The Drowning of Númenor, also known as the Downfall or the Fall of Númenor, was a cataclysmic event that marked the end of the island kingdom of Númenor in the late Second Age of Arda. Occurring in the year S.A. 3,319, it was a divine punishment enacted by Eru Ilúvatar in response to the Númenóreans’ defiance of the Ban of the Valar.
Prelude to Destruction[]
Númenor had risen to great power and splendor, gifted by the Valar to the Edain after the War of Wrath. However, over centuries, its people grew prideful and envious of the immortality of the Elves. Under the influence of Sauron, who had allowed himself to be captured and became the king’s chief advisor, King Ar-Pharazôn was deceived into launching an invasion of the Undying Lands in a bid to seize eternal life.
The Cataclysm[]
As Ar-Pharazôn’s fleet landed on Aman, Ilúvatar intervened directly. The world was reshaped: Aman was removed from the physical plane, and Númenor was swallowed by the sea. The island, once the greatest civilization of Men, was utterly destroyed, and nearly all its inhabitants perished. Only a small group known as the Faithful, led by Elendil the Tall and his sons, escaped the destruction. They sailed east and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. Sauron, though stripped of his physical form, survived and returned to Mordor, continuing his reign of terror. The memory of Númenor was suppressed in the realms of exile, viewed as a tragic tale of hubris and divine retribution. Yet its legacy endured through the Númenórean bloodlines and the enduring struggle against Sauron.
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