Welcome to the Second Age



Amazon has finally fully (I never saw the point on posting about the map as it was being revealed) revealed their Middle-earth map, as well as a status update: "Welcome to the Second Age."

Worthy of note is the inclusion of Numenor on the map of Middle-earth. This interesting, as most maps of Middle-earth (books, films etc) do not feature as it sinks into the sea during the Second Age, and most maps are of Middle-earth during the Third Age.

There is a whole bunch of information I could pass on, so first I'll refer you to portions of the various books, relating to information about The Second Age, and Numenor itself. I should also add that The Second age was also known as "The Black Years" ('Black' in Tolkien means 'dark' (depression), corrupt, foul, etc.)

IN PRINT:

- in The Return of the King, read through the Appendices
- in The Silmarillion, read Akallabeth (The Downfall of Numenor)
- in Unfinished Tales, read Part Two: The Second Age. Unfinished Tales also "...reproduces the only map of Numenor that J.R.R. Tolkien ever made."
- The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth book / map set by John Howe and Brian Sibley also includes a map of Numenor (exclusive to that set. By that I meant the other 3 were made available separately on their own. Only in this release can you get their tretment of the Numenor map)
- in Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth (illustrated by Ted Nasmith) look up the entries "Numenor" and "Second Age"

ONLINE:

Numenor: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/N%C3%BAmenor
Second Age: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Second_Age

In closing, with The Second age and Numenor being the highlights of the new reveals, I can see the following items existing as tie-in merchandise:

- Map of Numenor (with The Lord of the Rings films (and maybe The Hobbit too...?) we had the Map of Middle-earth. With The Hobbit, we got Thror's Map)

- a 'compilation' book by HarperCollins (hardback? paperback? deluxe???) of various Second Age and Numenor related content, which has already been published, in its own book (much like Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin books). this possible book would be great for newcomers to Middle-earth who have never read Tolkien before, or for those fans who want all the info related to the show in its own dedicated volume.

Pretty interesting stuff at this point - I look forward to following the series as it develops, and will post the significant updates. 

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