The Fall of Númenor: and Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-earth
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- Create Date：2023-01-13 00:16:44
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：J.R.R. Tolkien
- ISBN：0008601399
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Summary
J。R。R。 Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth， collected for the first time in one volume。
J。R。R。 Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age， and not very much of its history is （or need be） told’。 And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices， including the forging of the Rings of Power， the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron。
It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told。 Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth， there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor。 Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth， the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Númenóreans’ power increased， the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown， culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men。
Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications， first in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth， then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien’s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth， in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father， many in draft form。
Now， adhering to the timeline of ‘The Tale of Years’ in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings， editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth， told substantially in the words of J。R。R。 Tolkien from the various published texts， with new pencil illustrations by the doyen of Tolkien art， Alan Lee。
J。R。R。 Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age， and not very much of its history is （or need be） told’。 And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices， including the forging of the Rings of Power， the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron。
It was not until Christopher Tolkien published The Silmarillion after his father’s death that a fuller story could be told。 Although much of the book’s content concerned the First Age of Middle-earth， there were at its close two key works that revealed the tumultuous events concerning the rise and fall of the island of Númenor。 Raised out of the Great Sea and gifted to the Men of Middle-earth as a reward for aiding the angelic Valar and the Elves in the defeat and capture of the Dark Lord Morgoth， the kingdom became a seat of influence and wealth; but as the Númenóreans’ power increased， the seed of their downfall would inevitably be sown， culminating in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men。
Even greater insight into the Second Age would be revealed in subsequent publications， first in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth， then expanded upon in Christopher Tolkien’s magisterial twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth， in which he presented and discussed a wealth of further tales written by his father， many in draft form。
Now， adhering to the timeline of ‘The Tale of Years’ in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings， editor Brian Sibley has assembled into one comprehensive volume a new chronicle of the Second Age of Middle-earth， told substantially in the words of J。R。R。 Tolkien from the various published texts， with new pencil illustrations by the doyen of Tolkien art， Alan Lee。
Reviews
Linus
，
The best Tolkien book I have read since Lord of the Rings， highly recommended to any serious Middle Earth fans out there， as it gives a real good description of life on Numenore AND Middle Earth during the Second Age， as well as on the Downfall and the Last Alliance。
Matthew Culley
，
A well put together compilation of Tolkein's writings concerning the Second Age。 It mainly covers the history and fall of Numenor; the forging of the rings of power and the last alliance。 The book itself is excellently produced with many drawings。 Highly recommended。 A well put together compilation of Tolkein's writings concerning the Second Age。 It mainly covers the history and fall of Numenor; the forging of the rings of power and the last alliance。 The book itself is excellently produced with many drawings。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Gregory E Wieczorek
，
You know how the one kid says "it's corn！"？ Well I say "it's Tolkien"！ Overall， it's a good book that summarizes the major events of the second age and it was needed， as previously the second age was scattered throughout appendices， notes， and other pieces of other Tolkien works。 If you are watching the Rings of Power on Amazon and want some more detail for the events of the show， this book along with the Simarillion will give you that。 It also answers certain questions I had from the Lord of th You know how the one kid says "it's corn！"？ Well I say "it's Tolkien"！ Overall， it's a good book that summarizes the major events of the second age and it was needed， as previously the second age was scattered throughout appendices， notes， and other pieces of other Tolkien works。 If you are watching the Rings of Power on Amazon and want some more detail for the events of the show， this book along with the Simarillion will give you that。 It also answers certain questions I had from the Lord of the Rings。 Like why does Elrond have Narsil （the sword that is reforged for Aragorn in the ROTK）。 。。。more
Ben Bachman
，
A great compendium of all things Second Age and Númenor in Tolkien’s world！ If you have yet to read all the different historical volumes （like me）， then this a great way to get all the stuff concerning that time period in one volume。 A fantastic supplement to The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales。 And Alan Lee’s illustrations， as always， are outstanding。 Seeing little glimpses of the pages come to life。
Beverly
，
A fantastic and concise volume of both Second Age and Numenorian history that is very accessible to new fans。 If anyone wants more details or a sneak peek into what lies ahead for further seasons of the Rings of Power series， it’s all here！
Patrick Mueller
，
A great， accessible， coherent， and chronological account of the second age。 It’s very similar in style to The Great Tales， so if you enjoyed those you’ll like this。 There is hardly any alternative/conflicting writings， as you see in Beren and Luthien， which develops a single story， instead of multiple varying accounts。
Nia Dragin
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L
Graeme
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Essentially this is an overview of material from different sources on a similar theme， covering the time from the creation of Númenor to its Fall and the fate of the surviving Númenoreans up to the end of the Second Age。 Sadly there is no new material， most of the content being lifted from The Unfinised Tales and The Silmarillion， with occasional commentary from the editor。 This is more useful towards the start of the book， where Sibley contextualises Tolkien's vision of Númenor and is able to e Essentially this is an overview of material from different sources on a similar theme， covering the time from the creation of Númenor to its Fall and the fate of the surviving Númenoreans up to the end of the Second Age。 Sadly there is no new material， most of the content being lifted from The Unfinised Tales and The Silmarillion， with occasional commentary from the editor。 This is more useful towards the start of the book， where Sibley contextualises Tolkien's vision of Númenor and is able to explain a few of the more convoluted aspects of the early writings。However， towards the latter stages the passages are frequently lifted wholesale from the other works （and occasionally the Lord of the Rings abd the History of Middle-Earth）， which seems a little redundant。 The editorial comments， again， become quite repetitive and not really desperately informative。 There is little to be said beyond what Christopher Tolkien has already produced。So， if you are already particularly immersed in Tolkien you won't really find anything new here。 However， if you have been put off attempting the lengthier （and more imposing） parts of the legendarium but have an interest in this one theme， then you might get something out of this。Alan Lee's illustrations are wonderful， as always， and the book is certainly nicely produced。 。。。more
Al
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Editor Brian Sibley has done a masterful job in presenting a chronological story of the rise and fall of the island of Numenor， a major part of the Second Age of Middle-Earth。 He has accomplished this by pulling together and organizing fragmentary material from various sources--Tolkien's own writings， of course， but also explanatory and imaginative material from other authors， including notably Christopher Tolkien， who devoted most of his life to curating， editing and augmenting his father's wo Editor Brian Sibley has done a masterful job in presenting a chronological story of the rise and fall of the island of Numenor， a major part of the Second Age of Middle-Earth。 He has accomplished this by pulling together and organizing fragmentary material from various sources--Tolkien's own writings， of course， but also explanatory and imaginative material from other authors， including notably Christopher Tolkien， who devoted most of his life to curating， editing and augmenting his father's work。 The result reads like a story， even in some places as Tolkien himself might have written it。 As such， it's fascinating and very helpful in understanding what might have been the tale of the Second Age， and it serves as a great prequel to The Lord of the Rings。 Speaking for myself， I couldn't get through the Silmarillion and other non-linear Tolkien material， and certainly couldn't piece them all together to make a story out of it。 Hats off to Sibley for having done this here。 My only quibble， a minor one perhaps， is that I have the feeling he has intentionally obfuscated what parts of the book are Tolkien's own work， and what are the work of other authors。 But never mind; even if some of the story is not Tolkien's， it's fun to see the Second Age laid out in an organized way。 。。。more
Kirby Davis
，
A nice combination of different Tolkien source materials to fill in a fascinating Middle Earth backstory。。。
Katherine Sas
，
Brian Sibley brings the story of the Second Age into as satisfying a form as it possible， given the constraints。 There are some interesting editorial decisions in order to give the narrative a sense coherence （e。g。 he has to choose particular variants of the Galadriel， Celeborn and Celebrimbor stories）， which makes me curious how much impact this volume will have regarding the sense of the "canonical" story in future years -- but time will tell with that。The presentation and illustrations are be Brian Sibley brings the story of the Second Age into as satisfying a form as it possible， given the constraints。 There are some interesting editorial decisions in order to give the narrative a sense coherence （e。g。 he has to choose particular variants of the Galadriel， Celeborn and Celebrimbor stories）， which makes me curious how much impact this volume will have regarding the sense of the "canonical" story in future years -- but time will tell with that。The presentation and illustrations are beautiful （though I caught a surprising number of typos for some reason）。 。。。more
Maria MacCormack
，
If you have not read The Silmarillion then this is probably 4 stars。 :） Having recently read it， I would say about 85% of this text comes directly from there。 There are some interesting anecdotes， and the appendix has the most content I haven't read elsewhere。 I like the appendix the most haha。 If you're reading this because the show has come out and you don't feel like reading or re-reading the full Silmarillion then this would probably be a nice refresher。 If you have not read The Silmarillion then this is probably 4 stars。 :） Having recently read it， I would say about 85% of this text comes directly from there。 There are some interesting anecdotes， and the appendix has the most content I haven't read elsewhere。 I like the appendix the most haha。 If you're reading this because the show has come out and you don't feel like reading or re-reading the full Silmarillion then this would probably be a nice refresher。 。。。more
Drew Sylvester
，
The lack of 5 stars is due only to my perception of editorial deficiency， and perhaps my belief that this book was unneeded。 This being the first book in Tolkien’s Legendarium not bearing either his own name or his son’s， I can’t help but comment that the quality sorely misses their guidance。 The substance of The Fall of Númenor is indeed entirely the Tolkiens。 Brian Sibley’s main contribution with this volume is merely the compiling of all Númenorean stories in chronological order。 That is， dra The lack of 5 stars is due only to my perception of editorial deficiency， and perhaps my belief that this book was unneeded。 This being the first book in Tolkien’s Legendarium not bearing either his own name or his son’s， I can’t help but comment that the quality sorely misses their guidance。 The substance of The Fall of Númenor is indeed entirely the Tolkiens。 Brian Sibley’s main contribution with this volume is merely the compiling of all Númenorean stories in chronological order。 That is， drawing chiefly upon Unfinished Tales， the Silmarillion， and the Lost Road， Sibley has attempted to produce one extant “master copy” of the rise and fall of Númenor。He has succeeded， but at some cost。For one， the font variations intended to imply authorship （J。R。R’s， Christopher’s， or Sibley himself） fails clarity in many locations， leaving the reader with dubious interpretations。 I much prefer to hear straight from the Tolkien’s and in most cases do not think any extra commentary was needed。 This is most egregious in Appendix B， particularly surrounding the endnotes， which up to this point were all written by Sibley， but now are reproductions of Christopher’s notes。 In a charitable view， perhaps the editor thought the font difference clear enough， but in an uncharitable view this stinks of cashing in on the success of others。 For all his writing’s included within， and the decades of his life dedicated to even making a book like this possible， it is a shame the editor and publisher did not include Christopher’s name on the cover。 This book （and any subsequent Tolkien publication） stands upon his shoulders。 In all， I enjoyed this read， but entirely because it is Tolkien。 I’d read all the content already in its various homes throughout the other texts， and was thus left wondering if this compilation was even needed。It’s true saving grace are the （as always） beautiful inclusions of Alan Lee’s imagery。 。。。more
Travis
，
I found this volume to be easily readable compared to a lot of other posthumous publications of Tolkien's work。 I really enjoyed it overall and am happy to have all of the information organized and accessible in one place。 I found this volume to be easily readable compared to a lot of other posthumous publications of Tolkien's work。 I really enjoyed it overall and am happy to have all of the information organized and accessible in one place。 。。。more
Henk
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An erudite and clear work on the Second Age of Middle Earth， drawing multiple resources together。 One wishes Amazon executives had read this before making their seriesIt was a warm bath to return to Middle Earth。 I general I don’t like the Second Age as much as the other periods Tolkien crafted in his work， but the editing of Brian Sibley makes this an accessible and engaging work， chronologically following the events of the Second Age。 Interesting how the fall of Numenor is derived by Tolkien f An erudite and clear work on the Second Age of Middle Earth， drawing multiple resources together。 One wishes Amazon executives had read this before making their seriesIt was a warm bath to return to Middle Earth。 I general I don’t like the Second Age as much as the other periods Tolkien crafted in his work， but the editing of Brian Sibley makes this an accessible and engaging work， chronologically following the events of the Second Age。 Interesting how the fall of Numenor is derived by Tolkien from a recurring dream of a flood。 Also telling how the difference between men and elves is captured by a Numenorean king asking how the timber of a tree he got is， with the elves responding they don’t know since they just enjoy its beauty。Recommended for Tolkien fans， even if there is no real new material contained in the book。 。。。more
Johannes
，
A very thorough and informative summary of the events of the Second Age。 I can only recommend it to any Tolkien fan！
Kiernan Reynolds
，
While this book does not contain any new stories， Brian Sibley organized the existing stories form the Second Age in an amazing manner。 The stories are ordered and put together in a narrative format that flows well and is easy to follow。 A huge fan and would recommend to any Tolkien fan。
Miguel Letain
，
An awesome collection of writings that tell the stories of the Second Age。 Really nice to have all of these in one book now。 Definitely recommend it to any hardcore Tolkien fans or someone wanting to read about what the Rings of Power is portraying on TV。
Karl Meyer
，
This gave me a much better feel for how the Second Age went down。 Hats off to Brian Sibley for organizing this。 Also， the book itself is just beautifully printed - with very nice paper and binding， gorgeous art （and endpapers！）， and a really nice cover material。 I really appreciate that。It definitely gets five stars for what it set out to do， but I save five star reviews for my absolute favorite books and this was more of a textbook than a narrative story。
Hassan
，
a sweeping and engaging history。 the appendices in this are underrated。 rip numenor。
Joshua Clark
，
The fact that Brian Sibley has taken the time to compile all the writings on the Second Age in one chronological read is awesome， unfortunately the execution has some inherent flaws that make it hard to enjoy the flow of the narrative。 The constant editorial interruptions and jumps to dialogue from LOTR is a bit frustrating。That said， still a brilliant book with wonderful illustrations as only Alan Lee can do。 Thoroughly enjoyed。
Chris
，
This is a chronicle of the fall of Numenor， bringing in lore from various sources。 It’s very well done。 It’s tragic。 It hurts。 It really shows and demonstrates Sauron’s malice which actually began as good will， but was twisted。 It also really shows how dimmed Men of the Third and Fourth Ages are in comparison。
Ian Rhodes
，
A must for Tolkien fans， much of the Lore has previously been written about in The Silmarillion but this goes into more details。 Especially interesting was the beginnings of Sauron and the forging of all of the rings。 Not for a casual reader but nerdy Tolkien fans will lap this up。
Doug Adamson
，
For someone who had read extensively in Tolkien's less well-known works （The Silmarillion， Unfinished Tales， and the History of Middle-Earth {Thank you， Christopher Tolkien}， there will be little here that is "new。" That said， to have all of the Second Age material gathered in one volume and arranged chronological is a real gift （Thank you， Brian Sibley）。 For some who not familiar with these less well-known works， this volume is a wealth of new materials， information， and tales of Middle-Earth。 For someone who had read extensively in Tolkien's less well-known works （The Silmarillion， Unfinished Tales， and the History of Middle-Earth {Thank you， Christopher Tolkien}， there will be little here that is "new。" That said， to have all of the Second Age material gathered in one volume and arranged chronological is a real gift （Thank you， Brian Sibley）。 For some who not familiar with these less well-known works， this volume is a wealth of new materials， information， and tales of Middle-Earth。 The tale of Aldarion and Erendis is well worth a repeated reading。 Add to this the wonderful artwork of Alan Lee！ What's not to love and visit often！ 。。。more
Luke
，
This book is a distillation of all the 2nd Age material previously found and edited by Christopher Tolkien。 The proximity of this book’s publication to the airing of the Rings of power is a blessing。 The book was obviously created with the greatest care and reverence。
exploraDora
，
So this wasn't what I expected at all， namely a coherent story about the fall of Numenor。 It was an abundance of information/facts about Numenor， gathered from all of Tolkien's writings as well as writings from his son， Christopher。Very informative， so much that it often felt like a history lesson rather than fantasy fiction。 So this wasn't what I expected at all， namely a coherent story about the fall of Numenor。 It was an abundance of information/facts about Numenor， gathered from all of Tolkien's writings as well as writings from his son， Christopher。Very informative， so much that it often felt like a history lesson rather than fantasy fiction。 。。。more
Caron Foster
，
I love how detailed Tolkien's world building is！ This book just adds to the context of his works。 I love how detailed Tolkien's world building is！ This book just adds to the context of his works。 。。。more
Stewart Monckton
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I dont think this book contains any new JRRT material， its just presented in a thematic fashion - ie it's a complete history told （more or less） without reference to the other storylines that occur at the same time。 Have to say I really enjoyed it。 SM I dont think this book contains any new JRRT material， its just presented in a thematic fashion - ie it's a complete history told （more or less） without reference to the other storylines that occur at the same time。 Have to say I really enjoyed it。 SM 。。。more
Samuel-Stephen Moore
，
While the book presents no new content， it does an excellent job of laying out the events of the Second Age chronologically， and is easily accessible and understandable to people who are new to the Professor’s work and would like to know more about the events that came to pass during the Second Age。 Hitherto， if one wanted to read Second Age material， they would have to read certain parts from several books。 Now， however， we have a much more convenient way of reading said material with one volum While the book presents no new content， it does an excellent job of laying out the events of the Second Age chronologically， and is easily accessible and understandable to people who are new to the Professor’s work and would like to know more about the events that came to pass during the Second Age。 Hitherto， if one wanted to read Second Age material， they would have to read certain parts from several books。 Now， however， we have a much more convenient way of reading said material with one volume that compiles all writings pertaining to that era。 A wonderful read that I highly recommend to both new fans and longtime fans of Tolkien alike。 。。。more
Mark
，