In the beginning, the earth was begun with a song. Eru sang and the Valar joined in and wove into Eru's main melody harmonies. Melchor, for reasons Tolkien never makes clear, weaves into the song discord as he tries to control it. Eru always turns the discord into beauty but Melchor keeps trying to wrest the song away until he is banished forever. Perhaps it is the interwoven strains of the melody that we see in the events that lead up to the War of the Ring.

The foundations for the War of the Ring were laid in the First Age. To the Elves, this age was known as the Eldar Days. It was in this time that Sauron appeared as a servant of Melchor who came to be called Morgoth. Sauron was of the order of the Maiar and in these days he was still fair to behold and quite charming. The first age ended with the final destruction of Morgoth and his servants in rout. The Second age began as a peaceful age.

Both Men and Elves had fought against Morgoth but it took the intervention of the Valar to bring him down and it caused the lands where the men lived to be flooded. As a reward, the men were given the Island of Numenor for their home. They were allowed to sail anywhere but to the west and the land of the Valar. These men had long been friends of the elves, were long-lived and proud men. They were called the Dun-Edain, Men of the West. The lived in Numenor and, for many long years, were content to sail to Middle Earth exploring the seas lands in that direction. They received many visits from the elves who would visit from the Undying lands and they became jealous of the Elves immortality and restless with the ban on sailing to the West.

In the meantime, some of the Elves, including Celebrimbor and Elrond, had settled Erigion Region, also known as Hollin, of Middle Earth. In about the Year 1200 Sauron appears in Erigion and wins the trust of Celebrimbor. Together they begin to forge the great rings. Together, Celebrimbor and Sauron make the Nine rings for the kings of men and the 7 rings for the dwarf lords. Using the knowledge gained from Sauron Celebrimbor makes the Three, Narya, Nenya and Vilya. Narya is passed to Cirdan who gave it to Gandalf when he arrived in Middle Earth, Nenya was given to Galadriel and Celebrimbor kept Vilya. It took some time to complete the Rings. The three were completed in 1590 and Sauron completed the One Ring in 1600. Of course as soon as he put it on the Elves knew his intent and hid the three.

By 1697, Sauron attacks the Elves, Celebrimbor is killed and Hollin is destroyed. Vilya is passed to Elrond, who takes his place as an Elf Lord and builds Rivendell. For long years the Elves, Elrond, Galadriel, and Thranduil defend their small corners of middle earth from Sauron and the time creeps by.

The Nazgul are first seen in about 2255 of the SA. These are kings of men who were each given one of the Nine. These were not bad men, but because Sauron had a hand in the making of the Nine, the rings worked to corrupt their hearts. Furthermore, it appears that the rings could give immortality to the kings. They did not die, but became as Bilbo later put it "stretched" and thin and they became wraiths neither living nor dead.


The war between Sauron and the Elves wages on. In support of the long friendship between the Men and Elves, the Dun-adain come from Numenor to aid the Elves in the battles. Near the end of the age King Al-Pharazon (who had usurped the crown of Numenor) sails to Middle Earth and captures Sauron. Al-Pharazon returns to Numenor with Sauron who seduces him and convinces the king to sail west to attack the Valar. The Valar destroy Numenor and almost all of the men in it. Only a few of the loyal were spared. These few, including Elendil, Isildur and Anarion, sailed to Middle Earth and settled in what became Gondor. At about the same time, Sauron returns and takes up residence, in secret, in Mordor.

The tempo in the music is quickening now. The end of the Second age is nearing. In the year 3329SA, Sauron attacks Gondor and captures Minas Ithil, "Tower of the Moon" which become Minas Morgol, "Tower of Sorcery". In 3430, the last Alliance of Men and Elves is formed and in 3441, Sauron is defeated in the War of the Last Alliance when Isildur cuts the One Ring from Sauron's hand. The Tower of Barad-Dur is destroyed but Mount Doom survives.

Because Sauron had infused into the One Ring so much of his own power, while the ring endured Sauron endured though he was greatly diminished. Again, the pride of the Men of Numenor show through and Isildur refuses to destroy the Ring so Sauron remains. And the Second age ends.

In the Second year of the third age, Isildur is killed attempting to escape form Orcs and the Ring falls into the Anduin and drops from sight and nearly memory.

In the Year 1000TA, the Istari, the wizards arrive. It appears that the greatest of these is Saruman but it not to him that Cirdan gives his ring. Cirdan gives Narya to Gandalf when he arrives. So, the tune is slow and perhaps quiet for some 2461 years as the Ring lies hidden and as Sauron gathers his strength until at last the Ring is found or allows itself to be found by Gollum. Even so, it stays hidden still for another 500 years when Bilbo finds it and takes it out of its deep caves.

All this time Sauron is not still. He has been slowly growing in strength. He infested the Greenwood for a time and filled it with darkness and evil till it came to be known as the Mirkwood. Eventually the Elves and the Wizards drove him out but the wood was never restored to its former glory. He is driven out of the Mirkwood, but he returns to Mordor and begins to gather his armies. The music quickens.

Bilbo has found the ring and Sauron gathers the Nazgul to him and sent them out to search for it. Gandalf discovers the truth about the Ring and the stage is set for the beginning of the climax that has brought all of these peoples to Rivendell and to the Council of Elrond. The music quickens.

Calendar entry by elizabeth


Artwork: "The Ruins of Osgiliath" and "Red Eye of Sauron Atop Barad-dur" by Alan Lee