Of The Rings of Power and The Third Age - The Third Age

The Third Age

Elrond pleads with Isildur to destroy the ring in the fire of Mount Doom where it was made, but Isildur takes it for his own and declares that it was his and his folk's, a consolation after the enormous losses of the war. Thus the Third Age of Middle-earth begins, with Isildur's fateful decision to keep the Ring of Power, which sets in motions the events that will lead to the War of the Ring. Isildur himself dies soon after in a sudden ambush by a band of Orcs. Isildur tries to escape by putting on the Ring but it betrays him, falling off his finger, and it is lost in the great river Anduin.

Heirs of royal blood are chosen to lead Arnor and Gondor. For a millennium, both realms enjoy relative freedom and prosperity. However afterwards, Arnor became subject to attacks from the north-eastern kingdom of Angmar, a kingdom that was ruled by the Witch-king, leader of the Nazgûl. More and more people flee from the North, and although Angmar is defeated by the beginning of the third millennium of Third Age, Arnor is no more. Its people are scattered, and its royalty decrease in number and fame; however they remain true to their Númenórean descent. They become the Rangers of the North, protecting the paths of the North from the menace from the East.

Meanwhile, Gondor prospers for much of the Third Age. This begins to change in the beginning of its third millennium, however, when Gondor is assailed by Orcs and Men from the nearby Mordor. For a long time, no one suspects that the same force that had driven the attacks upon Arnor is now fighting Gondor.