The Complete SECOND AGE of Middle-earth Timeline | Midd… — Transcript

The return of Sauron.

The drowning of Numenor.

The war of the Last Alliance.

There are so many iconic events that happened in the Second Age of Middle-earth, and really, these are events worth putting together.

Hello and welcome to The Broken Sword. Today we are looking at the complete timeline of the Second Age of Middle-earth.

With the Second Age being such an important thing of discussion at the moment, with both Amazon's up and coming The Rings of Power TV show, as well as the announcement of The Fall of Numenor book coming out later this year, I thought now would be a great time to revisit the Second Age of Middle-earth in its entirety and give you a brief timeline of some of the key events through those years.

But I will emphasize here, I will only be talking about any of these points briefly, as this video is more focused on the entire timeline, but if there are any of these moments that you would like a video on in way more detail, then please just let me know that down in the comments below, and I will get working on those for you, adding them onto my list of to-do ideas, which is just always ever growing, but I'm always happy to add to it.

So, the age began after the forces of good first managed to overthrow the terror of Morgoth, his followers were scattered, but not all were gone for good.

We will be looking at The Lord of the Rings Appendix B for our timeline, as we take you through all of the key events from the Second Age of Middle-earth, and so, it is with Appendix B that we will also start by looking at its description of things as the First Age came to an end.

These were the dark years for Men of Middle-earth, but the years of the glory of Númenor.

Of events in Middle-earth the records are few and brief, and their dates are often uncertain.

In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still remained, most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin, but before the building of the Barad-dûr many of the Sindar passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves.

Thranduil, king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these.

In Lindon north of the Lune dwelt Gil-galad, last heir of the kings of the Noldor in exile.

He was acknowledged as High King of the Elves of the West.

In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol.

His wife was Galadriel, greatest of Elven women.

She was sister of Finrod Felagund, Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to save Beren son of Barahir.

Later some of the Noldor went to Eregion, upon the west of the Misty Mountains, and near to the West-gate of Moria.

This they did because they learned that mithril had been discovered in Moria.

The Noldor were great craftsmen and less unfriendly to the Dwarves than the Sindar; but the friendship that grew up between the people of Durin and the Elven-smiths of Eregion was the closest that there has ever been between the two races.

Celebrimbor was Lord of Eregion and the greatest of their craftsmen; he was descended from Fëanor.

So now we are set up with how Middle-earth is looking, let's get into our timeline, starting of course with the first year of the Second Age.

Year one.

Foundation of the Grey Havens and of Lindon.

The Grey Havens were built in the newly formed Gulf of Lune, where the Eldar sailed the straight road, but most of them were unwilling at first to forsake the lands they fought in and preferred to linger there.

This was the foundation of Lindon.

Gil-galad was the last heir of the kings of the Noldor in exile, and acknowledged as High King of the Elves of the West, and so, he was king of Lindon.

Year 32.

The Edain reached the land that will become known as Numenor after it was raised from the Great Sea by the Valar.

Circa year 40.

The Dwarves from Nogrod and Belegost left their destroyed cities and homes in the Blue Mountains in Ered Luin to go to Khazad-dûm, and from this their numbers swell and their wealth and power increase.

Then we have a break until year 442.

Elros Tar-Minyatur, son of Eärendil and twin brother of Elrond, dies in this year aged 500. He was the Lord of the Edain and the first King of Numenor.

Year circa 500.

Sauron returns from his self-isolation and hiding in the East and begins to stir again in Middle-earth, after believing the Valar would have now forgotten about Middle-earth and so would no longer be aware of his plans.

Year 521.

Eärien, daughter of Tar-Elendil, the fourth King of Numenor, she would marry Elatan of Andunie, and they would have a son, Valandil, who would become the first Lord of Andunie, which was an important city and port of Numenor.

She would also pass down the Ring of Barahir to her son, the same ring that would eventually work its way through the ages to Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

Year 600.

The first ships of the Numenoreans leave their land, appearing off the coasts of Middle-earth, first establishing contact with them.

Year 750.

The realm of Eregion is founded by the Noldor, it is located near the edge of Moria, under the shadow of the Misty Mountains, this realm was the only lasting one of the Noldor, not including Lindon.

Year circa 1000.

Sauron, still hiding away despite the likes of Gil-galad sensing the growing darkness, is becoming alarmed by the growing power of the Numenoreans, therefore, he chooses Mordor as the land to make into a stronghold and his base, and so here he begins the construction of Barad-dûr near to Mount Doom.

Year 1075.

Back to Numenor, and Tar-Ancalimë becomes the first ruling Queen of Numenor, she would rule for over 205 years, making her the second longest ruler after the first King of Numenor, Elros.

Year 1200.

Sauron becomes determined to seduce the Eldar, and so disguises himself as the fair and pure Annatar, the Lord of Gifts.

However, Gil-galad completely refuses to treat with him, as he can sense something is just not right with him, so will not trust him, but Sauron did have more joy with the Smiths of Eregion, and he wins them over.

Also at this time, the Numenoreans started to make permanent havens in Middle-earth.

Year circa 1500.

The Elven Smiths, after being instructed by Sauron as Annatar, managed to reach the height of their skill, Annatar then tells them if they forge these Rings of Power, it will help preserve their new powers and skills, and so, they begin the forging of the Rings of Power.

Year circa 1590.

The Three Rings are completed and the leadership of Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain in Eregion.

Year circa 1600.

Sauron goes off in secret and forges his own ring in Orodruin, the One Ring to rule them all, he transfers a great deal of his own power into this ring, so that it will be more powerful than all others that came before it.

He also completes his tower of Barad-dûr with the help of the power of his new ring.

However, Celebrimbor had also forged his own three rings for the Elves, and these ones are ones that Sauron had not been able to taint.

And so, when Sauron put on his One Ring, the Elves became aware of his true nature and realized they had been betrayed, but from this point they hid their rings from Sauron, after he had demanded the Elves return them to him, for without his knowledge or his abilities, they could not have existed, the Elves of course refused.

Year 1693.

It had become unavoidable, the War of the Elves and Sauron begins, this will become the great war between the forces of Sauron and the Elves in Eriador, along with all of their allies.

Year 1695.

Only two years on and Sauron's forces begin their invasion of Eriador, at this time Gil-galad sends a force commanded by Elrond to reinforce Eregion, while also sending word to Numenor asking for their assistance.

Year 1697.

Two more years on and Eregion has been laid to waste, Ost-in-Edhil, the capital city of Eregion, falls, with Celebrimbor himself leading a last desperate defense on the steps of the House of the Mírdain, Celebrimbor is shot multiple times with Orc arrows, and some even say that Sauron used Celebrimbor's body as a banner as he turned to face Elrond's host.

Elrond retreats with remnants of the Noldor and founds the refuge of Imladris, also known as Rivendell, the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm helped some escape as well, but they did more than simply just allow the Elves to pass through their realm, they went out against Sauron's armies along with a force of the Galadhrim under Amroth, the King of Lórien, once this battle was over, the gates of Khazad-dûm were shut, and they remained shut until the Fellowship of the Ring managed to reopen them thousands of years later.

Year 1699, Sauron's power becomes too much for the Elves to withstand, and he overruns Eriador.

Year 1700.

The King of Numenor, Tar-Minastir, sends his great navy from Numenor to Lindon, the might of this army proves too much for Sauron, and he is defeated.

Year 1701.

Thanks to the help of the Numenoreans, Sauron is driven out of Eriador and forced back out of the Westlands, Sauron runs back to Mordor with barely a fraction of his force remaining, the Westlands have peace for a long while, Eriador may have been saved, but the realm of Eregion was now no more.

Year circa 1800.

Now there was some peace, and the Numenoreans begin to establish dominions along the coasts, Sauron, although defeated, was not gone, and he begins to extend his power eastwards this time.

The shadow also falls on Numenor.

Year 2221.

Tar-Atanamir, the 13th King of Numenor, dies, and so his son, Tar-Ancalimon takes the scepter, this is where rebellion and division begins to surface in Numenor, they split into two, the King's Men, who are the ones in opposition to the Ban of the Valar, and then on the other side, the Faithful, who continue to worship the Valar.

Around this time too, the Nazgûl begin to first appear in Middle-earth, quickly establishing themselves as the lead servants of Sauron.

Year 2280.

Umbar, which is a great haven to the south of the lands of Gondor, is made into a great fortress and base of the Numenoreans, they use this as a key point to spread their influence throughout the lands.

Year 2350.

Pelargir is built by the Faithful Numenoreans, this is a great city built on the River Anduin and would become the main harbor of the realm of Gondor.

Year 2899.

Ar-Adûnakhôr, son of Tar-Ardamin, takes the scepter of Numenor, becoming its 20th King, he was the first King to break with the tradition of taking their royal names in Quenya, with him taking his title in Adûnaic, the language of Numenor.

This took Numenor straight on a path towards a civil war.

Year 3255.

Tar-Palantir only had a daughter, so when his death came in this year, Ar-Pharazôn usurped the throne and seized the scepter, even taking Tar-Palantir's daughter as his wife against her will, Ar-Pharazôn begins hearing of Sauron's return and becomes angry, he wishes to claim the title of King of Men and becomes determined to make Sauron his servant, and so spends the next few years preparing an unstoppable army.

Year 3261.

His force is now ready, so he sets sail, he lands in Umbar and marches straight towards the lands of Mordor.

Year 3262.

Sauron's army flees at the sight of Ar-Pharazôn's, and Sauron realizes he cannot defeat these people with only the might of his army, so Sauron surrenders, with a plan at hand, and so is taken prisoner and back to Numenor.

Year 3262 through to 3310, Sauron knew he had to defeat this great power from the inside, and so over the years he seduces the King, growing from prisoner to key advisor, and manages to corrupt a large number of the Numenoreans, converting them to the worship of darkness, and Sauron himself becoming the High Priest of the cult of Morgoth.

Year 3310.

Ar-Pharazôn begins to strengthen his military forces once more, this time for a purpose to invade the land of Aman and to challenge the strength of the Valar, this armada of warships and military force was called the Great Armament.

Year 3319.

Ar-Pharazôn finally has his armada ready and attempts to assail Valinor, of course, this is not received well, and even brings about divine punishment from none other than Eru Ilúvatar, he sinks all the ships in the Great Sea, but not just that, he floods Numenor as well.

Some of the Faithful, namely Elendil and his sons, escape this catastrophe, Sauron too was on Numenor at this point, but his spirit managed to survive, and despite being crippled, he manages to flee back to Middle-earth.

Year 3320.

Elendil founds the realms of Arnor and Gondor, ruling as their High King, Arnor has the city of Annúminas, and Gondor has the cities of Minas Anor, founded by Elendil's son Anárion in Anórien, and Minas Ithil, founded by Isildur in Ithilien.

At this time Sauron also returns to Mordor.

Year 3429.

Sauron managed to slowly rebuild some strength and decided now to attack Gondor as he still considered them his hated enemies, he manages to take Minas Ithil and burns the White Tree, however, Isildur escapes down the Anduin and goes to Elendil in the North, whereas Anárion stays to defend Minas Anor and Osgiliath.

Year 3430.

In response to the attack, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed, this is formed by Elendil and Gil-galad for the sole purpose of destroying the Dark Lord Sauron once and for all.

Year 3431.

Gil-galad and Elendil have their forces meet at Amon Sûl, and then march east to Imladris to make their final preparations for battle.

Year 3434.

After three years of forging armor and preparing their plans, the host of the Last Alliance crosses the Misty Mountains at several points, the Battle of Dagorlad begins, and the forces of Sauron are defeated, and so, the siege of Barad-dûr begins.

Year 3440.

The siege is still ongoing with Sauron holding strong, but in its sixth year, the son of Elendil, Anárion, is slain by a thrown rock.

Year 3441.

The next year, Sauron finally appears from his tower to make one final stand, however, he is overthrown by Elendil and Gil-galad, who also perish in their fight, with Sauron defeated, Isildur cuts and takes the One Ring from Sauron, with this, Sauron passes away, the Ringwraiths go back into the shadows, and the Second Age comes to an end.

And so that is where our timeline of the Second Age of Middle-earth comes to an end, I really hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you liked this style of video too, maybe I could do the same thing for the other ages of Middle-earth if you did enjoy it.

If you'd like to see that, let me know that down in the comments below, but anyway, with the Rings of Power not too far away now, I wonder how much of this we will really get to see, after all, they say this is really what they have the rights to, so these are the main points they have to stick to, and then it's just all those gaps in the middle that they are potentially filling out.

Good stuff, bad stuff, just stuff, I do wonder how much they will get right or how much that they will just butcher.

Just imagine though, all those scenes in Numenor, or with Celebrimbor and Annatar, or the Battle of Dagorlad, being in greater detail, it could, could be epic, but either way, we don't have too long to wait now either.

So with that, I will draw this video to the end, and bring you towards my question of the day, which is, if it was up to you, which part of the timeline would you like to see adapted on screen the most?

Which part of this timeline is impossible to exclude, which one will you definitely be checking out when it comes on the show?

Basically, which part would be too unforgivable to miss out?

Let me know all of your thoughts and opinions on this in the comment section below, and now it is time to shout out our patrons.

You guys are the ones letting us be able to make our short film in the background of all things, and I really cannot thank you enough, first we have our Divine Power team members of Kevin and Abram, you are both awesome, then we have our Fire Demon team members of Nishith, Denver, Steele, and Gregory, you are incredible, and we also have John, Andrew, and Jennifer as the Wizard Staff team members, every single one of you is a true legend of the Bro-Herim.

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So, with that, thank you for your time today, and I will see you next time on The Broken Sword.