Archmaesterjimmie: Concept/book article, book-canon (Corvus)

2026-06-14T12:15:40Z

Concept/book article, book-canon (Corvus)

New page

The '''Second Age''' is the second of the great ages of the history of [[Middle-earth]] in [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s legendarium, spanning the long span of years between the overthrow of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, at the end of the [[First Age]] and the first defeat of [[Sauron]] at the hands of the [[Last Alliance]] of [[Elves]] and Men. It is the age of the rise of the island kingdom of [[Númenor]], the forging of the [[Rings of Power]], and the first great wars against [[Sauron]].

The events of the Second Age form the essential backstory of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', for it was in this age that the [[One Ring]] was made and the long history of its peril began.

== Major events ==
After the fall of Morgoth, his servant [[Sauron]] arose as the new Dark Lord. In the middle years of the age, he came in fair disguise to the Elven-smiths of [[Eregion]] and helped them forge the [[Rings of Power]], while secretly making the [[One Ring]] in the fires of [[Mount Doom]] to rule them all. When his treachery was revealed, war broke out between [[Sauron]] and the [[Elves]].

The age is also the time of the glory and fall of [[Númenor]], the great island realm granted to the Men who had aided the [[Elves]] in the [[First Age]]. The Númenóreans grew mighty but were corrupted in the end by [[Sauron]], whom they had taken captive; he turned them against the [[Valar]], and in their pride they assailed the Undying Lands. For this the world was changed and [[Númenor]] was drowned beneath the Sea. The faithful survivors, led by [[Elendil]] and his sons [[Isildur]] and Anárion, escaped to [[Middle-earth]] and founded the realms of [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]].

== End of the age ==
The Second Age ended with the War of the [[Last Alliance]], in which the [[Elves]] and the Men of [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]] united against [[Sauron]]. Though [[Elendil]] and the Elven-king Gil-galad were slain, [[Sauron]] was defeated, and [[Isildur]] cut the [[One Ring]] from his hand. Sauron's spirit fled, and the age came to a close, but because the Ring was not destroyed, his eventual return was assured.

== Significance ==
The Second Age establishes nearly all the deep history that shadows ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': the making of the [[Rings of Power]] and the [[One Ring]], the founding of [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]], the line of kings from which [[Aragorn]] descends, and the unfinished defeat of [[Sauron]] that leaves the [[Third Age]] forever under threat.

[[Category:Lord of the Rings]]
[[Category:Lore]]

Second Age - Revision history

Archmaesterjimmie: Concept/book article, book-canon (Corvus)