Númenóreans

The gift of the Valar

When Morgoth was overthrown at the end of the First Age, the Valar rewarded the Edain who had fought beside them. They raised out of the western sea an island, Elenna, the Land of the Star, closer to Aman than any other mortal land, and they granted its people longer lives, greater stature and wisdom beyond that of other Men. In S.A. 32 the Edain sailed there, guided by the star of Eärendil, and Elros, Eärendil's son, who had chosen a mortal fate, became the first King of Númenor under the name Tar-Minyatur. He reigned for four hundred and ten years.

The island was shaped like a five-pointed star. At its heart stood the holy mountain Meneltarma, where the kings alone spoke aloud in prayer to Eru three times a year and where no temple or altar was ever built. Below it lay Armenelos, the city of the kings, and on the western coast Andúnië, where the Elves of Tol Eressëa came to visit. The eastern haven of Rómenna looked toward Middle-earth.

The Ban and the long peace

With the gift came one prohibition. The Númenóreans might sail as far as they wished east, north and south, but westward they must not go beyond sight of their own shores, lest they come to the Undying Lands. The Valar explained that Aman could not make Men immortal; it would only burn them up the faster. For more than a thousand years the Númenóreans accepted this. They were friends of the Eldar, spoke Sindarin, learned Quenya for their lore, and gave their kings Quenya names. Their mariners, from Tar-Aldarion onward, sailed to Middle-earth and taught its lesser Men the arts of agriculture, stonework and letters. In S.A. 1700 Tar-Minastir sent a great fleet to help Gil-galad against Sauron, and the Dark Lord was driven back to Mordor.

The line of kings

Twenty-five rulers followed Elros. After Vardamir, who resigned the crown at once, came Tar-Amandil, Tar-Elendil, Tar-Meneldur and Tar-Aldarion the Mariner, whose troubled marriage to Erendis changed the law so that his daughter Tar-Ancalimë became the first Ruling Queen. Tar-Anárion, Tar-Súrion, Tar-Telperiën, Tar-Minastir and Tar-Ciryatan succeeded in turn. Ciryatan built great fleets and began to take tribute rather than gifts from Middle-earth, and his son Tar-Atanamir was the first king to speak openly against the Ban and to cling to life until his mind failed.

From Atanamir on, the shadow deepened. Tar-Ancalimon saw the people split into two parties. Tar-Telemmaitë, Tar-Vanimeldë, Tar-Alcarin, Tar-Calmacil and Tar-Ardamin ruled over an ever prouder and more warlike realm. Ar-Adûnakhôr was the first to take his royal name in Adûnaic rather than Quenya, and he forbade the Elven tongues. Ar-Zimrathôn and Ar-Sakalthôr followed, and Ar-Gimilzôr persecuted the Elf-friends, forbade the Elves to land, and moved the Faithful from Andúnië to Rómenna. His son Tar-Palantir repented and tried to turn back, but too late. His daughter Tar-Míriel should have been queen; instead her cousin Ar-Pharazôn took her by force and the crown with her.

Faithful and King's Men

The division that began under Tar-Ancalimon ran through Númenórean life for its last thousand years. The King's Men, the majority, resented the Ban, envied the Elves their immortality, abandoned the Elven tongues and turned from the worship of Eru toward pride in their own strength. They colonised the coasts of Middle-earth as conquerors, building fortresses such as Umbar, and taking tribute from the lesser Men. The Faithful, or Elendili, were led by the Lords of Andúnië, who descended from Elros's daughter Silmariën and who honoured the Valar and the Elves. Their number was small, and after Ar-Gimilzôr's decrees they were driven to the east of the island, spied upon and persecuted. Amandil, the last Lord of Andúnië, and his son Elendil led them at the end.

Sauron in Númenor

Ar-Pharazôn, the mightiest and proudest of all the kings, sailed to Middle-earth in S.A. 3261 with such a host that Sauron's own armies deserted him. Sauron surrendered and was brought to Númenor as a hostage, and within a few years he was the king's closest counsellor. He taught that the Ban was a lie, that Melkor was the true giver of freedom, and that the Valar were jealous. The White Tree Nimloth was cut down and burned in a temple to Melkor built in Armenelos, where the Faithful were sacrificed. Sauron's counsel and the fear of death together drove Ar-Pharazôn, old and near his end, to the final act.

The Downfall

In S.A. 3319 the Great Armament sailed west, and Ar-Pharazôn set foot on the shores of Aman. The Valar laid down their guardianship and called upon Eru. The world was changed: Aman was taken beyond the reach of mortal ships, the seas were bent, the king and his army were buried under falling hills, and Númenor sank into the sea with all its people. Only the nine ships of the Faithful, waiting off Rómenna, were driven east on the storm and came to Middle-earth.

The realms in exile

Elendil landed in the north and founded Arnor, with its capital at Annúminas. His sons Isildur and Anárion founded Gondor in the south, with Osgiliath as its chief city and the towers of Minas Ithil and Minas Anor on either hand. They brought with them the seven seeing-stones, the sapling of the White Tree, and the sword Narsil. When Sauron, whose spirit had also survived the Downfall, attacked Gondor, Elendil and Gil-galad formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and at the end of a seven-year siege of Barad-dûr Sauron was overthrown, though both Elendil and Gil-galad died and Isildur kept the One Ring.

The Númenóreans of the Third Age are known as the Dúnedain: the Dúnedain of the North, whose kingdom failed and whose chieftains wandered as Rangers, and the Men of Gondor, who held the south under kings and then stewards. The King's Men who had settled Umbar and the southern coasts became the Black Númenóreans. In the Fourth Age Aragorn, heir of Isildur, reunited the two kingdoms, and the line of Elros ruled Men once more.

The Númenóreans were taller than other Men, many of the early kings standing more than two rangar or well over seven feet, and they lived far longer: ordinary Númenóreans to about two hundred years, and the line of Elros to four hundred or more in the early generations. They kept their vigour until near the end, and in the old days could lay down their lives willingly when they felt age approaching. They were mostly dark-haired and grey-eyed after the House of Bëor, though the fair strain of Hador was common, and their eyes were said to be keen and far-seeing. As the Second Age wore on and later in the Third, their stature and span diminished, and by the time of the War of the Ring only the royal line kept anything like the old measure.

Númenor was a monarchy whose king was also its chief priest, bound by the sceptre and the hallow on the Meneltarma. Its people were seafarers above all: the Guild of Venturers founded by Aldarion made ships their glory, and their harbours in Middle-earth spread their language, their stonecraft and their lore among lesser Men. They spoke Adûnaic at home, Sindarin in ordinary use among the nobility and Quenya in matters of lore and ceremony, until the King's Men abandoned the Elven tongues. They were builders of white stone, makers of steel and ships, keepers of archives and star-lore, and in the old days singers and healers. Their descendants in Gondor kept the palantíri, the White Tree, the archives of Minas Tirith and the tradition of embalming and tomb-building that the Downfall had taught them to love too well.

The Númenóreans were the Edain of Beleriand, blessed by the Valar for their loyalty in the war against Morgoth. They were led to their new land by the star of Eärendil and ruled by his son Elros, so that their royal house carried the blood of all three houses of the Edain together with that of the Elves and of Melian the Maia.

Númenor was drowned in S.A. 3319, and the greater part of its people perished with it. The Faithful founded Arnor and Gondor; the King's Men in Middle-earth became the Black Númenóreans. By the Fourth Age the Dúnedain had dwindled in span and number but were reunited in Aragorn's kingdom.