The lore featured in The Lord Of The Rings franchise is absolutely massive. It’s easily one of the most deeply thought-out worlds ever created, and one thing that makes that fact clear is the various ages that have taken place throughout the incredibly long existence of Middle Earth. The Lord Of The Rings fans will already know some information about the second and third ages just from having viewed the films, but there is so much more information lurking in the background.

There are a lot of mentions of ancient kings and heroes that lived in different ages from the main heroes of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. It’s easy to think that the most significant events were covered by the films, but with how much action, drama, and betrayal goes on in Middle Earth, it only makes sense that there is a lot more to learn.

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What Happened During The First Age?

The First Age of Middle Earth was a unique one in that it saw the creation of the many popular races The Lord Of The Rings fans know and love, and a unique evil in the first dark lord, Morgoth. The Years Of The Trees do technically pre-date the First Age, but that’s a completely different story that more or less acts as the origins of the various mythical figures that lurk in the background of the franchise.

The first age truly began when the Elves finally woke up from their slumber and began to create their own unique community in a dark world, though the Dwarves would awaken soon after. During this time, Morgoth, then known as Melkorm, was setting the standard for evil so that Sauron could blow right past it. He would battle with the Valar and would ultimately be defeated and imprisoned, though that wouldn’t be the last time he’d be a threat. Morgoth would soon be released and begin causing chaos once again, despite beginning an era of darkness, this was when the sun and moon would come into being, something that lead to the awakening of the race of Men.

Morgoth was interested in domination and possession of the coveted Silmarils, but those that opposed him were mighty, leading to centuries of bloody war. Despite Morgoth’s strong armies that included Balrogs and dragons, this age would finally end after he was defeated in the War of Wrath and banished to an endless void by the Valar. The First Age was just a taste of things to come for the world, even if the era did last thousands of years.

What Happened During The Second Age?

While the average person may not know much about the Second Age in The Lord Of The Rings, they will know about how the Second Age ended, as it is the War of the Last Alliance seen at the beginning of The Fellowship Of The Ring. This age had a lot going on, but the biggest thing has to be the major rise to power of Sauron and the creation of the Rings of Power. It may feel as if the Second Age was a bit quicker, but it actually lasted for a few thousand years.

While Sauron rose to power, Numenor was founded and began to rise in power over the next few thousand years. Unfortunately, despite the flourishing of Numenor, the entire land mass would soon be utterly destroyed by a massive flood sent by one of The Lord Of The Ring’s mythical figures. Unsurprisingly, Sauron spent plenty of time meddling and manipulating the people of Numenor in order to further his own dark desires before the kingdom would be sent to ruin.

Sauron’s rise to power at this time was mostly unchallenged due to Men being easy for him to manipulate, and Sauron being so cunning that he was even able to bend Elves to his whims. It was Sauron’s manipulation of the Elves that would lead to the creation of the Rings of Power, a set of magical rings that would allow Sauron to further subjugate powerful people. The Elves would see through the manipulation too late, but it was arguably the Men who got the worst of the ring’s power as those who were tricked would become Sauron’s dreaded Nazgul.

Sauron would eventually engage in war against the people of Middle Earth, but the resolve of the free would prove to be too much. Before Sauron was seemingly destroyed in the War of the Last Alliance, he would actually be defeated in an earlier war with Elves, though he wouldn’t be beaten in the same way. After a major loss, Sauron would try to take Middle Earth once again, only to have his body destroyed by Isildur, thus bringing an end to the Second Age.

What Happened During The Third Age?

The details of the Third Age are well-known due to it being heavily focused on in The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films. The Men of Middle Earth began to thrive during this era, though that would be cut short for some time as Sauron began to rise in power once more. The One Ring would famously be carried by Smeagol (AKA Gollum), Bilbo, and eventually Frodo during this age.

It was Frodo’s long journey that was the focus of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The Fellowship would form and break apart, Aragorn would lead Men against Sauron and eventually become king, and Frodo (along with others from his journey) would eventually head to the Undying Lands after their final victory over Sauron. This Age saw the destruction of the One Ring, forever cleansing Middle Earth of Sauron’s essence.

What Happened During The Fourth Age?

While the Fourth Age was far from perfect, this era was known for the peace that came after the defeat of Sauron in the War of the Ring. Of all the ages that are known, this is the one with the least information available, though how much peace was brought to the land might be a major reason for that. There are various unfinished stories from Tolkien that point to his intent to continue fleshing out his world, but sadly, the details remain scant.

During this era, Aragorn had a lengthy reign as king before he and eventually Arwen would die. Many of the other heroes from the War of the Ring would travel to the Undying lands at various points with names like Samwise Gamgee, Gimli, and Legolas all making the trip. It is a bit sad that the heroes of The Lord Of The Rings die during this age, but some solace exists in the fact that they had good lives after their long journey.

The Lord Of The Rings is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video

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