A New J.R.R. Tolkien Collection Gathers the Author’s Writings on Middle-earth’s Second Age

With Prime Video’s prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power arriving in early September, it stands to reason there’ll be a renewed interest in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings on Middle-earth’s Second Age. So the timing is perfect for The Fall of Númenor, which gathers all of Tolkien’s works on the subject.

The writings were initially edited by the author’s son Christopher Tolkien, with this new volume also tapping writer and Tolkien expert Brian Sibley as well as acclaimed artist Alan Lee to build on that. “Since the first publication of The Silmarillion 45 years ago, I have passionately followed Christopher Tolkien’s meticulous curation and scholarship in publishing a formidable history of his father’s writings on Middle-earth,” Sibley said in a HarperCollins press release. “I am honored to be adding to that authoritative library with The Fall of Númenor. I hope that, in drawing together many of the threads from the tales of the Second Age into a single work, readers will discover—or rediscover—the rich tapestry of characters and events that are a prelude to the drama of the War of the Ring as is told in The Lord of the Rings.”

According to the publisher, “Using ‘The Tale of Years’ in The Lord of the Rings as a starting point, Brian Sibley has assembled from the various published texts in a way that tells for the very first time in one volume the tale of the Second Age of Middle-earth, whose events would ultimately lead to the Third Age, and the War of the Ring, as told in The Lord of the Rings.”

Here’s a look at the cover for the book with illustrations from Lee, who won the Best Production Design Academy Award in 2004 for his work on The Lord of the Rings films.

The Fall of Númenor is set for publication in November 15. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres September 2 on Prime Video.

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