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APPENDIX B
THE TALE OF YEARS
(chronology of the westlands)
The First Age ended with the Great Battle, in which the Host of
Valinor broke Thangorodrim 1 and overthrew Morgoth. Then
most of the Noldor returned into the Far West 2 and dwelt in
Eressëa within sight of Valinor; and many of the Sindar went
over Sea also.
The Second Age ended with the first overthrow of Sauron,
servant of Morgoth, and the taking of the One Ring.
The Third Age came to its end in the War of the Ring; but the
Fourth Age was not held to have begun until Master Elrond
departed, and the time was come for the dominion of Men and
the decline of all other ‘speaking-peoples’ in Middle-earth. 3
In the Fourth Age the earlier ages were often called the Elder
Days; but that name was properly given only to the days before
the casting out of Morgoth. The histories of that time are not
recorded here.
The Second Age
These were the dark years for Men of Middle-earth, but the
years of the glory of Númenor. Of events in Middle-earth the
records are few and brief, and their dates are often uncertain.
In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still
remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin;
but before the building of the Barad-dûr many of the Sindar
passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far
away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. Thranduil,
king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these. In
1 p. 316.
2 p. 779, The Hobbit, p. 151.
3 p. 1272.