The Second Age
In the First Age, the cunning and malevolent being Sauron had been the chief servant of the evil demigod Melkor (later called Morgoth) and he was instrumental in Morgoth's many attempts to become ruler of Middle-earth. At the end of the First Age, the Valar (whose power governs the world) unite with Men and Elves to defeat Morgoth, who is captured and cast into the Void. But Sauron (along with other servants of Morgoth, including Balrogs and dragons) manages to escape his master's downfall. Those men who fought on the side of the Valar are allowed to live on the island of Númenor close to Aman where the Valar live, while Middle-earth itself is largely abandoned to Sauron and his minions at the beginning of the Second Age.
Read more about this topic: Of The Rings Of Power And The Third Age
Famous quotes containing the words the second and/or age:
“Three elements go to make up an idea. The first is its intrinsic quality as a feeling. The second is the energy with which it affects other ideas, an energy which is infinite in the here-and-nowness of immediate sensation, finite and relative in the recency of the past. The third element is the tendency of an idea to bring along other ideas with it.”
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