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

2026-06-14T12:15:40Z

Concept/book article, book-canon (Corvus)

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The '''Third Age''' is the third of the great ages of the history of [[Middle-earth]] in [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s legendarium, beginning with the first defeat of [[Sauron]] by the [[Last Alliance]] at the end of the [[Second Age]] and ending with his final overthrow and the destruction of the [[One Ring]]. It is the age in which the events of both ''[[The Hobbit (novel)|The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' take place, and it culminates in the [[War of the Ring]].

The Third Age was a long, slow decline for the free peoples of [[Middle-earth]]: the gradual fading of the [[Elves]], the waning of the kingdoms of [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]], and the rise once more of the shadow in the East as [[Sauron]] regained strength.

== Overview ==
After the [[One Ring]] was lost in the [[Anduin|Great River]] following the death of [[Isildur]], [[Sauron]]'s spirit slowly recovered. For much of the age he dwelt hidden in the fortress of Dol Guldur in the forest of Mirkwood, known only as the Necromancer, while his power grew. The northern kingdom of [[Arnor]] fragmented and fell, and the line of its kings was preserved only in secret among the Rangers, of whom [[Aragorn]] was the heir. [[Gondor]] endured but slowly weakened, governed in the later centuries by Stewards in the absence of a king.

The [[wizard]]s, including [[Gandalf]] and [[Saruman]], came to [[Middle-earth]] during this age, sent to oppose the rising shadow. The finding of the [[One Ring]] by [[Bilbo Baggins]] in ''[[The Hobbit (novel)|The Hobbit]]'' and its eventual passage to [[Frodo Baggins]] set in motion the events that would decide the age.

== End of the age ==
The Third Age ended with the [[War of the Ring]], in which the free peoples, led in part by [[Gandalf]] and [[Aragorn]], resisted the full might of [[Sauron]] while the [[Ring-bearer]] [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] carried the [[One Ring]] to [[Mount Doom]]. With the Ring's destruction, [[Sauron]] was unmade forever, [[Aragorn]] was crowned king of the reunited realm, and the age came to its close. The departure of the [[Elves]] and the Ring-bearers over the Sea marked the passing of the age and the beginning of the Fourth Age, the Age of Men.

== Significance ==
The Third Age is the setting of Tolkien's two best-known tales and the stage on which the long history of the [[One Ring]] reaches its resolution. Its ending represents the close of the mythic and magical history of [[Middle-earth]] and the dawn of an age belonging to mortal Men, as the older powers and peoples pass into memory.

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

Third Age - Revision history

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