Ar-Pharazôn

Ar-Pharazôn the Golden was the twenty-fifth and last King of Númenor, and the only figure in Tolkien's legendarium who decided, as a matter of policy, to invade heaven. Born in 3118 of the Second Age, he was a career soldier who bought his popularity with plunder from the coastlands of Middle-earth, then seized the sceptre in 3255 by forcing his cousin Tar-Míriel, the rightful Queen, into a marriage Númenórean law forbade. Six years later he sailed to Umbar and made Sauron kneel. But Sauron never lost that war. He surrendered on purpose, took free passage to Númenor with the One Ring still on his hand, and within three years was sitting in the King's secret counsels. What followed was the felling of the White Tree Nimloth, a temple to Melkor at Armenelos, human sacrifice prosecuted as treason, and a nine-year shipbuilding programme aimed at Valinor. Ar-Pharazôn reached the shore of Aman. Everything he attempted worked, and that is what destroyed him.

Published

6 October 2026

Runtime

34 min 37 sec