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See, how gracefully professor Tolkien handled the legend of the ruin of dinosaurs and the fall of a giant asteroid which destroyed everything on earth! Isn’t he a genius?

The fall of Beleriand

It was the end of the first age of Arda. The forth battle of Beleriand against Morgoth and Sauron (the “right arm” of Morgoth) finished with a defeat of the forces of the light, the armies of men, elves and dwarves.
And the only hope of the light was Earendel, the man, who dared to try to find Valinor and ask the Valar for help (men never were in Valinor and they where forbidden to go there). He sailed so long, and he was so tired, that he thought to turn back. But suddenly he saw a big white bird like a white cloud under the see. There was a shining silmarill on her bosom. The bird flew on Earendels ship and he saw, that it was his wife, Elwing. Together they continued their sail and the silmarill lighted their way to Valinor.
When the Valar saw the bravery of this man and his wife (by the way, she was an elf), the understood, there is something in Middle-Earth, they must save. That is how the fifth and the final battle for Beleriand started.

This battle was named The War of Wrath. The Valar, with the power of their fire of anger terminated Angband (the citadel of Morgoth), they knocked Morgoth down and numbed him with the chain of Angoinor. Sauron was forgiven and turned into light, he became Majar again, as he was before
Morgoth tempted him.

But in their destructive anger, the Valar didn’t even noticed, that they had destroyed the Beleriand. Many of Elves where save and settled in
Imladrise, Lothlorien and Mirkwood. But Beleriand was swallowed by the See and no one could ever see its beauty: “Thus an end was made of the power of
Angband in the North, and' the evil realm was brought to naught; and out of the deep prisons a multitude of slaves came forth beyond all hope into the light of day, and they looked upon a world that was changed. For so great was the fury of those adversaries that the northern regions of the western world were rent asunder, and the sea roared in through many chasms, and there was confusion and great noise; and rivers perished or found new paths, and the valleys were upheaved and the hills trod down…”

Critics say, that this story is the Tolkiens view on the legend about
Atlantis. Who knows, maybe it was really so…

The fall of Numenor

In the end of the second age of Arda after the War of Wrath and the fall of Beleriand the Valar opened a new land for elected genders of men.
It was an island. And it didn’t belong neither to Middle-Earth nor to
Valinor (the country of the Valar). The Valar decorated it with gardens, fountains and flowers from Valinor. And this land was named Numenor (The
Western Land).

The life of the inhabitants of Numenor was very long – near 300 years.
But they still stayed mortal men. Hundreds of years passed and their discontent about their mortality grew. They began to murmur on the Valar:
“Why didn’t they give us eternity, if they love us so much? They told us, they could not. Maybe, they just don’t want to?” But the Valar really couldn’t deprive men from death, the Eru’s gift (Eru – the one, who create the Valar and Arda, elves and men and everything), just because they couldn’t understand it.

And exactly in this moment, when the faith of men staggered, Sauron, who betrayed the Valar and turned in the Darkness again, made his stroke.
He tempted men and directed them against the Valar. Finally the king of men concentrated all his forces and threw his giant army against the Valar. Eru saw this and made abyss to swallow this army and the isle of Numenor and men and Sauron: “But Iluvatar (the other name of Eru) showed forth his power, and he changed the fashion of the world; and a great chasm opened in the sea between Numenor and the Deathless Lands, and the waters flowed down into it, and the noise and smoke of the cataracts went up to heaven, and the world was shaken. And all the fleets of the Numenoreans were drawn down into the abyss, and they were drowned and swallowed up for ever.”

“There came a mighty wind and a tumult of the earth, and the sky reeled, and the hills slid, and Numenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and its balls and its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things painted and carven, and its lore: they vanished for ever. And last of all the mounting wave, green and cold and plumed with foam, climbing over the land…” And the world has changed.

Only those who stayed faithful to the Valar was reminded about forthcoming cataclysm. They sailed to Middle-earth on ships and founded several kingdoms their: Gondor, Arnor and Eriador…

This legend intertwines with the Bible Great Flood. As in the Bible we can see the sin of men and retribution for it. As in the Bible water swallowed the sinners. And as in the bible there are some people, who stayed faithful and who was saved and prized for their faith.

How the world changed

When Eru punished men in Numenor and destroyed the island, he changed the whole world as well: “But the land of Aman and Eressлa (the islands of
Valinor) of the Eldar were taken away and removed beyond the reach of Men for ever. And Andor, the Land of Gift, Numenor of the Kings, Elenna of the
Star of Eдrendil, was utterly destroyed. For it was nigh to the east of the great rift, and its foundations were overturned, and it fell and went down into darkness, and is no more. And there is not now upon Earth any place abiding where the memory of a time without evil is preserved. For Iluvatar cast back the Great Seas west of Middle-earth, and the Empty Lands east of it, and new lands and new seas were made; and the world was diminished, for
Valinor and Eressлa were taken from it into the realm of hidden things.”

Before the fall of Numenor the Earth was flat, but Eru changed her:

“Thus in after days, what by the voyages of ships, what by lore and star-craft, the kings of Men knew that the world was indeed made round”

By this episode Tolkien managed to conciliate two archaic theories about the form of our planet. He intended that at first the Earth was flat and then changed its form. Of course it is just a myth, but who knows, maybe it was really so…

About wars

In “The Silmarillion”, in “The Lord Of The Rings” and even in “The
Hobbit” we can see wars. In his works Tolkien shows us real war with its blood, pain and cruelty. Why does he pay so much attention to War? The answer is simple. In 1916 he was in army and took part in the battle of the
Somme (France). Many of his friends fell in this battle. There Tolkien saw all sides of the war. This period of his life influenced on his creative work very much. That is why we can see so many wars in the books of the professor.

Conclusion

Well, I think, that now, when I have studied many reasons and roots of different characters of “The Silmarillion”, “The Hobbit” and “The Lord Of
The Rings”, I understood Tolkiens philosophy and his views on things a little bit deeper. But the views of the Professor on such events, as I have mentioned in my work, can’t be named allegory, because Tolkien himself always declined the presence of any kind of allegory in his books. But the method of his viewing can be called “myth-poetical method”. In his “The
Silmarillion” and “The Lord Of The Rings” we can see all sings of myth- poetical space, which makes the book fantastic, historical, mythable, poetical and very informative. Besides, “The Lord Of The Rings” is very real and vital. And there is no such question for me, on which I couldn’t find an answer in it.

Well, to my mind, my own experience in the sphere of literature, tolkienism and just life experience is enough to advise you to read this book. I think, after such reading, you wouldn’t forget it!
List of used literature

1. J.R.R.Tolkien “The Silmarillion”

2. J.R.R.Tolkien “The Lord Of The Rings”

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