Akallabêth
the Downfall of Númenor; the fourth Book
Nature
Akallabêth — “the Downfall (of Númenor)” — is the fourth and briefest of the “Books” of the published Silmarillion: the great Second Age epic of Númenor — the rise and glory of the island-kingdom of the Edain, its slow turning from the light, the corruption by Sauron, and the terrible Drowning when Ar-Pharazôn assailed the Undying Lands, and the crashing of the world into its roundness. It is told as the “lore of the Faithful” — the doom-narrative from the survivors’ own tradition.
Contents
The gift of the island to Elros and the Elf-friends; the greatness and longevity of the Dúnedain; their ships and the ban of the Valar.
- The growing pride and envy of the kings; the coming of Sauron (a prisoner turned tempter) and the worship of the Dark; the burning of the White Tree; the ambition of Ar-Pharazôn to conquer death.
- The voyage of the Great Armament and the assault on Aman; the change of the world; the Drowning of Númenor; the escape of the Faithful under Elendil; the rounding of the earth and the removal of Aman from the circles.
Composition
The Akallabêth (as a focused text) was written by Tolkien in the late 1940s (the “Downfall of Númenor” of the “Drowning of Anadûnê” tradition) and edited by Christopher Tolkien for the 1977 book; its variants and the “Mannish forms” (the
Drowning of Anadûnê) are printed in The Lost Road (HoME 5). The 2022 collection The Fall of Númenor gathers the Second Age material (including the Akallabêth’s matter) with Brian Sibley’s commentary.