The Fall of Númenor: Appendix A & B
This post is a part of our Book Club reading of The Fall of Númenor: And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth: January - April 2023
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The Fall of Númenor Part 10
The Fall of Númenor, Part Ten: Appendices (pg. 219 - 250)
Appendix A is essentially a shortened version of “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” from the Silmarillion.
Appendix B contains two chapters from “The Lost Road” in which Elendil has a dialogue with his son Herendil (later renamed Isildur) concerning Sauron, Alkar (Melkor), and the fate of Númenor.
Appendix A
This section comes from Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, pp. 295 - 303; my Notes on this section are taken from my Silmarillion Reader’s Guide
After the death of Isildur, the shards of Narsil were brought to Isildur’s heir in Imladris.
“Only three of his people came ever back over the mountains after long wandering; and of these one was Ohtar his esquire, to whose keeping he had given the shards of the sword of Elendil.”
Narsil was not remade at the time. Valandil lived in Annúminas. As the years went on, the Men of Westernesse became divided and dwindled. Eventually there was nothing left of the great Men of Númenor but a “strange people wandering secretly in the wild.” However, the line of Isildur remained unbroken.
The Realm of Gondor
The Realm of Gondor endured and flourished for a time but eventually fell into ruin. In the time of the 23rd king in the line of Meneldil, Telemnar, a plague came from the east and the King, his children, and many of the people of Gondor died.
Minas Ithil was abandoned, and evil came once more to the Black Land as the Ringwraiths came to prepare for Sauron’s return. In the time of Eärnil, the Ringwraiths came and took Minas Ithil. It was renamed Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. Osgiliath was deserted.
Minas Anor endured and was renamed Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard. There was built a white tower, and the White Tree endured before the house of the Kings. Eärnur, son of Eärnil, was the last King of Gondor. He fought in single combat in Minas Morgul but was taken captive into the city and never seen alive again. He left no heir.
The Stewards of Gondor
After the death of the King, Gondor was ruled by the Stewards of the house of Mardil the Faithful. The Rohirrim, the Horsemen of the North, came to live in Rohan.
In Imladris
Elrond lived in Imladris. The Heirs of Isildur were kept safe in Imladris in their youth and old age. The shards of Narsil were also kept with Elrond.
Círdan was Lord of the Grey Havens.
The Three Rings of Power
During Sauron’s reign, the Three Rings were not used or spoken of. The Ring of Sapphire was with Elrond in Rivendell; the Ring of Adamant was with Galadriel in Lothlorien. The beauty and bliss of these Elvish realms were preserved by the power of the Rings.
However, the Elves knew that if Sauron should come again and the One Ring was found or destroyed, the power of the Three Rings would fail, and the Elves would have to leave Middle-earth.
In Mirkwood
Mirkwood was once called Greenwood the Great, before the darkness of Sauron came into the forest. As evil spread throughout the forest, Thranduil’s people held it at bay in the north. The people of Mirkwood began to fear the Sorcerer of Dol Guldur but did not realize he was in fact Sauron returned.
The Coming of the Istari
“Even as the first shadows were felt in Mirkwood there appeared in the west of Middle-earth the Istari, whom Men called the Wizards.”
The Istari were sent as messengers from the Valar to contest with Sauron. They did not reveal their true names, but they were given various names by different people.
Mithrandir: Gandalf; closest with the Elves and Elrond; did not make a home anywhere; most vigilant
Curunír: Saruman; oldest; went most amongst Men; dwelt at Orthanc in Isengard
Radagast: friend of beasts and birds
Others of the Istari went east of Middle-earth and are not a part of this tale
The White Council
The White Council was a gathering of the Wise in order to discuss the growing Shadow. It included Elrond, Galadriel, and Círdan, as well as Gandalf and Saruman. Saruman was the head of the Council, though Galadriel had hoped it would’ve been Gandalf.
Gandalf went to Dol Guldur and discovered that the Sorcerer was, in fact, Sauron. He returned to Imladris, and the White Council was called. While Gandalf urged the council to act swiftly against Sauron, Saruman urged them to wait and watch — and so they did.
Saruman had, in secret, begun to desire the Ring for himself, and so he sought to delay anyone else from finding it. After a while, the White Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur, and Mirkwood was free from his influence for a time.
The Ring is Found
Sauron fled to Mordor where the Ringwraiths had prepared for his coming. Unbeknownst to the Wise, the Ring was found and kept hidden for a long time. After this, it was found again and taken into the Land of the Periannath, the Little People, the Halflings, who dwelt in the west of Eriador. Mithrandir first learned of the Ring and, with the help of the Dúnedain, set a watch on the borders of the land of the Periannath. Eventually Sauron heard a rumor of the Ring and sent for the Nazgûl to retrieve it, and war began…
“This tale continues in The Lord of the Rings”
Appendix B: The Númenórean Chapters from The Lost Road
“The Lost Road” is Tolkien’s unfinished attempt at a time travel novel, and among other things it contains foreshadowing themes “later realised in his writings concerning the Fall of Númenor.”
The Lost Road involved a “many-layered” time-travel device which was abandoned because Tolkien felt it was “too long a way round” to what he really wanted to make: a new version of the Atlantis legend.
These chapters take place towards the end of Númenor’s history, after Amandil (in these chapters called Orontor) has already left Númenor.
Readers will find many characters renamed or swapped around:
Amandil = Orontor (not Elendi’s father)
Isildur = Herendil
Elendil’s Father = Valandil (this name was later given to Isildur’s youngest son
Ar-Pharazon (Tar-Calion) = Tarkalion
Melkor is called Alkar (the Radiant)
It is also noted that these chapters were not given titles and are therefore referred to as Chapters III and IV.
Chapter III
Elendil walks through his garden towards the shore, troubled with thought and seeking out his son Herendil. He is gripped with a sense of foreboding, worried by the thought of impending war. This whole chapter has a strange dream-like tone to it.
The main content of this chapter is a conversation between Elendil and his son Herendil. Elendil marveled that Herendil had become a young man, and was no longer a child. Herendil remarked that he is troubled by his appearance, resembling more the Eldar than the other Númenóreans; in this time it had become dangerous for Númenóreans to be called “God-fearing” or to be close to the elves.
There is a discussion of the tale of Eärendel, for the Númenóreans say that this tale was altered by the Elves who are slaves to the Lords of the West. Herendil told his father that Númenóreans wished to do what Eärendel left undone, to set foot in the West (Blessed Realm); they felt that Eärendel’s work was left unfinished and should be taken up by the King. Elendil pushed back against these sentiments, counseling his son against Sauron, saying that Herendill was “but a small child when Sauron came. Thou dost not understand what days were like before then. Thou canst not choose in ignorance.”
“We must choose between Sauron and the Lords (or One Higher). Thou knowest, I suppose, that all hearts in Númenor are not drawn to Sauron?’ ‘Yes. There are fools even in Númenor,’ said Herendil, in a lowered voice.”
“‘And they say that history confirmeth them, and that Sauron hath thrown a new light on history. Sauron knoweth history, all history.’ ‘Sauron knoweth, verily; but he twisteth knowledge. Sauron is a liar!’”
Herendil emphasized to his father that speaking out against Sauron was perilous, and they retreated to their home to speak indoors. On the way, a wind came out of the West bearing the Eagles of the West.
Inside the house, Fíriel daughter of Orontor, sang sadly of Iluvatar. (She dwelt within his house because Orontor had departed from which he might never return.)
Herendil chastized her for singing this song freely, saying that it was now sung differently and in Melko’s favor. For this, he was once again rebuked by Elendil.
Chapter IV
This chapter contains another important conversation between Elendil and his son Herendil, in which Elendil instructed Herendil on matters of Iluvatar. The bulk of this chapter is essentially a recap of The Silmarillion as it relates to Númenor, from the creation of the world and up through Númenor’s creation and history.
Elendil rebuked the lies of Alkar (Melkor) and advised that his son should not be deceived. Their land and wisdom were not given by Alkar, but by the Eldar and the Lords of the West; and that Death is not “decreed by the Lords: it is the gift of the One…”.
Herendil asserted that the air of the Blessed Realm would give enduring life, a subtle illustration of the way that Sauron has twisted the truth to deceive the Númenóreans. Herendil argued that Sauron had promised to save them from death; Elendil argued against this. Elendil had become weary, but remained firm in his choice to resist Sauron and urged his son to do the same. Ultimately, Elendil offered his son the choice to stay or go, and Herendil chose to stay.
“But what doth it profit to debate the governance of the world? All certainty is lost. Is it not sung that the earth was made for us, but we cannot unmake it, and if we like it not we may remember that we shall leave it.”
These chapters place a high emphasis on the relationship between father and son as it concerns the fate of Númenor. There are some notes mentioned at the end of this section which refer to different drafts and versions of the story. One of particular interest involves a narrative in which Herendil betrays the ‘anti-Saurains’ on the condition that Elendil is spared. Christopher also notes that Tolkien ultimately chose to persevere the union of thought between father and son, moving away from the conflict between them which is seen in these chapters.The theme of a ‘rewriting of history’ by Sauron is a major element in these chapters.
