Ar-Pharazôn
The reign of the last of the kings of Númenor was the culmination of centuries of decline, a nosedive that ended with the worst of fates for the Númenóreans.
In Tolkien’s universe, the corruption of power is a constant theme, often triggering significant events in the history of Arda. No being was safe from suffering this thirst for power; Melkor himself, an Ainur, was corrupted by this desire.
That perverse arm reached out to all the races of Middle-earth. Some of the most extraordinary Elves suffered in their flesh the influence of greed, which, mixed with misfortune, would mark their lives and the fate of their people. But where the corruption of power wreaked most havoc was among the Men, who were capable of the most remarkable feats and the worst calamities.
Even the most incredible Men that ever existed, the royalty of Númenor, ended up falling into the clutches of this atrocious hunger for domination.
This happened to Ar-Pharazôn, who became the most powerful of all the Númenórean kings and, simultaneously, the worst of those who ruled the island. His long reign of more than 64 years was a period in which the greatness of Númenor reached its highest heights, at the same time that decadence corroded the entrails of its civilization to end with the worst of endings.
Born in the year 3118 of the Second Age, Ar-Pharazhôn was the grandson of King Ar-Gimilzôr and nephew of King Tar-Palantir. Although heir to the throne, his cousin Míriel (daughter of Tar-Palantir) was first in the line of succession. When the king finally died, Pharazôn skipped all the laws of Númenor that forbade marriages between relatives of equal or lesser rank than second-degree cousins.
Thus, upon the death of Tar-Palantir in the year 3255 of the Second Age, Pharazôn conspired from his position as royal advisor and forced his cousin Míriel into marriage; he thus usurped the throne, becoming Ar-Pharazôn, 22nd king of Númenor. He renamed his wife Ar-Zimraphel.
In parallel to what was happening on the island of Númenor and with the arrival of Ar-Pharazôn to the throne in Middle-earth, Sauron regained his power after his defeat in the Eregion War centuries ago. His influence in the west became dominant again, and he began to spread southward. In those southern regions, the Númenóreans had several ports and cities founded by them and with which they traded with the continent.
When the king of Númenor received news of these movements, he also received another message: Sauron had proclaimed himself ruler of the world. This irritated Pharazôn, whose ego and airs of grandeur were already very high since the only one with the right to claim himself as such was himself.
Willing not to be humiliated (for that is how he took it), he decided that Númenor would build a fleet as had never been seen before and an army of colossal size. In 3261 of the Second Age, the entire fleet and army set sail for Middle-earth, with King Ar-Pharazôn at their head.
They arrived at the port of Umbar, where the Númenórean army advanced to meet Sauron’s forces. Before any warlike encounter occurred, Ar-Pharazôn sent a delegation with heralds from Númenor to request an audience with Sauron himself. When he saw the size and power of the enemy army, he felt genuine fear for the first time since the War of Wrath. Cowed, he surrendered unconditionally to the messengers and repeated the act of submission to Ar-Pharazôn.
In 3262 of the Second Age, Sauron arrived as a prisoner on the island of Númenor. That was the beginning of the end.
We cannot forget that Sauron was a Maia. Therefore he was immortal and more powerful than any living being that was not a Maiar or the Valar. Sauron’s powers helped him to gain the trust of the arrogant Númenórean king, who gradually began to pay more attention to the advice of his prisoner.
Under the influence of his new personal advisor, Ar-Pharazôn’s reign became ruthless. He demanded tribute from all the regions of Middle-earth where Númenor had colonies. He subjugated countless non-Númenórean Men to pay him obeisance, regardless of the methods or morality.
Also, because of Sauron’s trickery, the King of Númenor abandoned the creed of the Valar and established on the island the cult of Melkor, a dogma that gradually spread to the rest of the Númenóreans. This caused the division of the society into two groups: those loyal to the King and those loyal to the Valar. The latter, called Loyalists, had in the House of Andúnië (linked to the royalty) as their lord, a lineage from which Elendil and Isildur arose.
The decadence continued in Númenor under the rule of Ar-Pharazôn and the manipulations of Sauron in the shadow. A great temple was built in the capital, a place of terror where hundreds of human sacrifices (usually of people suspected of belonging to the Faithful) were performed, all in honor of Melkor.
Because of all this, the longevity of the Númenóreans dwindled at a disastrous rate, which was vital for Sauron’s last great movement and the doom of Ar-Pharazôn and his people.
The King of Númenor was obsessed with death. He knew from the chronicles of previous kings that the Númenórean people had lost longevity over time. The kingship descended from Elros, brother of Elrond, who decided to become a Man instead of an Elf after the War of Wrath. The Valar gave the Men who fought to defeat Melkor an island (Númenor) and a much longer life than the rest of the Men of Middle-earth. The Númenórean royalty still had more years to live.
Over time, the population of Númenor mixed with people from the colonies in Middle-earth, thus decreasing their longevity. That factor also reached the kings, who gradually saw how their lives were lasting less and less with every few generations.
Ar-Pharazôn knew of this significant problem, which became his main fear. With the arrival of Sauron and the new cult of Melkor, Númenor fell prey to diseases and shorter and shorter lives, which increased the King’s terror.
In this context, Ar-Pharazôn began to receive advice from Sauron about demanding from the Valar that the Men of Númenor deserved immortality in the same way that the Elves enjoyed it; they hid the lands of Aman from them so as not to have to grant them eternal life. The inordinate ego and fear of death embraced such reasoning with unusual force, and Ar-Pharazôn became convinced that he should demand such immortality for himself and his people.
Númenor began in the year 3310 of the Second Age the construction of the so-called Great Armament, a naval military force without equal, the largest ever built up to that time (much larger than the fleet with which Ar-Pharazôn captured Sauron). The Faithful did not participate in that enterprise and took refuge northeast of the island.
When the fleet was finished, in 3319 of the Second Age, the King of Númenor embarked on his ship (Alcarondas) and sailed west towards the coasts of Aman.
They arrived after 39 days of the voyage, establishing their camps near the city of Túna, at the foot of a great mountain range. From there, Ar-Pharazôn demanded to speak with the Lord of the Valar, Manwë, to claim the gift of eternity for the people of Númenor.
No one responded to the claim, but suddenly the world began to shake. Eru-Ilúvatar, angered by the insolence of Ar-Pharazôn and the Númenóreans, decided to punish them in the harshest way possible. The Imperishable Lands, where the Valar dwelled, were taken out of the sphere of the world. At the same time, the entire fleet of Númenor and the camps of Ar-Pharazôn were buried under the hills, dying instantly, and their remains would dwell there until the end of time.
Ilúvatar also sank Númenor deep into the earth, destroying all Númenórean civilization and destroying the body of Sauron (who had remained on the island), which could never take on a seductive or pleasing appearance. Only a part of the Faithful was saved and took refuge in Middle-earth, where they founded new kingdoms and wrote new historical pages.
Thus ended the life of Ar-Pharazôn, a great king whose fear of death led him hopelessly to meet it.