Númenor is a key location in Amazon’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power, and it’s worth knowing everything about this mysterious ancient island ahead of the TV show’s release.

Amazon’s Ring of Thrones story will primarily focus on beyond the borders of Middle-earth. At this time, elves and dwarves were in their prime, while humans and hobbits were still developing, preparing for their bloom in the third age. Unlike the two trilogy “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, “Ring of Thrones” will go out of Middle-earth and across the ocean to the island of Númenor.

The Númenóreans and the ancient island were mentioned in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, but never actually appeared. The story of The Ring of Thrones takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, and the original Second Age predates the Lord of the Rings story by some 3,000 years. Both the trailer and promotional materials confirm that the island played a pretty big role in the first season of Ring of Thrones.

The history of Númenor is detailed in The Silmarillion, the Lord of the Rings appendix, and other more extensive writings on the Arda scene. Although Númenor itself did not appear in Frodo’s Expedition and the Battle of the Lord of the Rings, its influence was strong, and the decisions the Númenorans made in the Second Age directly influenced events in the Third Age. As Ring of Power begins the story of the Númenor, let’s take a comprehensive look at this glorious kingdom that ended in tragedy.

How was Númenor created, and by whom?

The First Age ended violently, and an army led by the Vala (the archangel in Tolkien mythology) personally entered Middle-earth and defeated the first enemy, Morgoth. Although victorious, the dark influence of Morgoth, and the catastrophic battle devastation, almost changed the face of Middle-earth, causing permanent damage.

Many races joined the Valar against Morgoth, among them the Eden, the first recorded humans in Middle-earth. In return for their loyalty to the Valar, the Valar raised an island in the sea between Middle-earth and the kingdom of Valinor, where Valinor lived, exclusively for the Eden. Other races have also gradually migrated to this star-shaped island, where the kingdom of Númenor was formally established in 32 years of the Second Age by Elrond’s brother Tal-Minyatul, who abandoned his elves. identity.

How did the people of Númenor differ from the people of Middle-earth?

Númenor is nothing like the human settlements in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. In the Middle-earth of the Third Age, human society is mostly low-key and simple rural culture, and cities with magnificent buildings and great achievements like Minas Tirith of Gondor are very rare. However, even a powerful capital city like Gondor cannot match the majesty of Númenor. The island is nothing short of a marvel, teeming with awesome temples and buildings, advanced technology, and heavily influenced by elven lore from the coast of Valinor.

The Númenorans themselves were a class above those who later inhabited Middle-earth, and as another reward for fighting Morgoth, the Númenorans were endowed with longer lifespans than the humans of Middle-earth, and they were somewhat People can even live to be 400 years old. And they are taller and stronger, and their intelligence is naturally developed stronger by mingling with the higher races.

The descendants of those races who did not help the Valar against Morgoth were not blessed by the Valar and were thus classified among the less noble races. But by the time of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the mighty Númenor had been assimilated by the entire human race. In Ring of Thrones, the human characters live in both Númenor and Middle-earth villages, and the islanders of Númenor may not change much in this adaptation of the Amazon. , their higher status will be shown on TV.

The story of how Númenor came into the Second Age?

During the first 600 years of Númenor’s existence, the region gradually prospered in a secluded world, but the growing sophistication of seafaring technology eventually brought a part of the Númenor people to Middle-earth – they were in The early part of the second era left the island. Initially, the arrival of the Numenorites was welcomed by all in Middle-earth, enabling them to form an alliance with the elves of Middle-earth, and then to connect with their cousins, who were also human, to pass on knowledge and wisdom.

However, Ring of Power appears to be an adaptation of the friendly relationship between Númenor and the elven inhabitants of Middle-earth, with Galadriel visiting the island and participating in an invasion against the dark forces.

The presence of Númenor on the shores of Middle-earth has been widely circulated in Middle-earth for centuries, and it was also during this period that Sauron infiltrated the elves disguised as “Anatar”, and he tricked the elves into making the Lord of the Rings. , and then he secretly forged the One Ring himself in an attempt to enslave Middle-earth, and when his plot failed, the war between Sauron and the Elves began in 1693 in the Second Age. Afterwards, the elves had to turn to Númenor for aid, and Númenor also sent reinforcements, and when the reinforcements arrived, they defeated Sauron at the Battle of Gvasslo. This story is likely to be adapted by Amazon’s “Rings of Thrones”.

What happened to the sinking of Númenor?

In fact, the seeds of Númenor’s decline were sown from the very beginning, when the island’s inhabitants were prohibited from sailing westward to Valinor as soon as the Vala raised the island. Although the Númenorans lived longer than their counterparts in Middle-earth, the elves who had been granted immortality still occasionally visited the Númenorans.

The darkness of Sauron almost seems to have drawn out the latent greed of the Númenorans as well, when the Númenores aided the elves in their battle with Sauron. Although they were once friendly to the people of Middle-earth, from 1700 onwards of the Second Age, they became increasingly powerful and ruled harshly over the lower classes. In 2221, when Tar-Angalimon came to the throne, a cultural divide emerged within the Númenorans – the faithful still trusted the Valar and wanted to remain friendly with the elves, while those who believed in the king was jealous of the elves and wanted to rebel against the Valar.

When Sauron again attempted to conquer Middle-earth in 3200, the armies of the Numenoreans sailed to Middle-earth again. This time, however, they have been unable to maintain their own justice – when Sauron was imprisoned in Númenor, he took full advantage of Númenor’s cultural schism, using his gift for lying and manipulating, provoking the king To the wrath of the Pai, the followers of these kings turned right and wrong, and went so far as to build a temple in Morgoth’s honor, and even sent a fleet to prepare for the invasion of Valinor. As punishment for their fall, Iluvatar (equivalent to the god of Tolkien’s world) destroyed the fleet heading for Valinor and drowned Númenor into the sea, while also depriving Sauron of his ability to change his physical form .

What was the relationship between Númenor and Gondor?

When Iluvatar punished Númenor, he spared those who remained loyal to the Valar and did not join Sauron. The lucky few included Erendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion. After landing in Middle-earth, Elendil and his sons founded two kingdoms: Arnor and Gondor, of which Arnor fell early in the Third Age, but Gondor survived.

Strongholds like the famous Minas Tirith in The Return of the King were built by those who survived the sinking of Númenor, suggesting that the famous White City of Gondor was representative of the architecture of the destroyed island . In the Middle-earth of the Third Age, only Gondor has inherited the spirit of Númenor, and the symbol of this spirit’s continuation is the famous white tree that stands on the top of Minas Tirith. In the court of the king of Númenor there was a beautiful tree named “Nimlos”, and Isildur secretly stole a fruit from “Nimlos” before Númenor sank, and planted it in became Minas Tirith, the white tree of Gondor.

Which Númenorans will appear in the TV series?

It appears that Amazon’s Ring of Thrones has tampered with Tolkien’s timeline to include Númenorian characters into the story ahead of time. Therefore, Isildur, played by Maxime Baldley, and Lloyd Owen as his father, Erendil, will all be important roles. The series will also introduce Isildur’s sister, Erion, played by Emma Horvath. Cynthia Ada-Robinson becomes Tal-Miriel, heir to the throne of Númenor, while Tristan Gravel will play the villainous character Yar-Farazon, who seizes the throne before being manipulated by Sauron to become the last king of Númenor.

These characters should actually not appear until the end of Tolkien’s Second Age, shortly before the destruction of Númenor. The Ring of Power seems to tell the story of Sauron’s early return and the Forging of the Ring, characters who shouldn’t have lived in this period, suggesting that the long pre-Númenor history may have been cut from the show.