making. His name was Melkor, and he sought to have dominion and worship for himself. Though his song was one of discord, there was nothing he could conceive which Eru could not undo and make even greater in the end. Melkor went on to unleash terrible ruination upon Arda, so the Valar sectioned off the portion of land wherein they dwelt, named Valinor, and secured it against Melkor. Eventually, in time they removed it from the very Earth so that none could reach it by ship, save by their will alone. Melkor meanwhile managed to seduce many of the Maiar unto his service and they became the Balrogs and dragons and many other hideous things in evil form. But the greatest of these was Sauron.

In time, the next stage of Eru’s plan unfolded and the Elves were born. The Elves were eternal and bound to Arda, so they could only be killed or die of grief, and after a long while, would be reborn in Valinor and continue life there. In their early years, a number of Elves were kidnapped by Melkor. In torture and hatred, he bred from them the race of orcs. Seeing this and fearing for their safety, the Valar invited the Elves to join them in Valinor. Of the three kindred of Elves, two went on the journey over the sea and one stayed behind, preferring Middle-Earth. Of the two who took the journey, the first branch successfully reached Valinor. Of the others, some got lost on the way and some returned. Of those who made it to Valinor, the Noldor come most prominently into this tale, for it was out of them that great evil was spread.

Ending of the Trees and the First Age

Now the Two Trees were once the greatest source of beauty and light in Valinor. The Noldorin Elf, Fëanor, was a great craftsman and forged from the Two Trees the famous Silmarils. From these three jewels and from his pride, much tragedy and war was spread throughout the next Age. Melkor, with the aid of his cohort Ungoliant (a wicked Maiar in spider form), poisoned the Two Trees, stole the Silmarils and murdered Fëanor’s father. The Noldorin princes under Fëanor swore an oath to regain the Silmarils and kill any and all that would hold the jewels against them. Because of the lies of Melkor, now named Morgoth, the Noldorin Elves rebelled against the Valar, blaming them for their woes, and left Valinor, slaying many of their own kin in order to procure ships for themselves on the journey back to Middle-Earth. Grievous at the spilling of innocent blood, the Valar prophesied that much death and strife would come of this oath and urged them to turn back and seek their pardon. But the majority of those who departed did not heed it and brought great misfortune upon themselves and their kin.

The next thousand years was marked by internal strife among the Elves and terrible wars fought against Morgoth and his wicked forces, and many great tales are told of the three Elven strongholds that grew and were later destroyed by treachery and deceit. But in the east of Middle-Earth, the next stage of Eru’s plan was unfolding. Men were born and began to spread. In secret, Morgoth deceived Man in his infancy, and many became his servants, but there were some who sought to shake off his evil influence. These traveled west and joined forces with the Elves to battle Morgoth, but to little avail. The fifth battle against Morgoth, named Battle of Unnumbered Tears (Nirnaeth Arnoediad) was fought and lost and many great Elf Lords lost their lives. It would not be until many centuries later that at last one born of both Elf-kind and mankind, Eärendil, brought about an end to the devastating wars. With the aid of the Silmaril of Lúthien (who with her lover, the mortal Beren, had stolen it from the crown of Morgoth), Eärendil was successful in sailing the bent path to Valinor and summoning the Valar to come to their aid. This they did and great upheaval occurred in this final war with Morgoth, and all of Arda was changed.

The Silmarils were lost to the earth, sea and sky and those Elves who remained were pardoned and

allowed to return to Valinor, though not all did so at once. Of these, Elrond, the son of Eärendil, chose

to remain in Middle-Earth, as did Galadriel, the last of the Noldorin kin (though she herself

was free of the stain of blood) and later created the great realms of Rivendell and

Lothlorien. Of Man the Valar blessed with long life and a new home, an island/continent

named Nümenor. There, Men were free to dwell with one condition:

they were never to sail west to Valinor, for Eru had purposed a different destiny

for Men than the Elves.

The First Age had passed and the Second had begun

The Second Age

Centuries passed in Númenor and Men grew in prominence and wealth, but they also began to fear death and despise the ban against the West. So they built great ships and sailed instead east to Middle-Earth. Initially hailed as gods, in time they became feared as oppressors. The Numenorean kings had become greedy, vain and proud.

Sauron, meanwhile, had managed to escape the wrath of the Valar and the destruction of his master Morgoth. In Middle-Earth, he had become a great King in Mordor, but the coming of the Numenoreans fleets concerned him, for they were vast. In the days of King Ar-Pharazon, they came en masse to Middle-Earth, and cleverly Sauron feigned humility. In the guise of a man, Sauron allowed himself to be taken to Númenor, but it was not long before he worked his way into the ears of the king who soon fell under his sway.

Under Sauron's counsel, the temple to Eru was abandoned and a new center of worship sprung up in worship of Morgoth. Any who resisted were captured and made into human sacrifices. Sauron then persuaded the king that in Valinor he would find immortality and convinced him to break the ban of the Valar and sail to the West. As the fleets prepared for departure, those who secretly resisted, the Faithful, as they were known, made alternate plans. As Ar-Pharazon’s fleets departed for Valinor, the Faithful secretly sailed away east to Middle-Earth and away from the coming wrath. When the wicked Numenoreans reached the shores of Valinor, the Valar cast down their authority and summoned Eru (Ilúvatar) to intervene. God brought about a great cataclysm, destroying the fleets and sinking Nümenor forever.

Elendil became the first of the good Numenoreans to establish the reign or Arnor and Gondor in Middle-Earth, and in time they came to be known as the Dúnedain or Men of the West. But though Sauron was drowned with Númenor (known in Elvish as Atalante), it was a temporary defeat and before long, he returned to his fortress of Barud-Dur in Mordor where another wicked strategy had hatched. Disguising himself as a wise but humble man, he offered Elven smiths the secret to the creation of nineteen rings of power. Three were to be for the Elves. Seven he bestowed to the Dwarves. Nine were given to kings of Men from other lands east and south of Gondor. But in secret, Sauron created the One Ring, the greatest of them, to control and dominate all the others, and into it he transferred much of his own life-force, so that he was bound to the Ring and none who wore their rings could resist his will.

The nine kings became the fearsome Ringwraiths, undead servants fully under Sauron’s command. The Dwarves used their rings to forge for themselves great wealth and unwittingly unleashed a Balrog who had escaped the destruction of the First Age and hidden itself in the darkest depths of Moria. But the rings of the Elves were unsullied by Sauron’s hand, for they used their rings not for power or wealth, but to create the paradisaic realms of Rivendell and Lothlorien and to protect it from evil, and furthermore, they could see his mind so that when Sauron put his ring on, they knew they had been deceived and removed theirs.

In anger, Sauron amassed his armies and went to war. The Last Alliance of Men and Elves was forged and the free people of Middle-Earth fought back. When Sauron himself emerged to slay the king, Isildur, the son of Elendil, cut the ring off of Sauron’s hand. Sauron was defeated.

Yet so long as the ring survived, Sauron could return. Isildur succumbed to the temptation of the ring and kept it as an heirloom of his kingdom. His decision proved evil and in a short time, he was waylaid by orcs and killed. The ring escaped into the river Anduin where it was lost for a thousand years.

The Second Age was over and the Third had begun.

The Third Age

During this period, the kingdom of Men became divided. The Realm of Arnor in the North was lost. Gondor in the south was split into two kingdoms, of which the northern became Rohan. Though independent of Gondor it was ruled by a culture of horsemen and wise kings who swore friendship to Gondor. The line of Numenorean kings in Gondor ended with the defeat of the last heir by the hands of the Witch-King of Angmar, the most powerful of the Ringwraiths, who had wasted the realm of Arnor. The line of Stewards took over the rule of Gondor for centuries thereafter.

The Dúnedain of the North, meanwhile, became a secret society of Rangers who protected the borders of many good lands, such as the Shire and Bree. But most thought these to be rogues and thieves and few remembered their once great heritage. The chief of the Rangers was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, who was heir to the throne of Gondor and the true king of Men. To keep this information hidden from evil eyes, he was raised with his mother in Rivendell and often went under other names. In Rivendell he fell in love with the Elf Princess Arwen. But the time of the Elves in Middle-Earth was ending. Eru had appointed this time for the dominion of Men and the Elves had already lingered too long. The finding of the One Ring meant that the power of the Three Elven Rings was at an end, whether by Sauron’s hand, or by the destruction of the Ring itself, which would also mean the waning of the Elven rings and the protection it held over their lands. The Elves were returning to Valinor, leaving Middle-Earth forever.

But all was not lost. Centuries earlier, the Valar sent five of their own to Middle-Earth to aid them in the threat against Sauron. Of these, Mithrandir (called by some Gandalf) and Saruman, come into this tale. They were not to wield power, but merely to aid and give counsel in the coming dark times, and thus they were given the bodies of old men.

The One Ring, meanwhile, had come into the hands of Sméagol, a hobbit-like being living and fishing by the shore. It corrupted Sméagol and prolonged his life. He became twisted and malformed over the years transforming into the creature Gollum. Gollum hid himself deep in the tunnels of the Misty Mountains, and after many years, lost the ring. Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit of the Shire, found himself in the caves under the mountains while journeying with Gandalf and fourteen Dwarves to recover a treasure stolen by the dragon Smaug. Bilbo found the ring in Gollum's cave, but it wasn't until later that Gollum realized the theft. He swore vengeance on Bilbo left the Misty Mountains in pursuit of the ring. Sauron got to him first. Through torture, Sauron learned of Bilbo and the Shire, and set Gollum loose to cause whatever mischief he might. Sauron sent the Nazgul (the Ringwraiths) to retrieve his Ring, but it was already on the move in the hands of Frodo under the guidance of Gandalf and Aragorn. A Fellowship was soon to be formed to aid Frodo on his journey into Mordor to destroy the ring in Mount Doom, the volcanic mountain in which it had been forged.