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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.
Synopsis
Akallabêth (The Downfallen in Adûnaic; Quenya is Atalantë) is the story of the destruction of the Kingdom of Númenor, written by Elendil. At the end of the First Age (described in detail in the Quenta Silmarillion), those of Men (known as the Edain) who had aided the 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. Númenórean ships sailed the seas and established remote colonies 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 become the second Dark Lord. The Men of Westernesse aided the Elves under Gil-Galad yet remaining in Middle-Earth. 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. Tar-Palantir, the penultimate King repented of the evil of his fathers, but it was too late. During this time, Númenor grew even more powerful, even as its people's joy and span of years lessened.
The last king, Ar-Pharazôn, wanted control of Middle-earth, and so he attacked Sauron. Sauron's armies became afraid of the might of Númenor, and fled from the service of their master. Perceiving that he could not overthrow Númenor by strength of arms, Sauron humbled himself before the Númenorean King, and was taken as a prisoner to Númenor. Soon he became his advisor, and corrupted the greater part of Númenor to the worship of Morgoth, offering human sacrifices and cutting down Nimloth, the White Tree. Sauron convinced Ar-Pharazôn assail Aman and wrest immortality from the Valar, saying that great kings take what is theirs by right. Sauron's desire was to destroy Númenor with the wrath of the Valar. When the Great Armament set foot on the Undying Lands, however, the Valar laid down their guardianship and called on Eru Ilúvatar, who broke and remade the world. Eru destroyed the Númenórean host, burying them under stones until the Dagor Dagorath. Númenor he sunk into the Belegaer, and Aman he removed forever from the circles of the world. The world that had been flat was now spherical, and Aman was only open to Elves, who could still find the Straight Road. Nine ships carrying men of Númenórean royal blood, descendants of the Lords of Andunie, of the House of Elros, were carried by the storm of the Downfall to the shores of Middle-Earth. They were led by Elendil the Tall, and his two sons: Isildur and Anárion, bringing with them a seedling of the White Tree and the Palantiri. These and the Númenoreans already living in Middle-Earth carried the title of "The Faithful," signifying their continued devotion to the Valar and Eldar. They allied themselves with Gil-Galad and marched in the War of the Last Alliance, in which Isildur cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.
The followers of Elendil established two Númenorean realms in exile: Arnor, the high kingdom, in the North, and Gondor in the south. 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.
Textual history
The story originated with The Lost Road, an abandoned time-travel novel. It was later adapted into back-story for The Lord of the Rings.
Interpretation
As the Quenya name makes obvious, this is a retelling of the story of Atlantis in the Middle-earth cadre. "Atalantë" is Quenya for "Downfallen". This has led some to jest that The Akallabêth is one long set up for what Tolkien would have considered a delightful pun.
External links
- The Optimal LotR Prequel Movie - a suggestion to the effect that the Akallabêth could be adapted as a "prequel" to Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy. A partial "treatment" for such a movie is included.
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"Akallabêth"