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Book Home  Books Information  Akallabêth
Akallabêth
Akallabêth
is the fourth part of the fictional work The Silmarillion
by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is relatively short, consisting
of about thirty pages. Akallabêth (The Downfallen in Adûnaic;
Quenya is Atalantë) is the story of the destruction of
the Kingdom of Númenor. At the end of the First Age (described
in detail in the Quenta Silmarillion), those of Men who had
been helping Elves in their fight against Melkor were given
a new small continent of their own, free from the evil and sadness
of Middle-earth. It was located in the middle of the Great Ocean,
between the western shores of Middle-earth, and the eastern
shores of Aman, where the Valar dwelt.
As they entered Númenor, Men were forbidden to
set sail towards Aman. They gladly agreed to this, because they regarded
mortality as a gift, and did not envy the Valar and Elves who could
not die. For two and a half thousand years Númenor grew in
might. Númenórian ships sailed the seas and established
remote colonies, some of them in Middle-earth. During that time, the
Elves of Middle-earth were engaged in a bitter fight with Morgoth's
former servant Sauron, who had turned into a Dark Lord himself. The
Elves asked for the help of the Númenórians, and they
agreed. But as time went on, Men became evil and rebelled against
the Valar and the Elves, over the course of one thousand and a half
years, desiring immortality. There was one king, the second-last,
who tried to amend the evil, but it was too late. During this time,
Númenor grew even more powerful.
The last king wanted control of Middle-Earth, and so
he attacked Sauron. Sauron's armies became afraid of the might of
Númenor, and so he was captured and brought imprisoned to the
Númenórian king. However Sauron exploited his power
to corrupt the Númenorian king to his will. Soon he became
his advisor, and much of Númenor obeyed his will and worshipped
Morgoth. Sauron convinced the king to try and assail Aman for immortality,
desiring to destroy Númenor with the wrath of the Valar. However
as this was done, the Valar appealed to Eru Ilúvatar. Eru destroyed
the Númenórian host, by crushing it under stones; however
he also caused the whole of Númenor to sink under the Great
Ocean. Just a few men of Númenórian royal blood, descendants
of a long line called "the Faithful" because they were uncorrupted
by Sauron, had fled Númenor by ships earlier with some gifts
that Men received from the Valar and the Elves in times of peace.
They were led by Elendil the Tall, and his two sons: Isildur and Anárion.
They set sail to Middle-earth, where the followers of
Elendil established two kingdoms which were managed as Númenórian
provinces: Gondor in the south, and Arnor in the North. Some of the
King's Men, enemies of Elendil, established other realms in exile
to the south; of these Umbar was the chief. The culture of Númenor
became the dominant culture of Middle-earth (thus, Westron, a descendant
of the Adûnaic language of Númenor became the lingua
franca). The sadness and the shock from the loss of a whole continent
lived ever after in the hearts of kings of Númenórian
descent. Arda was made spherical, and Aman was put beyond it, out
of the reach of mortal men. Sauron, although greatly diminished and
bereft of shape, escaped Númenor and returned to Middle-earth
once more.
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