When all was darkness and a great void, according to the "Ainulindale", that first book of The Silmarillion, there was an omniscient Being who lived alone in the vast emptiness. He was called Eru the One, or as the Elves would later name Him, Illúvatar. This was the Being that Tolkien conceived as the source of all creation. Through the "Ainulindale" Tolkien tells us how the elemental thoughts of Ilúvatar became the race of gods called the Ainur (the "Holy Ones"), and through the power of His spirit - the "Flame Imperishable" - Illúvatar gave the Ainur eternal life. For this race of gods, Illúvatar built a dwelling place in the void, called the Timeless Halls. Here, the Ainur were taught to sing by Illúvatar and became a vast heavenly choir. Out of the music of these godlike spirits came a holy Vision that was a globed world whirling in the void. Tolkien's world of Arda was literally sung into being, and each of the heavenly host had a part in its conception, even that one mighty satanic spirit called Melkor who sang of strife and discord. However, the Music of the Ainur simply created a Vision; it took the word and command of Illúvatar (and the power of the Flame Imperishable) to make Ed, the World That Is. Thus, the Vision was given substance and reality. And into that world descended those of the Ainur who had the greatest part in its conception and who wished to take a further part in its shaping. This was how Tolkien chronicled the creation of his planet, which was called Arda. It is both strangely ethereal and vastly operatic in its conception. Also, it is a kind of double creation, for when the Ainur arrived on Arda, they found it was up to them to shape it. The Music and the Vision were simply broad themes and prophecies of what was to come. Its shaping and its history proved to be a more difficult task. Although Tolkien tells us the majority of the Ainur remained with Illúvatar in the Timeless Halls, he tells us nothing more of them. His histories deal only with those who entered the spheres of the world. Here these godly, bodiless spirits take on more physical manifestations. They become the elements and the powers of nature, but like the Greek or Norse gods they have physical form, personality, gender and kinship with one another. The Ainur who entered Arda are divided into two orders: the Valar and the Maiar - the gods and the demigods. The Valar numbered fifteen: Manwe King of the Winds; Varda, Queen of the Stars; Ulmo, Lord of the Oceans; Nienna, the Weeper; Aule the Smith; Yavanna, Giver of Fruits; Orome, Lord of Forests; Vána the Youthful; Mandos, Keeper of the Dead; Vaire, the Weaver; Lórien Master of Dreams; Este, the Healer; Tulkas, the Wrestler; Nessa, the Dancer; and Melkor, who was later named Morgoth, the Dark Enemy. Of the Maiar, there were a multitude, but only a few of these immortals are named in Tolkien's chronicles: Eönwe Herald of Manwe; Ilmare Maid of Varda; Osse of the Waves; Uinen of the Calm Seas; Melian Queen of the Sindar; Arien, the Sun; Tilion, the Moon; Sauron, the Ring Lord; Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, Thuringwethil, the Vampire; Ungoliant, the Spider; Dragluin, the Werewolf-, Goldberry, the Riverdaughter; larwain Ben-adar (Tom Bombadil), and the five wizards - Olórin (Gandalf) Curunir (Saruman), Aiwendil (Radagast), Alatar, and Pallando. It is only after the world came into being and the Ainur enter into it, that the count of time upon Arda begins. Since for the greater part of Arda's history there is no sun or moon by which to measure time, Tolkien gives us the chronological measure of Valarian Years, and Valarian Ages. Each Valanian Year, Tolkien tells us, is the equivalent to ten years as we know them. And as each Valarian Age contains a hundred Valanian Years, each Age is equivalent to one thousand mortal years. Although there are many overlapping systems and variations in events and dates in Tolkien's various writings, there is enough consistency to estimate with some precision that the time elapsing from the Creation of Arda. to the end of the Third Age of Sun (shortly after the War of the Ring) was 37 Valarian Ages, or more exactly 37,063 mortal years. Within this vast time frame, the first Valarian Ages were spent by the newly arrived powers in the Shaping of Arda. However, even as there was discord in the Music of the Ainur, so when the actual Shaping of Arda began a host of Maiar spirits, led by that mighty satanic Vala called Melkor, created a great conflict. This was the First War, that led to the natural symmetry and harmony of Arda becoming confused. Although Melkor was at last expelled, the lands and seas of Arda were left scarred and torn and the possibility of Arda as the ideal world as it was conceived in the Vision was lost forever.

After the time of Creation and the Shaping of Arda, the "Quenta Silmarillion" and the later publication of Tolkien's draughts and chronologies in "The Ambarkanta" and the "Annals of Valinor" tell us of an idyllic time called the Ages of the Lamps when, despite the Marring of Arda during the First War, the Valar filled the world with natural wonders of great beauty and harmony. These Ages were so-named because the Valar fashioned two colossal magical Lamps with which to light the world. It was the Vala called Aulë the Smith who forged these golden vessels, while the Sea Queen, Varda, and the Wind King, Manwe, filled them and made them radiant with light. It took the combined powers of the other Valar to raise each up on a mighty pillar, taller by far than any mountain. One Lamp was placed in the north of Middle-earth and was called Illain and stood in the midst of an encircling inland sea called Helcar. The other was in the south and was called Ormal and stood in the midst of the inland sea called Ringil. During the Ages of the Lamps the First Kingdom of the Valar, on the isle of Almaren, was built in the Great Lake in the midmost point on Arda. Filled with the beautiful mansions and towers of the Valar and Maiar, it was a wonder to see, and the world was filled with joy and light. This was an idyllic time which was also called the "Spring of Arda", when Yavanna the Fruitful brought forth the great forests and the wide meadows, and many gentle and beautiful beasts and creatures of field and stream. But Almaren was not the only kingdom built in this time. Far to the north, the evil Maiar spirits once again gathered, and Melkor again entered Arda. In secret, while the Valar rested from their labours, Melkor raised the vast Iron Mountains like a mighty wall across the northlands and built beneath them an evil fortress called Utumno. From that refuge he began to corrupt the work of the Valar, and poisons seeped into the waters and forests. Yavanna's beautiful creatures were twisted and tortured so they became monstrous and filled with a desire for blood. At last, when he thought he had grown strong enough, Melkor came forth openly with his evil host and made war on the Valar. Catching them unprepared, he cast down the mighty pillars of the Great Lamps so the mountains were broken and the consuming flame of the Lamps spread over all the world. In the tumult, the kingdom of Almaren was totally destroyed. In this terrible conflict, the Spring of Arda was ended, and the world was once again plunged into darkness, except for the destructive fires of the earth, the tumult of earthquakes and rushing seas. These mighty upheavals required all the strength of the Valarian hosts to quell, test the world itself be entirely destroyed. Rather than do battle with Melkor in the midst of such tumult and cause further destruction, the Valar abandoned Almaren and Middle-earth altogether. They went into the furthermost west, to the great continent of Aman which later was called the Undying Lands. So the Ages of the Lamps ended with the Valar making a new kingdom in the west, while all the wrecked lands of Middle-earth were left in thrall to the evil power of Melkor.

After the destruction of the Great Lamps and the First Kingdom of Almaren, the Valar went west to the continent of Aman, where they built a Second Kingdom called Valinor, meaning "Land of the Valar". There they each took a part of that land and raised mansions and created gardens, but also built Valimar, the "Home of the Valar", a walled city with domes and spires of gold and silver and filled with the music of many bells. On a green hill just outside the western golden gates of Valimar, the Valar grew two huge and magical trees. These were the tallest trees that ever grew and were called Laurelin the Golden and Telperion the White. Nearly the size of the colossal Lamps of the Valar, these Trees of Valinor gave off a brilliant glow of gold and silver light. The waxing and waning of each Tree's blossoming gave a means by which each day might be measured, and the light itself nourished all who lived within their glowing presence, and filled each with bliss and wisdom. "At the Shores Of Valinor..." We learn from Tolkien's early draughts of the chronicles, in the "Annals of Valinor", that the Ages of the Trees began one thousand Valarian years after the creation of Arda; that is, the Tenth Valarian Age, or ten thousand mortal years after the creation of Arda. We also learn that the Ages of the Trees were nearly twenty Valarian Ages or twenty thousand mortal years in duration. There is, however, a complicating factor in Tolkien's chronology of Arda because the Ages of the Trees apply only to the Undying Lands. We are told that, upon arriving on Aman, the Valar raised up a great wall in the form of the Pelóri Mountains to keep out Morgoth and all his minions. These mountains, the tallest in the world, did indeed protect Valinor from invasion, but they also shut in the Light of the Trees, so that the rest of Arda remained in darkness. In the Undying Lands, the Ages of the Trees were divided into two eras. The first ten Valarian Ages, or 10,000 mortal years, of the Ages of the Trees were known as the Years of Bliss in Valinor. During this time the Valar and Maiar prospered and their great mansions and dwellings grew ever larger and more beautiful. The Eagles were created by Manwe the Ents conceived by Yavanna, and the Dwarves conceived by Aule. Blissful indeed were these times in Valinor, while beyond the walls of the Pelóri Mountains, Middle-earth endured the terror and evil of Melkor's dominion during the Ages of Darkness.        ...ages of Darkness While Valinor and the Undying Lands were bathed in the Light of the Trees, all the lands of Middle-earth were plunged into gloom. These were the Ages of Darkness on Middle-earth when Melkor dug the hellish Pits of Utumno ever deeper beneath the Iron Mountains. With evil splendour he fashioned hellish, subterranean palaces with vast doomed halls, labyrinthine tunnels, and fathomless dungeons out of black stone, fire and ice. Here the Lord of Darkness gathered all the evil powers of the world. Their numbers seemed without limit, and Melkor never tired of creating new and ever more dreadful forms. Cruel spirits, phantoms, wraiths and evil demons stalked the halls of Utumno. All the serpents of the world were bred in the pits of a dark kingdom that was home to Werewolves and Vampires and innumerable bloodfeeding monsters and insects that flew, crawled and slithered. Within Utumno, all were commanded by Melkor's demon disciples, the deep Maiar spirits called the Balrogs, with their whips of flame and their black maces. Greatest among these was the High Captain of Utumno, Gothmog the Balrog. Nor was Utumno Melkor's only kingdom. At the beginning of the Ages of Darkness, Melkor rejoiced in his victory over the Valar, and his destruction of Almaren and the Great Lamps of Light. Thereafter, he strove to increase his power and in the westernmost part of the Iron Mountains he built a second kingdom. This was the great armoury and stronghold called Angband, the "Iron-Prison". Then he proclaimed his mightiest disciple Sauron the Maia Sorcerer, the Master of Angband. Except for the watchful eye of Manwe the Windlord looking down from the sacred mountain of Taniquetil, and the occasional visitations of Orome the Wild Horseman; of all the Valar, only Yavanna, the protector of forests and meadows, entered Middle-earth in these days. Upon all the flora and fauna which she created, she cast a protecting spell called the Sleep of Yavanna, so they might survive the darkness and evil of Melkor's rule. And so, for the most part, these were the Age of Glory for Melkor, the Satanic Lord of Darkness. By his destruction of the Lamps of Light Melkor inherited the whole of the wrecked and darkened lands of Middle-earth. There he held dominion for ten thousand mortal years.        ...ages of the Stars During the next ten Valarian Ages, we learn much more of events in Valinor and Middle-earth. This second era of the Ages of the Trees was called the Noontide of the Blessed, but upon Middle-earth it was called the Ages of the Stars. This was the time after many Ages of Darkness, when Varda, the Lady of the Heavens, took the dew from the Silver Tree of the Valar and, crossing the skies, rekindled the faint stars which shone down on Middle-earth, so they became brilliant and dazzling in the velvet. The creatures of Melkor were so unused to light that they screamed in pain when these shafts of starlight pierced their dark souls. In terror, they fled and hid themselves away. Yet, above all, the Rekindling of the Stars signalled the Awakening of the Elves. For when the stars shone down on Middle-earth the Elves awoke with starlight in their eyes, and something of that magical light remained there forever after. The place of awakening was the Mere of Cuiviénen by the shores of Helcar, the Inland Sea beneath the Orocarni, the Red Mountains. The Ages of the Stars was also the time of the awakening of the two other speaking peoples: the Dwarves, who were conceived by Aule the Smith, and the Ents, who were conceived by Aule's spouse, Yavanna the Fruitful. Then, too, in the pits of Utumno, Melkor bred two other races. These were the Orcs and the Trolls: twisted life forms made from tortured Elves and Ents who fell into his hands. When Orome the Horseman discovered the Awakening of the Elves, and the Valar learned of the evil done to them by Melkor, Melkor's going among the Elves to enslave, slay and corrupt them, they held a council of war. Fiercely, like vengeful angels, the Valar and the Maiar came into Middle-earth and drove Melkor's Legions before them. During this War of Wrath they slew Melkor's evil legions, broke down the great wall of the Iron Mountains and utterly destroyed Utumno, Melkor's dominion over Middle-earth was ended. He was bound with chains and held prisoner in Valinor for many ages. This was called the War of Powers and in that war were many battles and duels wherein the Valar utterly destroyed Utumno and dug the tyrant Melkor from is pits. Thereafter, Melkor was held captive in Valinor and bound with unbreakable chains. This time was known as the Peace of Arda, and lasted through most of the remaining Ages of the Trees in Valinor and Ages of Stars on Middle-earth. It was the time of the Great Journey, when the Elves made their mass westward migrations to Eldamar on the shores of the Undying Lands. For the most part these were glorious years for the Elves in both Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. These were the great years for the Elven race, for without the evil wrath of Melkor, these chosen people prospered and grew ever more powerful. After the War of Powers, the Valar summoned the Elves to come and live with them in the Land of Light. This was the mass migration called the Great Journey of the Eldar, those Elves who answered the call of the Valar. The Great Journey was the theme of many an Elven song, for their struggle to make the journey was long, and the Eldar were divided many times into diverse races and tribes. Those who reached the Undying Lands and were blessed by the Trees of Light were of three kindred: the Vanyar, the Noldor and the Telen. For these chosen people, the Valar gave a part of the Undying Lands called Eldamar, the "Elvenhome", and its beauty was a wonder to behold. Many were their mansions and towers, but the finest were in Vanyar and Noldor capital of Tirion, and the Telen cities of Alqualonde on the coast of Eldamar and Avall6ne on the Isle of Tol Eressëa. Yet many others, for love of the lands of Middle-earth remained behind. They built their kingdoms in mortal lands and lived glorious lives.        ...of the Sindar During the Ages of Stars there was a great kingdom of Elves in Beleriand in the northwest of Middle-earth. These were the Elves of the Teleri Kindred who followed King Thingol and Queen Melian the Maia. They were called the Grey Elves or the Sindar and their kingdom was in vast forestland of Doriath. Their capital was called Menegroth of the Thousand Caves, and the caverns and grottoes of their citadel were one of the wonders of Middle-earth. Menegroth was ingeniously carved to resemble a subterranean beech forest. Trees, birds and animals were all carved in stone, and the great chambers were filled with silver fountains and lit by crystal lamps. The lords of the Sindar were the masters of Beleriand and the mightiest Elves upon Middle earth in the Ages of Stars. Their allies were the Sea Elves of the Falas, the Laiquendi (or Green Elves) of Ossiriand, and the Dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod in the Blue Mountains. These Dwarf realms of Nogrod and Belegost prospered in their trade with the Elves of Beleriand throughout the Ages of Starlight. Master of stone carvers, they hollowed out vast galleries beneath the Blue Mountains in search of precious metals and were hired by the Elves to carve most of Menegroth's great halls and chambers. The Dwarves of Nogrod were considered the greatest smiths on Middle-earth and forged swords and spears of the finest steel, while the Dwarves of Belegost were the first to make chain mail and dragon-proof amour. To some degree, the alliances of the Elves of Beleriand extended eastward to the huge primeval forest of Eriador, For there, throughout the Ages of Starlight, the race called Ents, the giant Shepherds of the Trees, lived and befriended the Sindar Elves of Beleriand and the Silvan Elves. Beyond Eriador, in the Misty Mountains was Khazad-dûm, the greatest of all Dwarf Kingdoms. In the Ages of Starlight it too prospered and extended its delvings beneath the mountains, although it played little part in the fortunes and histories of Beleriand.

...the End of the Age The Ages of Stars lasted ten thousand moral years, and were ages of discovery and wonder, of glory and magic. Yet, all this was ended when Melkor was at last released from captivity in Valinor. After the Ages of Chaining, Melkor came before the Valar to be judged. He seemed to have changed and he claimed to have repented, so Manwe, the Lord of the Valar, ordered his chains to be removed. After a time of seeming penance, the Valar were deceived. In secret, Melkor plotted their downfall. First he sowed strife among the Elves, and then, in alliance with the Great Spider, Ungoliant, he made open war. He came with Ungoliant to the Trees of the Valar and struck them with a great spear, and the Spider sucked the Light and Life from the Trees so they withered and died. All of Valinor was made hideously black with the Unlight of Ungoliant, and Melkor laughed with evil joy because for a second time he had put out the great Lights of the World. "Ungoliant sucking the light of the Trees" Not content with this great evil, Melkor went to the Elven fortress of Formenos, slew the High King of the Noldor, and stole the magical gemstones called the Silmarils. These were the most treasured jewels of that or any age. They were sacred to the Noldor who made them, for they marked the highest achievement in the creation of Elven gems. With the Darkening of Valinor, they were valued all the more, for these three gems glittered and glowed with the living light of the Trees of the Valar. Yet, beautiful though they were, the Silmarils seemed to carry a terrible curse with them. They brought despair and destruction upon all who possessed them. When Melkor seized them and fled to Middle-earth, the Noldor swore a bloodoath of revenge, and, under the leadership of Fëanor, the creator of the Silmarils, they followed. This was the beginning of the War of the Great Jewels which lasted through the whole of the First Age of the Sun.

Melkor and Ungoliant In a deep cleft of the mountains she dwelt, and took shape as it were a spider of monstrous form, sucking up all such light as she could find, or that strayed over the walls of Valinor, and she spun it forth again in black webs of strangling gloom, until no light more could come to her abode, and she was famished. It may well be that Melkor, if none other, knew of her being and her abode... he sought her out, and demanded her aid in his revenge. But she was loath to dare the perils of Valinor and the great wrath of the gods, and would not stir from her hiding until Melkor had vowed to render her a reward that should heal the gnawing of her hunger and hatred.

Although the Ages of the Sun are the main focus for virtually all Tolkien's tales, the sun does not arise in the sky until the Thirtieth Valarian Age, or some 30,000 mortal years after the creation of Arda. And yet, even the time span in Sun years is monumental. By the end of the War of the Ring and the Third Age, no less than 7,063 mortal years had passed. In the early chronologies of "The Annals of Valinor", Tolkien tells us that 29,980 mortal years after the creation of Arda, Melkor and the Great Spider Ungoliant ended the Ages of the Trees in Valinor and put out their light forever. Yet the Valar, Yavanna and Nienna, coaxed from their scorched ruins a single flower of silver called Isil the Sheen and a single fruit of gold called Anor the Fire-golden. These were placed in great vessels forged by Aule the Smith, and in the 30,000th mortal year since the creation, these glowing vessels were carried up into the heavens. These vessels were the Moon and the Sun, and ever afterwards they lighted all the lands of Arda. As the Rekindling of the Stars marked the Awakening of the Elves, so the Rising of the Sun signalled the Awakening of Men. When the first light of dawn entered the eyes of Men, they awoke to a new age. For, as Illúvatar had conceived the immortal race of Elves at the beginning of Time and hid them away in the Meres of Cuiviénen, so he also conceived the mortal race of Men and hid them in the east of Middle-earth in a place called Hildórien, the "land of the followers", beyond the Mountains of the Wind. In strength of body and spirit, these new people compared poorly with the Elves. They were mortals and even compared to the Dwarves were short-lived. Out of pity, the Elves taught this sickly people what they could, only to find that in their mortality was a secret strength. For this race proved more adaptable to the demands of a changing world, and although they died easily, and in great numbers, they bred more quickly than any race save the Orcs. Tribes of these wandering peoples travelled over all the lands of Middle-earth. Yet the best and the strongest among them were the Edain, those who first entered the Eldar kingdoms of Beleriand. The First Age of the Sun was the Heroic Age that began with the coming of the Noldor High Elves out of Eldamar in pursuit of Melkor, who they called Morgoth, the Dark Enemy. For not only had Morgoth destroyed the Trees of Light, but he also stormed the Elven fortress of Formenos, slew the High King of the Noldor, and seized the magical jewels called the Silmarils. These three gems were the greatest treasure of the Noldor made by Fëanor, for they had been fashioned by them from the light of the Trees of the Valar. It was the struggle for possession of these gems that resulted in the War of the Great jewels, and gave Tolkien his theme for The Silmarillion. It was a conflict lasting six centuries and distinguished by six major battles. "Fingolfin's Challenge to Morgoth"     Morgoth extinguished the Trees of Light, seized the Silmarils and fled to Angband some twenty mortal years before the dawning of the First Age of the Sun. The Wars of Beleriand began a decade later, when he sent his Orkish legions against the Noldor Elves who where on their quest in revenge, as a result of their unrest. This was the First Battle in which the Orkish hordes were eventually routed and driven back into Angband. The Second Battle was fought four mortal years before the rising of the Sun and was called the Battle Under Stars, Dagor-os Giliath. The forces of Morgoth came against the newly arrived Noldor Elves in north western Beleriand. Although outnumbered, the Noldor fought ferociously for ten days. They slaughtered all before them and forced the Orcs to retreat to Angband. "the Siege Of Angband" In the year 56 of the First Age of the Sun, the forces of Morgoth had regained sufficient strength to send out an army greater than the two previous armies combined. This Third Battle was called the Glorious Battle, Dagor Aglareb, for not only did the Elves overthrow Morgoth's Orc legions, but they cut off their retreat and annihilated them. So complete was the victory that for nearly four centuries the Elves lay siege to Angband. During this time there were Orc raids on Hithlum and in 260 Glaurung the Dragon attempted an attack, but for the most part there was peace in Beleriand. Few of Morgoth's servants dared to venture south of the Iron Mountains. However, when Morgoth finally broke the Long Peace, he was truly prepared. In the year 455, his legions of Orcs were led by Balrogs and Fire-breathing Dragons. This was the Fourth Battle which was called the Battle of Sudden Flame, or Dagor Bragollach. This was followed by the Fifth Battle, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, or Ninaeth Arnodiad. These two battles resulted in total victory for Morgoth and the eventual destruction of all the Elven kingdoms of Beleriand. In 496, Nargothrond was sacked. Shortly thereafter Menegroth was ruined, and 511 marked the fall of Gondolin, the last Elven stronghold. "the Battle Of Gondolin" For nearly a century, Morgoth maintained his iron grip over Middle-earth. Finally, the Valar and Maiar could no longer tolerate his wickedness and in the year 601 they came forth a third and final time to make war on the Dark Enemy in the cataclysm called the War of Wrath and the Great Battle. So terrible was this conflict that not only was Angband destroyed, but so too were all the fair lands of Beleriand. And though Morgoth called up all his monsters and demons, and even a legion of fire-breathing dragons, he was overthrown and cast out forever in the Vold. Yet this victory had its price. Beleriand was ruined. The Iron and Blue Mountains were broken apart, and the great waters were let in. All Beleriand was flooded, and eventually sank beneath the western sea. So ended the First 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. 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, was also called "land of gifts", "land of the star", and Atlantë for it was, in fact, Tolkien's re-invention of the ancient myth of the lost land of Atlantis. 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 mountain, Meneltarma, or "pillar of heaven", the tallest mountain on Númenor On its slopes stood Armenelos, the "city of kings", where the king and the largest single number of Númenóreans lived. Further below was the royal port of Rómenna The other prominent city-ports, Eldalondë and Andúnië faced west toward the Undying Lands. The first king of Númenor was Elros, son of Earendil and twin brother of Elrond Half-elven; this was because, 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 Edam. However, being Half-elven, he was granted a lifespan of five hundred years and he ruled as the king of Númenor until the year 442 of the Second Age. While the Númenóreans prospered on their island, those High Elves who survived the con-flicts of the First Age and chose to remain in Middle-earth, gathered themselves, together under the banner of Gil-galad, the last High Elf-king, in the realm of Lindon. This, the only small part of Beleriand to survive destruction, could be found on either side of the Bay of Lune. As the years passed, many of these High Elves of Lindon wan-dered eastward and founded new kingdoms. Sin-dar lords established kingdoms among the Silvan Elves in Greenwood the Great and the Golden Wood of Lothlórien in the vales of Anduin. In the eighth century, the Noldor Elves of Celebrimbor established the kingdom of the Elven-smiths of Eregion, just west of the Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm. However, the Elves and Dwarves were not the only peoples to prosper and grow during this time: Sauron the Sorceror remained in the mortal world and worked to succeed Melkor as Dark Lord of Middle-earth. In the year 1000, Sauron secretly began to build his evil realm of Mordor, enslaving the barbarian races of Men of the East and South and gathering Orcs and other evil beings to his kingdom. He also began building the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr. He assumed the fair form of one named Annatar, meaning "giver of gifts", 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; 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-powered 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 Elvensmiths 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 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, and so powerful was the combined army that Sauron's legions were utterly crushed and he was forced to retreat to Mordor. For the next thousand years Sauron made no move against the Elves but worked instead amongst the barbarian Easterling and Haradrim tribes, extending his dark shadow over their world. Among the savage kings of these people he distributed the Nine Rings of Mortal Men. By the twenty-third century they had become the Nazgûl, his evil chief servants, called Ringwraiths by Men. 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. Finally, the build-up of the Númenóreans sea empire and the land empire of Mordor resulted in confrontation. In the year 3261, the Númenóreans landed a huge armada at Umbar and disgorged a massive force which marched on Mordor. Sauron saw that their might was greater than his, and that he had no hope in overcoming them, nor even defending himself by force of arms. Yet even so, the peoples of the world were amazed when the Ring Lord came down from his Dark Tower of Mordor and surrendered 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, Illuvatar 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 also 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 through the Spheres of both Worlds. 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 indeed did the heritage of the Númenóreans entirely 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 Valor 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 almost immediately 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 Dunedain 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 Dfinedain High King Elendil and his son Anarion, along with the last High King of the Eldar on Middle-earth, Gilgalad, were all slain before the Dunedain 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 two dominant concerns of Tolkien's history of the Third Age of the Sun are the survival the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, and the 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 a and the only means of destroying the power 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 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 the year 2 of the Third Age, Isildur and his three eldest sons were marching north ward 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 3000 years to right. The loss of the One Ring meant that the evil spirit of Sauron could not be brought to rest until it was found and destroyed, while the death of the High King of 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. Nonetheless, during 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 invasions 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 propered 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 has secretly returned to Middle-earth in the form of single evil eye wreathed in flame. He found refuge in southern Mirkwood in the fortress of Doi Guldur. From this time onward, the forces of darkness grew steadily stronger throughout the lands of Middle-earth. From the thirteenth century onward, 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 twentythird King, the royal bloodline was continued by the tribal Chieftains of the Dúnedain. The decline of the South Kingdom of Arnor through the second millennium of the Third Age was attributed to three great curses. The first was the Kinstrife of the fifteenth century. This was a bloody civil war that resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of cities, the loss of most of Gondor's navy, and the end of its control of Umbar and Harad. The second curse was the Great Plague of 1636 which Sauron loosed upon Gondor and Arnor. From this evil the Dúnedain never really recovered, for so many died at that time that parts of their realm remained empty forever after. The third curse was the Wainrider Invasions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These invasions by a confederacy of well-armed Easterling peoples lasted for almost one hundred years. Although the Easterlings were finally driven back and defeated, they critically weakened the already diminished power of Gondor. Consequently, in the year 2000, the same Witch-king who had destroyed the North Kingdom of Arnor, now emerged from Mordor. With his fearful horde, he attacked Gondor directly and took the tower of Minas Ithil, which he renamed Minas Morgul. In the year 2050 the Witch-king slew the thirty-first and last King of Gondor. From that time, Gondor was without a legitimate heir to the throne and was ruled by the line of the Ruling Stewards. In short, Arnor had a king with no kingdom, while Gondor had a kingdom, but no king. Furthermore, inspired by Sauron's evil, there were progressive invasions and assaults by Easterlings, Balcloth, Southrons, Black Númenoreans Corsairs, Dunlendings and Hillmen, against the Dúnedain and their allies. Added to this was the awakening of the Balrog, the rising of Dragons, the Wolf and Warg pack invasions, and the breeding of the new evils of the Uruk-hai, the Olog-hai and the Half-Orcs. All of these added to the strength of the gathering legions of Orcs and Trolls who recognized Sauron as their master. For another thousand years, the power of Sauron increased and that of the Dúnedain diminished. The culmination of all the events of the Third Age came in the year 3019 at the outbreak of the War of the Ring, when Sauron the Ring Lord gambled all on the power of his sorcery and his military might in a bid to destroy the last of the Dúnedain and seize dominion over all of the lands of Middle-earth. It is in this context that J.R.R. Tolkien set his masterwork, the epic trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings". It is interesting to observe how the whole weight of this three thousand year history is telescoped into the two years, 3018 and 3019, that the trilogy deals with. The events of the Quest and the War of the Ring are imbued with historic importance because the reader becomes aware of the fact that every action of its central characters is critical to the outcome of the whole age. The Third Age comes to an end when the One Ring is destroyed: the evil empire of Sauron collapses, the other Rings of power are put to rest, and the last legitimate heir to the throne of the two kingdoms is crowned High King of the Reunited Kingdom of the Dúnedain There is a resolution of not just the novel, but of the whole of the Third Age. Indeed, there is a sense of a resolution of the conflicts in the whole 37,063 years of Arda's history. With the end of the War of the Ring peace and prosperity returned to Middle-earth. Yet at the same time it was ordained that the last of the great Elvish powers should pass from mortal lands, the last of the good and the great from amongst those people - along with a few chosen of the Fellowship of the Ring - took the Elven-ships out over the Straight Road and sailed westward to the Undying Lands. Thus the Third Age gives way to the Fourth, which becomes known as the Age of the Dominion of Men; an age when the last of the Elven influences vanish and the great powers move beyond our understanding. Thereafter, the Undying Lands drift out of the spheres of human existence, putting Gods and Elves beyond our reckoning, and no doubt the physics of the world adapts to our present sense of time and place, and the Earth begins to rotate round the sun... created by Daniel