What is the History of Middle-Earth? - From Creation to the Rise of Numenor LORE DOCUMENTARY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ส.ค. 2022
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In this lore documentary we explore the lore of Tolkien wich eventually gives rise to the Second Age of Middle-Earth. We begin with a look at the creation story of the Ainulindalë where Eru Iluvatar and the Ainur sung the world into being. We then cover the forming of the world of Arda and the great struggles between the Valar and Melkor. We then cover the Years of the Trees of Valinor. in this period the First Age begins with the awakening of the Elves in Cuiviénen. The documentary then explores how they traveled to Aman and eventually came to form powerful kingdoms. Eventually however Melkor rises once more to throw the world into chaos.
We cover his plots to seed unrest among the evils with a plot that culminates in the destruction of the Two Trees and the stealing of the Silmarils. Next the Noldor, lead by Feanor, wage their fateful War of the Jewels against Melkor. This epic struggle lasts centuries and ultimately climaxes in one of the most destructive wars in the History of Middle Earth. In its aftermath Baleriand is sunk and the Isle of Elenna is formed. Thus does the Second Age of Middle Earth begin. We set the stage for this next era with the Rise of Numenor and the planting of seeds that will eventually see their destruction.
I hope that this lore explanation for the Second Age serves as a useful primer for the Rings of Power series and your own interest in the wider lore of Tolkien's work. Let us know what episodes you would like to see covered next!
Credits
Research = Invicta
Writing = Invicta
Narration = Guy Michaels
Maps = L'arpenteur Cartography
Art = Penta Limited
#history
#lordoftherings
#ringsofpower
![The History of Sauron [COMPILATION] | Tolkien Explained](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8IqAN1Of70k/mqdefault.jpg)
![The History of Sauron [COMPILATION] | Tolkien Explained](/img/tr.png)
I would watch an entire docu-series in this fashion. No streaming service compares to the quality of these videos.
With you support we can make that a reality! A few bucks on our Patreon goes a long way (plus you get art downloads!)
Yes!
@@InvictaHistory yay do it do it do it!
@@InvictaHistory I would love to see such a series aswell
@@InvictaHistory Your video on the First and Second Ages is unironically better than the Amazon Prime _Rings of Power_ series you're obviously trying to tie in with.
Tolkien didn't so much make a history for his stories.
He made stories to flesh out his history.
And he made a history to flesh out his language 😅
Well put
his primary intention however was always to make a story
@@maxion5109 Of course, which makes his commitment to ironclad worldbuilding all the MORE impressive really
@@samwill7259 I think he started with a pretty basic story (The Hobbit) and then it gained a life of its own as he began the LOTR series of books. This explains why the Simillarion is so hard for some to read. It is essentially a history textbook based on his notes for LOTR, and if you are not invested in the characters in it, you have to all but take notes to follow the story.
This is one of the best representations of the beginning of the Silmarillion I've ever seen.
Well done. It's a shame the first age has to be rushed as it is, but I get it. As a Tolkien fan, I say well done!
We had a lot of ground to cover. We may be able to a deeper dive episode in the future
@@InvictaHistory you might want to focus on the fact that Morgoth was barely defeated in the War of the Powers by Tulkas, and how Sauron was an unusually powerful Maiar that got empowered even furthered by Morgoth and was taught dark magic by him. There is a reason why Morgoth let Sauron take care of the War matters while he left to corrupt the newly awakened race of men.
@@InvictaHistory Amazing work, and I agree that I’m interested in seeing content on the early First Age, like the roles of the Ainur and Maiar in creation and teaching the first elves, and some details on the war of the powers and war of wrath. There are so many epic scenes in Tolkien’s work that would be great to see
Too bad the show doesnt follow any of it lmao
except when he said they beheaded melkor. they actually cut his feet off. not his head
Alright folks! This was a huge lift but well worth the sleepless nights. What do you think and what should we cover next? (P.S. you can grab prints of the awesome maps here: printerpanther.com/collections/invicta)
Growing up Spartan!
How about something historical?
Communication and language among the germanic tribes !
Mistborn or the deep history of the Cosmere.
Fantastic job on this one btw. Really impressive!
You totally skipped right over the lamps…? Before the trees…
Honestly Id love nothing more than if you did a series of Lord of The Rings Troop break down videos going over history, equipment, and tactics like you have done with the other Units from Rome, Carthage, Greece, Vikings, etc. PLEASE DO!
We've got that in the works actually!
@@InvictaHistory sweet i look forward too it, the Rangers of Arnor and the Rohirrim Infantry/Cavalry are my favorite.
@@InvictaHistory Swan Knights of Dol Amroth, The Armies of Numenor and their descendants of Arnor...
Did you ever make this video? That is a good idea actually lol I'd like to know all of that myself.
Enjoyed this more than the first two episodes of Rings of Power
Skipped over the lamps a bit, but other than that very nice.
EDIT: Just to add the map has a bit much desert. Eastern Rhovanion is meant to be vast grassland, and the coast of Harad to Umbar isn't all desert either.
I second that
Came here for this comment. Too bad the lamps were skipped
I agree, and Umbar had a Mediterranean climate and vegetation, Tolkien attests that it would be at a latitude similar to that of Cyprus, a more semi-arid or arid climate might be found further inland to the east or south.
Also Melkor wasn't beheaded as stated. Few mistakes, but over all a good introductory summary for beginners
A great brief overview of perhaps the greatest work of fiction in human history.
You could do an entire series focusing on individual events.
Small correction: The Kingdom of Eregion was ruled by Celebrimbor, not Celeborn and Galadriel.
When the Kingdom of Eregion was built, by this time Celeborn and Galadriel were already living near Lake Nenuial, only after some time they came to Eregion and lived there for some time.
@@dinadanalcedines628 I got your point.
I would say that it is not wrong to say that during some time Celeborn and Galadriel may have ruled the Kingdom of Eregion with Celebrimbor, not as rulers but more as some kind of advisers to Celebrimbor, as their counsel, would be appreciated as they were wise and of noble houses of the elves (not to mention that Celebrimbor is a distant cousin of Galadriel).
And it is pronounced “Keleborn”.
proly its fake in the series too
Dork
You forget that there are many conflicting versions of Galadriel and Celeborn's history. In Unfinished Tales, Galadriel and Celeborn are the ones that establish Eregion (around S.A. 700) and Celeborn goes with them. Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mirdain eventually stage a coup and oust them at a later time.
In this timeline (which many people consider the most satisfying), Galadriel and Celeborn dwell by Lake Nenuial for 700 years, lead the Ñoldor near Khazad-dûm when they hear about mithril, and establish Eregion together. Celebrimbor helps build Ost-in-Edhil around the year 750, and then creates the Gwaith-i-Mirdain. Annatar comes in much later, Galadriel doesn't trust him, the Mirdain and Celebrimbor oust her and take control of Eregion, she leaves for Lorinand with her daughter, and then Celebrimbor eventually repents once he realizes who Annatar is and gives her one of the Rings.
This was honestly a really illuminating explanation of this lore, I had known about it before but this helped actually visualize it. Great artwork too!
More care and love put into this than the Amazon "series".
Lots of care was put into the Amazon series. You're just misunderstanding where the care was most focused. You're very correct that Invicta put more love into this and all his videos than went into the rubbish made by Amazon.
@@VainerCactus0 lots of "effort" was put into that. Not care. Lots of something indeed was put into it, but not care. I believe Tolkien would be against bastardizing the word "care" to make a point against those bastardizing his efforts.
@@dtice69 Fair point.
Bravo Invicta team! This is such a high standard of content! Love y’all
You should really do the whole series / books like this . Excellent job mate !
I love this! Such a clean and easy summary of the early ages of Tolkien's Work!
I hope you can make more content like this.
This might very well be the best resume of the Silmarillion on TH-cam. Although the creation of the first lights on Arda is omitted, first were the great lamps at the north and south of Middle Earth, and only after their destruction by Melkor were the trees of Valinor created.
Ilúvatar be praised!
All hail Eru-Ilúvatar for he has given us Tolkien to fight for!
The history of Middle Earth is so epic. This was amazing recap with spectacular artwork. Great video!!
Honestly, a documentary style like this for the First Age would be amazing! I've seen your Avenging Varus series and I know that you guys are capable of it.
This is a mostly very good representation of the Silmarillion, but some things are glossed over if not outright ignored, and while the key events are mentioned, the significance of them, tends to be lost. I know there's only so much that can be done in 26 minutes, but a newcomer to this lore is, I feel, short-changed and would be left wondering 'what is that?' and 'why is that a thing?'. As usual... read the book, is the best recommendation I can possibly make.
This channel always produces high quality work. You nailed it again. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the next video
Beautiful video, keep up the amazing work!
Great work man!
This was very refreshing! The motion art, the script, the music. Very well done. More of the same please 🙏
Love your fictional history videos as well as the real ones! After all, fictional history derives its motifs and pieces from the real thing, so creating a well built fictional universe requires the writer to know their real world history and mythology.
Me too!
Love the artwork and attention to detail. Great vid!
Amazing content as always! Just one correction, at 5:34 it should have been said: "lesser Ainu" instead of "lesser Vala".
I absolutely love the narration and the pictures displayed. Keep up the good work.
This is a great summary for the silmarillion. People who haven't or hasn't yet read the books could still enjoy this. Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you for the video!
Beautiful video, thank you!
Wonderful short history of the Second Age !
Absolutely loved the art work!! And the video! The everything! The voice over, spectacular as always! Loved it
Wow incredible presentation, thank you so much for this repeated brilliance. Love this channel.
In addition to being a great reformer who would bring law and order in a scenario of cultural decay after the War of Wrath, I think Sauron saw himself as a Promethean figure who would lift Humanity out of cultural prehistory and technological ignorance: The Silmarillion says that the men of the East and South built cities of stone and had access to metallurgical knowledge.
And bringing economic benefits: he proved himself a good economist in Númenor by multiplying the Island's wealth.
Furthermore, he had to see himself as a deity of a great world unification: a single theocratic government, a technocratic political-economic system and a religious reformer to bring true belief through dogmatic ideas.
This religious engineering reminds me (in some ways) of Gnosticism: a liberating god (Melkor) to rid rational beings of "Archons" (Valar) from a "Demiurgic monster" (Eru) who imprisoned everyone in a world of war and death. Interesting that Sauron spoke this of Melkor in the Second Age, but later he claimed to be Melkor in the Third Age.
He's the ultimate epitome of "the ends justify the means" carried out to its most brutal logical endpoint
Not to mention he was originally a Maiar of Tulkas, the Vala of smithing and craftsmanship. He's basically the mythological version of Ultron to Tony Stark
@@theramblingmoore-on He was a Maiar of Aule, not Tulkas*
That was wonderful - great job! Liked and subscribed - look forward to watching more in the weeks to come.
This was excellent! Thank you 👍
Outstanding summary of the First and Second Ages. Concise and instructive. I truly appreciated the map of Middle Earth with each race/tribe that populated the regions. Thank you for putting in the effort to synthesize so much information/lore into an understandable video.
This was so good! I would watch the hell out of a series like this.
the art of this video is so great !
Fantastic content, I need more!
Love coming across these little nutshell videos before I dive in to the series, because it's been literally 2 decades since i read the Silmarillion, and i remember it being a very very very dense read.
the art, as always, is exquisite!!!! the panel showing Morgoth and Fingolfin is specially awesome!!
Amazing! This is the best Middle Earth creation video I have seen so far! This documentation does justice to the work of Tolkien. Well done! SUBSCRIBED
Spectacular thanks!
Thanks.
I'd read all or most of Tolkien's works on this but it was really nice to have it all presented in this way, especially since since I read a lot of that 40 years ago.
.
Best video Ove ever seen on the subject. excellent job.
These illustrations are incredible !
Yeah man - looks like a good use of Midjourney to me. Smart!
I’m just gonna watch it because of an incredibly beautiful over picture, that’s just so precise and on point 👌
What a deep and enlightening documentary. The art work is amazing. The narration was enthralling and the writing was superb. You can see why Tolkien was the father of modern fantasy. So deep. If only the Amazon team had taken the time to read the work. They could have easily included diversity and have been all inclusive if they had only appreciated the work they are meddling with.
What a basic introduction to middle earth.
Well done. Now we need more
Interesting that Ar-pharazôn's adventure had a Numenorean steampunk version in the history of middle earth:
"The teaching of Sauron has led to the invention of ships of metal that traverse the seas without sails, but which are hideous in the eyes of those who have not abandoned or forgotten Tol-eressea; to the building of grim fortresses and unlovely towers; and to missiles that pass with a noise like thunder to strike their targets many miles away.”
(-History of Middle-earth 5, The Númenórean chapters, Chapter IV)"
It may even be figurative language, but "and to missiles that pass with a noise like thunder to strike their targets many miles away." Rockets? Many miles away?
"And behold what hath happened since, step by step, At first he revealed only secrets of craft, and taught the making of many powerful and wonderful things; and they seemed good. metal that sheareth hidden rocks, and they sink not in calm or storm; but they are no longer fair to look upon. Our towers grow ever stronger and climb ever higher, but beauty they leave behind upon earth. with impregnable fortresses - and mostly on the West. Men covet, therefore, the lands that other families have long possessed. They fret as men in chains."
So are these Metal Ships ironclads? It's noticeable that: I - the construction of metal ships, powered by propulsion (I think by steam):
"Our ships go now without the wind, and many are made of metal that sheareth hidden rocks, and they sink not in calm or storm; but they are no longer fair to look upon."
Sounds like Tolkien leaned a little into his WW1 experiences for these passages that did not really make it into the cannon.
Tolkien's worldview revolved around an ever-increasing decline in the Fall from Grace of the natural order of things initially put in place by the gods of Middle Earth, though that "pantheon" is more akin to the Christian interpretation of God assisted by his angels (or thwarted by Satan and demons, such as Morgoth and Sauron, respectively).
A recurring then in his work across his Ages, whether it concern Man or Elf or Dwarf, is the ever-increasing corruption brought upon by accumulating power and wealth. This often coincided with advances in technology: such as Feanor mastering the art of crafting to rival the ability of the gods, with the Silmarils; or the rise of the power of Numenor to be so great, that Sauron's orcs fled at the mere sight of their armies and technology, leading to Sauron's surrender in before being led back as trophy to Numenor in chains.
The tower of Orthanc, Saruman's citadel in the center of Isengard, was a mere watch tower for them during their time of imperialistic subjugation of all the peoples of Middle Earth; yet it was impervious the the Ents, who couldn't even scratch the surface despite a handful ripping an entire dam apart.
I think one of the things Jackson best captured in his movies was this theme with how Saruman approached the raising of his army "worthy of Mordor," as since he was the leader of the Istari and "most learned" that also meant he had access to more Numenorean knowledge, lore, and technology then anyone alive besides Sauron. This is confirmed in the (I think extended version of) the films when he just casually opens a book sitting on his desk and sees the Ring of Barahir, the most important artifact of the Numenoreans who stayed faithful to the gods of light besides Narsil, the Blade That Was Broken.
If Saruman just happens to have that laying around his desk at any given moment, it's fair to assume that the assembly lines of forges powered and cooled by dams were crude attempts at recreating lost Numenorean technology; again backed up by the fact he was the only one to ever use gunpowder to breach Helm's Deep, another fortress originally built by Numenor and impervious to all other forms of attack.
Due to his time in the trenches of WW1, it's easy to see why Tolkien was against the relentless march of technology regardless of the cost to nature and life of all kinds, since nearly all of his childhood friends were lost in that brutal meat grinder. Silver linings of the dark cloud though, is that he saw the best of humanity in the "lowest" of British society; simple, unassuming, kind, yet ultimately valiant and fearless enlisted men coming from the shires of England's countryside willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of their country and companions. There's a reason why The Shire's name is so on the nose, when Tolkien normally buries his names and intentions in layers of meaning and multilingual word play.
He wanted it to be painfully clear that those who live simple lives connected to nature, living the old ways, will always triumph against seemingly hopeless odds when striving against evils strengthened by the relentless march of technology. His world existed in cycles, and he said we lived in either the 7th or 8th Age of Middle Earth, so it stands to reason that Numenor could have easily reached steampunk levels of technology, and then some; before the very thing that gave them strength ultimately caused their downfall.
He was a big believer in the danger of hubris, and the Tale of Icarus from Greek mythology most closely correlates to this view; the higher the technological achievement, the closer it gets to the level of the gods by attempting to master creation through the study of science, the worse the burn and the harder the fall. Hence Numenor sinking into the sea like Atlantis.
For a movie/book example people probably miss, they literally were the only ones to invent weapons capable of killing ghosts, which is why Merry was able to inflict a blow removing the immortality of the Witch King before Eowyn struck the killing blow. In the books, it's made abundantly clear that the Westernesse (Numenoreans) were the only ones to ever develop technology that could literally unbind whatever it is holding spirits together in relatively-physical form.
So we're not just talking steam punk tech, we're talking Ghostbusters level tech that just happens to be in the form of a dagger, versus a glorified vacuum cleaner lol
Are these the actual words of Tolkien? They seem a bit out of place with everything else i've read in the lore.
@@Matt_Alaric Darth Gandalf made a video on one of tolkien's concepts of a steampunk numenor
@@RandomVidsforthought Does he quote where Tolkien says these things?
Amazing arts and explanation. I've known middle earth's lore only from films & games, thus I generally thought that middle earth's world is so empty and dark, but this vid changes that. Great work!
Awesome video. Highly recommend to others as we wait for more like this.
Beautiful work, I’m really impressed
Great episode!
This is excellent. Done perfectly.
TYVM it was much better than what I’ve seen lately.
This is fantastic!! Please do a second part to cover the rest of the fall of Nùmenor and the creation of the rings of power and the founding of the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor.
This was excellent!
Thanks a million, please make more!
Excellent as always Invicta :)
Amazing video bro
Yes! Yes! Yes! LET'S GO!!! BEST documentary channel covers BEST fictional work ever!!!
really cool video. need more, so good.
Another amazing video. Great quality maps is what really caught my attention. For sure very inspirational and hoping to see more of this in the future!!
Wonderful video!
Excellent video! I hope you'll do a follow-up on the rest of the Second Age next! And eventually the Third Age :)
I’m excited for this show and HotD. Very detailed video thanks
Only knew about the movies, loving the lore.
Great video, thanks! 😊
This is so good! The dune and Star Wars series have been great! The voice actor’s voice is just so hypnotic !
Unbelievable video … Tysm
Great video!!
Awesome video!!!
Great video thank you so much!
i've been looking forward to this
I love the narrators voice. It's very calming
The art is beautiful holy crap
I rarely get excited for stuff these days, but this video almost made me have butterflies in my stomach!
Your videos of Warhammer are interesting and they made me a Warhammer fan! Greetings from Mexico!
The art in this one
Love the video!
Pizza and coke and now an invicta upload!! This day just keeps getting better
Crazy how one high class youtube video can do more to respect the work of tolkien than an expensive excuse of a show(Rings of power)
The lamps of Iluin and Ormal, they were created by the Valar and came before the two trees to light Arda. An important point I think.
Very nice video!
You always have beautiful art to go with the video!
We make it available for our Patrons to download: www.patreon.com/InvictaHistory
This was an awesome video ! Thank you , you are extremely talented . If you could continue the history lesson up until present time , and hint at your ideas of what you think Tolkien alluded to as the new threat about 100 years post Aragorn being accepted as King of Gondor that would be some really interesting content.
This channel is pure Gold
Continue this series.
I really enjoyed Invicta's video on the history of Dune, which made me want to watch this great video on the history of Middle Earth. Both Dune and Middle Earth are great examples of impressive world building.
This makes me want to visit the classic film trilogy immediately, and to have notes at the ready!
I Love Middle Earth and I Enjoy These Videos. I've Got My Opinions Of What I See And Hear Through These Stories Of The Happenings. Can't Help But Feel This History. Some Prefer To Say Fiction. But I Feel A Deeper Sense Throughout the Middle Earth Books and I Feel An Understanding. I'm Not Here To Persuade People. I'm Here To Listen To The Teachings and The Messages.
When you start "We shall sing of these events" I know its good research has been done :)
I want a continuation from here till after saurons fall, I enjoyed this immensely
Please make a continuing detail of more videos on Tolkien.
After seeing Rings of power this helped a bit thank you!!
This is amazing 🔥😱 OMG, please make the Third Age 😍
These illustrations looking beautiful if only Amazon had used something like this the armor looks great
You should have taken a lot of money from Amazon for this video. It’s priceless good. The artwork and animations are beautiful and smooth. And the history is precise as much as I can tell.