APPENDIX B
THE TALE OF YEARS
(CHRONOLOGY OF THE WESTLANDS)
The First Age ended with the Great Battle, in which the Host of Valinor broke Thangorodrim1 and overthrew Morgoth. Then most of the Noldor returned into the Far West2 and dwelt in Eress?a within sight of Valinor; and many of the Sindar went over Sea also.
The Second Age ended with the first overthrow of Sauron, servant of Morgoth, and the taking of the One Ring.
The Third Age came to its end in the War of the Ring; but the Fourth Age was not held to have begun until Master Elrond departed, and the time was come for the dominion of Men and the decline of all other ‘ speaking-peoples’ in Middle-earth.3
In the Fourth Age the earlier ages were often called the Elder Days; but that name was properly given only to the days before the casting out of Morgoth. The histories of that time are not recorded here.
The Second Age
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-d?r 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. 4 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 F?anor.
Year
1 Foundation of the Grey Havens, and of Lindon.
32 The Edain reach Númenor.
c. 40 Many Dwarves leaving their old cities in Ered Luin go to Moria and swell its numbers.
442 Death of Elros Tar-Minyatur.
c. 500 Sauron begins to stir again in Middle-earth.
521 Birth in Númenor of Silmari?n.
600 The first ships of the Númenóreans appear off the coasts.
750 Eregion founded by the Noldor.
c. 1000 Sauron, alarmed by the growing power of the Númenóreans, chooses Mordor as a land to make into a stronghold. He begins the building of Barad-d?r.
1075 Tar-Ancalim? becomes the first Ruling Queen of Númenor.
1200 Sauron endeavours to seduce the Eldar. Gil-galad refuses to treat with him; but the smiths of Eregion are won over. The Númenóreans begin to make permanent havens.
c. 1500 The Elven-smiths instructed by Sauron reach the height of their skill. They begin the forging of the Rings of Power.
c. 1590 The Three Rings are completed in Eregion.
c. 1600 Sauron forges the One Ring in Orodruin. He completes the Barad-d?r. Celebrimbor perceives the designs of Sauron.
1693 War of the Elves and Sauron begins. The Three Rings are hidden.
1695 Sauron’s forces invade Eriador. Gil-galad sends Elrond to Eregion.
1697 Eregion laid waste. Death of Celebrimbor. The gates of Moria are shut. Elrond retreats with remnant of the Noldor and founds the refuge of Imladris.
1699 Sauron overruns Eriador.
1700 Tar-Minastir sends a great navy from Númenor to Lindon. Sauron is defeated.
1701 Sauron is driven out of Eriador. The Westlands have peace for a long while.
c. 1800 From about this time onward the Númenóreans begin to establish dominions on the coasts. Sauron extends his power eastwards. The shadow falls on Númenor.
2251 Death of Tar-Atanamir. Tar-Ancalimon takes the sceptre. Rebellion and division of the Númenóreans begins. About this time the Nazg?l or Ringwraiths, slaves of the Nine Rings, first appear.
2280 Umbar is made into a great fortress of Númenor.
2350 Pelargir is built. It becomes the chief haven of the Faithful Númenóreans.
2899 Ar-Ad?nakhor takes the sceptre.
3175 Repentance of Tar-Palantir. Civil war in Númenor.
3255 Ar-Pharaz?n the Golden seizes the sceptre.
3261 Ar-Pharaz?n sets sail and lands at Umbar.
3262 Sauron is taken as prisoner to Númenor; 3262-3310 Sauron seduces the King and corrupts the Númenóreans.
3310 Ar-Pharaz?n begins the building of the Great Armament.
3319 Ar-Pharaz?n assails Valinor. Downfall of Númenor. Elendil and his sons escape.
3320 Foundations of the Realms in Exile: Arnor and Gondor. The Stones are divided (p. 598 ). Sauron returns to Mordor.
3429 Sauron attacks Gondor, takes Minas Ithil and burns the White Tree. Isildur escapes down Anduin and goes to Elendil in the North. Anárion defends Minas Anor and Osgiliath.
3430 The Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed.
3431 Gil-galad and Elendil march east to Imladris.
3434 The host of the Alliance crosses the Misty Mountains. Battle of Dagorlad and defeat of Sauron. Siege of Barad-d?r begins.
3440 Anárion slain.
3441 Sauron overthrown by Elendil and Gil-galad, who perish. Isildur takes the One Ring. Sauron passes away and the Ringwraiths go into the shadows. The Second Age ends.
The Third Age
These were the fading years of the Eldar. For long they were at peace, wielding the Three Rings while Sauron slept and the One Ring was lost; but they attempted nothing new, living in memory of the past. The Dwarves hid themselves in deep places, guarding their hoards; but when evil began to stir again and dragons reappeared, one by one their ancient treasures were plundered, and they became a wandering people. Moria for long remained secure, but its numbers dwindled until many of its vast mansions became dark and empty. The wisdom and the life-span of the Númenóreans also waned as they became mingled with lesser Men.
When maybe a thousand years had passed, and the first shadow had fallen on Greenwood the Great, the Istari or Wizards appeared in Middle-earth. It was afterwards said that they came out of the Far West and were messengers sent to contest the power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist him; but they were forbidden to match his power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force and fear.
They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only slowly, and they had many powers of mind and hand. They revealed their true names to few, 1 but used such names as were given to them. The two highest of this order (of whom it is said there were five) were called by the Eldar Curunír, ‘ the Man of Skill’, and Mithrandir, ‘ the Grey Pilgrim’, but by Men in the North Saruman and Gandalf. Curunír journeyed often into the East, but dwelt at last in Isengard. Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West, and never made for himself any lasting abode.
Throughout the Third Age the guardianship of the Three Rings was known only to those who possessed them. But at the end it became known that they had been held at first by the three greatest of the Eldar: Gil-galad, Galadriel and Círdan. Gil-galad before he died gave his ring to Elrond; Círdan later surrendered his to Mithrandir. For Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth, and he welcomed Mithrandir at the Grey Havens, knowing whence he came and whither he would return.
‘Take this ring, Master,’ he said, ‘ for your labours will be heavy; but it will support you in the weariness that you have taken upon yourself. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill. But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores until the last ship sails. I will await you.’