A History and Complete Chronology of Númenor
Part 1: Introduction to Númenor
by Stephen Geard
The Origin of Númenor
Númenor is an island-kingdom found in the fictional writings of the late Prof. J.R.R. Tolkien.
It came into being at the begining of the Second Age of Middle-earth as a reward given to the Edain who had fought against Morgoth in the First Age.
The history of the First Age is the story of the long defeat of the Eldar (the Elves) and the Edain (Men, or, in these politically correct times, humans) by Morgoth and his armies. A defeat eventually reversed when Eärendil the Mariner (accompanied by his wife Elwing) won through to the Ancient West, to Valinor, to plead for assistance from the Valar (the Powers, or the gods). In the ensuing War of Wrath Morgoth was defeated, captured, and cast from the world. However Sauron the Maia, Morgoth's chief lieutenant, avoided capture and remained active in Middle-earth.
As recompense for their suffering in the long defeat the Valar allowed the Eldar to sail to Valinor (although many chose to remain in Middle-earth). For the Edain, the Valar raised the island of Númenor, half-way between Valinor and Middle-earth.
The first King of Númenor was Elros, the son of Eärendil and Elwing, both of whom were of the half-elven.[1] At the end of the First Age the half-elven were given the choice as to which race they wished to be counted amongst. Eärendil deferred the choice to his wife and she chose to be of the Eldar, thus he chose likewise. In Middle-earth, their son Elros chose to be a Man and led the Edain to Númenor. Elrond, his brother, chose to be an elf and remained in Middle-earth, where he became the chief counsellor to Gil-galad, the High King of the Elves in Middle-earth.
To the Dúnedain, as the Númenóreans were called, the Valar granted a lifespan three times that of lesser men; and to Elros alone was granted a lifespan of 500 years.
The Geography of Númenor
The island of Númenor was shaped roughly like a five-pointed star. The central region was about 400 km (250 miles) across, and each of the five peninsulars (the arms of the star) extended out about the same distance. At the centre of the island was the mountain Meneltarma (the Pillar of Heaven). The City of the Kings was Armenelos on the south-eastern foothills of the mountain. The largest city, and chief port, was Rómenna, at the head of a long firth seperating the eastern and south-eastern peninsulars. Andúnië, another large and important port-city, was located in the far north-west of the island.
The History of Númenor
The history of Númenor is too long and complex to adequately descibe here. Readers are referred to Tolkien's writings, especially the Akallabêth (Silm 259). However it can be summarized as a long period of early peace followed by growing power, growing pride, and an increasing fear of death, culminating in Ar-Pharazôn's blasphemous attempt to seize immortality by force - by invading Valinor.
To understand the Fall of Númenor it is necssary to understand the view of death in Tolkien's writings. The Valar were spiritual beings and thus immortal. The Eldar were physical beings, yet were also immortal (they could be slain, but they did not die naturally, nor did they succumb to disease). The Edain, being Men, were - of course - mortal. As the Dúnedain grew in pride, they began to envy the life of the Eldar. This envy grew in time to become a hatred of all things elvish, and resulted in the persecution of those Númenóreans who maintain contact with the Eldar ("the Faithful"). This pride and fear combined to bring about the end of Númenor: Early in the reign of Ar-Pharazôn, Sauron (or Zigûr, as he was called in Adûnaic) claimed the title of King of Men in Middle-earth, and resolved to drive the Númenóreans out of Middle-earth, and even if possible, to destroy Númenor itself. Proud Ar-Pharazôn responded to this challenge by taking an enormous fleet to Middle-earth, and demanding that Sauron come and swear fealty to him. Sauron came - seeing that the power of Númenor was far greater than he believed. Ar-Pharazôn took Sauron back to Númenor as a prisoner. However once there, Sauron quickly rose from being a prisoner to become the King's chief counsellor and High Priest - leading the Númenóreans into the worship of Morgoth.
When Ar-Pharazôn had grown old, and could see his death approaching, Sauron played his master-stroke. He convinced the King that he could seize immmortality by force by invading Valinor. But when Ar-Pharazôn landed in Valinor the Valar laid down their guardianship of the world and appealled to Ilúvatar (i.e. God the Creator, God Almighty). Ilúvatar responded by changing the shape of the world, and destroying Númenor and its ships. Ar-Pharazôn and his men who had actually landed in Valinor were buried by an earthquake. Ilúvatar also moved Valinor off the circle of the world and onto "another dimension", so that afterwards it could only be approached by the ships of the Eldar, but not of Men.
The Languages of Númenor
Inevitably, anyone saying anything about the writings of Tolkien has to say something about langauge. This is particularly true of Númenor, as three languages were used on the island: Quenya, Sindarin, and Adûnaic.
- Quenya was the language of the High Elves of the West (i.e. Valinor). It was brought to Middle-earth by the Noldor (one of the tribes of the Elves) as they returned to Middle-earth in pursuit of Morgoth at the begining of the First Age. However, for various reasons, once in Middle-earth the Noldor largely abandoned Quenya in favour of Sindarin. Quenya was taken to Númenor by the Edain as the language of ancient lore and wisdom. It was not spoken on Númenor but was used to form the official names of places and important people. Even so, these places and people usually had Sindarin and/or Adûnaic names, often with the same meaning as the Quenya. Unless otherwise indicated all the names appearing in the table in Part 2 are Quenya.
- Sindarin was originally the language of the Grey Elves of Beleriand (a region in the north-west of Middle-earth), however it became the lingua franca of all Elves in Middle-earth throughout the First and Second Ages. Until banned, it was widely spoken in Númenor - especially in the north-west around the city of Andúnië.
- Adûnaic has its origin in the Mannish (i.e. human) tongue originally spoken by the Edain before they entered Beleriand during the First Age. Thus it was not an Elvish language, it was however significantly influenced by Sindarin. It was always widely spoken on Númenor, increasingly so as the Númenóreans grew to hate all things elvish. From the days of Ar-Adûnakhôr onwards it was the only language permitted to be taught. Westron, the Common Speech of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age (the langauge translated as English in The Lord of The Rings), was largely descended from Adûnaic.
The name Númenor is an Anglicization (and probably a Westronization) of the Quenya Númenórë, meaning "western land". The Adûnaic equivalent was Anadûnê, Westernesse in translated Westron. The Sindarin equivalent (possibly Dunador) is never used, indicating that Sindarin speakers used the Quenya name. The island, as opposed to the Kingdom, was often called Andor, a Quenya (or Sindarin) word meaning "land of gift". The Adûnaic equivalent was Yôzâyan. After its destruction, it was often called Atalantë (Quenya: "the Downfallen"), which is Akallabêth in Adûnaic.
The names of the Kings prefixed with "Tar" are all Quenya ("Tar" means High King). It was not until the reign of the eighteenth King, Tar-Calmacil, that it became common for name of the King to be spoken in Adûnaic. Although lesser citizens acquired Adûnaic names far earlier. Indeed, it is probable that right from the begining there were common folk who spoke no language beside Adûnaic. The twentieth King, Ar-Adûnakhôr, was the first to take the Sceptre with a title in Adûnaic, although for superstitious reasons they continued to enter a Quenya name into the Scrolls.
The earlier Kings would have acquired Adûnaic names - even if they were never used during their reigns, they would have been used in later histories.
The Kings of Númenor
In all there were twenty-five Rulers of Númenor, including three ruling Queens. The first King, as mentioned above, was Elros the son of Eärendil and Elwing. He lived so long that, by the time of his death, his son Vardamir was already very old. Thus Vardamir allowed the Sceptre to pass immediately to his own son Amandil. Neverthless Vardamir is considered the second King, and is deemed to have reigned for one year. Following Vardamir, until the days of Tar-Atanamir, all the Kings surrendered the Sceptre to their heirs before death.
Initially the law was such that the Sceptre passed only to the male descendants of Elros (i.e. male primogeniture). Thus Tar-Meneldur succeded Tar-Elendil, despite having two older sisters. Eventually the law was changed so that the Sceptre passed to the eldest child of the King, regardless of gender (i.e. simple primogeniture). This change may have occured in a few stages. Certainly Tar-Aldarion, who had no son, changed the law so that his daughter Ancalimë could succeed him, but after that the details of the changes in the law are confused. It must be remembered that very few Númenórean records survived the Downfall, and that Tolkien's histories of Middle-earth are written from the perspective of those living in the late Third and early Fourth Ages - some 3,500 years after the Downfall.
The symbol of office of the Kings was a Sceptre (of which we have no description). Ar-Pharazôn took it with him when he landed in Valinor, so it was buried with him. The sword of the Kings was Aranrúth, originally the sword of Thingol of Doriath - presumably this too was buried with Ar-Pharazôn. Other significant heirlooms of the Kings were the Axe of Tuor and the Ring of Barahir. Only the Ring survived the Downfall, for Tar-Elendil gave it to his daughter Silmariën, thus it passed into the hands of the Lords of Andúnië. Elendil brought it back to Middle-earth, where it became an heirloom of the Kings of Arnor.
The symbol of office of the Lords of Andúnië was also a sceptre, the Sceptre of Andúnië. It is described as being a "silver rod", perhaps it was made of mithril.[2] Elendil brought it to Middle-earth, where it became the symbol of office of the Kings of Arnor. As such it was usually known as the Sceptre of Annuminas, after the capital city of Arnor. When Elrond presented it to King Elessar at the end of the Third Age it was thought to be the oldest artefact made by Men preserved in Middle-earth.[3]
Notes:
Elwing was the daughter of Dior the son of Beren and Lúthien. Beren was a Man, nominally Lord of the First House of the Edain; and Lúthien was an Elf, the daughter of Thingol, King of Doriath.
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