Númenor: When Men Invaded Heaven | Tolkien's Second Age

In the Second Age, the Valar raised the island of Númenor as a reward for Men who fought against Morgoth, blessing them with extended lifespans of 200-300 years and placing them halfway between Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. Yet this very blessing became their curse - proximity to visible paradise intensified their fear of death rather than their gratitude. Over fifteen centuries, the Shadow gradually fell: kings refused to relinquish power, Elvish languages were banned, and the people split between the King's Men and the persecuted Faithful. When Ar-Pharazôn the Golden sailed to humble Sauron, the Dark Lord surrendered deliberately, allowing himself to be taken as prisoner to Númenor. Within three years he became the King's chief counselor, establishing the Temple to Morgoth where human sacrifices burned on altars of fire. Feeding Ar-Pharazôn's terror of aging, Sauron convinced him that immortality could be seized by conquering Valinor itself. The Great Armament sailed west, and Ar-Pharazôn set foot on the Blessed Realm's shores in the ultimate act of hubris. The Valar, forbidden to harm the Children of Ilúvatar, laid down their authority and called upon Ilúvatar himself, who opened a chasm in the sea, drowned the fleet, and buried Ar-Pharazôn under falling hills. The Great Wave swallowed Númenor entirely, and Ilúvatar bent the world from flat to round, removing Aman from mortal reach forever. Yet nine ships of the Faithful, led by Elendil and bearing the White Tree seedling and the seven palantíri, were carried to Middle-earth on the wings of the storm, founding the Realms in Exile that would endure three thousand years until Aragorn reclaimed the throne.