Númenor: How the Greatest Empire Sank Beneath the Sea
The Red Book
42,971 views
The story of Númenor is not just one of cataclysmic destruction, but of slow and inevitable decay — a civilisation that rose in splendour, only to fall through pride, fear, and envy. The island kingdom, once a gift of the Valar, turned its face from the West and sought immortality through rebellion.
In this final episode of The Red Book Podcast, I trace Númenor’s long descent into shadow: from its noble beginnings and golden age to the dark days of corruption, the worship of Melkor, and the fateful folly that brought about its doom.
📖 Chapters:
00:00 – The Red Book Podcast Introduction
01:06 – Númenor: The Downfall of a Kingdom
03:04 – The Founding of Númenor
05:17 – Númenor: Before the Fall
18:31 – End of Part I
19:02 – The Shadow of Númenor Appears
22:37 – The Oppression of Middle-earth
24:55 – The King’s Men & The Faithful
26:52 – The Shadow Darkens
30:29 – Tar-Palantir & Ar-Pharazôn
35:30 – End of Part II
36:01 – Sauron & the Númenóreans
39:31 – The New God of Númenor
42:27 – Sauron the Deceiver
47:00 – The Worship of Melkor
50:03 – End of Part III
50:34 – The Ban of the Valar
51:54 – The Undying Lands...
55:30 – The Doom of Men
57:46 – The Nature of the Incarnates
59:10 – A Blessing In Disguise
1:03:20 – The Downfall of Númenor
1:05:52 – The Action and Inaction of the Valar
1:10:30 – The Red Book Podcast Outro/Artist Credits
📕 Support the Channel:
Patreon – Patreon: theredbook
YouTube Memberships – @theredbook
Members-Only Videos – Playlist
🤝🏼 Supporters:
Valinor 🟡 Patricia, Dovid Albright, Moses Gunn, ncv1993, Seraphim38, Victus Schmmidtt, Brandon Howells, Lynn Seguin
Gondor 🟣 Echo Aerwynna, Grant Erickson, Joe Raffurty, Master of Dungeons, T B, steve b
Khazad-dûm 🔴 Carson Miller, Catherine G White, Zachary Lute, Nima, Jim Loughlin, Sko, VoxPhantom, Connor Mulders, Ess Jay Dubs, Andreas Gartland, Matt Carnevall, Michael Nørrelykke, Gareth
Gondolin 🟢 Nathan, Bianca Hagenberg, Brandon Howells (again !), Patricia (again !)
Erebor 🟠 Lynn Seguin (again !), Elizabeth Carroll, Aaron Boe
📚 On-Screen Notes & 🎨 Artwork:
All artists, images, and links to sources can be found here:
👉 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
🖼️ Thumbnail Art:
Númenor Throne Room — Christopher Nelson
https://christophernelson.artstation.com
🎵 Audio:
All music used is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
“Mittelalterliche Liebe”
Frank Schröter
Facebook: frank.schroeter.52
“Thunderbird”, “Tempting Secrets”
Kevin MacLeod
https://incompetech.com
❗ Disclaimer:
All videos are the result of my own research into the works of Tolkien unless otherwise stated. Permission and/or licences have been obtained for the use of copyrighted material. All scripts and editing are my own work and property, and no AI tools have been used to create this video.
20 Comments
I love that Elendil is a descendant of the first, first born woman who could not obtain power and was passed over for her younger brother. The abdications of succeeding queens, and greedy kings’ holding on to power as long as possible, is quite interesting.
I wonder if Melkor had never come to Eä, would Men have had the issue of their hröa not dying, similar to the hypothetical of them living in Aman. I imagine the Valar would have lived in Almaren with the elves eventually retreating there and men living outside. It seems the issue is more about the world in Aman being unchanging rather than it being free of Melkor, and by giving Men their own region beyond Almaren, they would be able to change amongst themselves and thus die naturally.
If that is the case, then I wonder if it would have been viable for Men to be born and live in Valinor if they were given their own community and freedom to change. I can see how it would be an issue though for the Valar and Elves to continue to interact with them indefinitely as they would be a force of stagnation for men and could always bring up that envy. Though if never exposed to any element of Melkor I wonder if envy over deathlessness would be a thing. And if it is, then that would imply that there would have been strife and envy even in a world without Melkor. Which I suppose makes sense. If Melkor can fall due to free will then a world without him can fall too.
Númenor: How the Greatest Empire Sank Beneath the Sea
The Red Book
42,971 views
The story of Númenor is not just one of cataclysmic destruction, but of slow and inevitable decay — a civilisation that rose in splendour, only to fall through pride, fear, and envy. The island kingdom, once a gift of the Valar, turned its face from the West and sought immortality through rebellion.
In this final episode of The Red Book Podcast, I trace Númenor’s long descent into shadow: from its noble beginnings and golden age to the dark days of corruption, the worship of Melkor, and the fateful folly that brought about its doom.
📖 Chapters:
00:00 – The Red Book Podcast Introduction
01:06 – Númenor: The Downfall of a Kingdom
03:04 – The Founding of Númenor
05:17 – Númenor: Before the Fall
18:31 – End of Part I
19:02 – The Shadow of Númenor Appears
22:37 – The Oppression of Middle-earth
24:55 – The King’s Men & The Faithful
26:52 – The Shadow Darkens
30:29 – Tar-Palantir & Ar-Pharazôn
35:30 – End of Part II
36:01 – Sauron & the Númenóreans
39:31 – The New God of Númenor
42:27 – Sauron the Deceiver
47:00 – The Worship of Melkor
50:03 – End of Part III
50:34 – The Ban of the Valar
51:54 – The Undying Lands...
55:30 – The Doom of Men
57:46 – The Nature of the Incarnates
59:10 – A Blessing In Disguise
1:03:20 – The Downfall of Númenor
1:05:52 – The Action and Inaction of the Valar
1:10:30 – The Red Book Podcast Outro/Artist Credits
📕 Support the Channel:
Patreon – Patreon: theredbook
YouTube Memberships – @theredbook
Members-Only Videos – Playlist
🤝🏼 Supporters:
Valinor 🟡 Patricia, Dovid Albright, Moses Gunn, ncv1993, Seraphim38, Victus Schmmidtt, Brandon Howells, Lynn Seguin
Gondor 🟣 Echo Aerwynna, Grant Erickson, Joe Raffurty, Master of Dungeons, T B, steve b
Khazad-dûm 🔴 Carson Miller, Catherine G White, Zachary Lute, Nima, Jim Loughlin, Sko, VoxPhantom, Connor Mulders, Ess Jay Dubs, Andreas Gartland, Matt Carnevall, Michael Nørrelykke, Gareth
Gondolin 🟢 Nathan, Bianca Hagenberg, Brandon Howells (again !), Patricia (again !)
Erebor 🟠 Lynn Seguin (again !), Elizabeth Carroll, Aaron Boe
📚 On-Screen Notes & 🎨 Artwork:
All artists, images, and links to sources can be found here:
👉 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
🖼️ Thumbnail Art:
Númenor Throne Room — Christopher Nelson
https://christophernelson.artstation.com
🎵 Audio:
All music used is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
“Mittelalterliche Liebe”
Frank Schröter
Facebook: frank.schroeter.52
“Thunderbird”, “Tempting Secrets”
Kevin MacLeod
https://incompetech.com
❗ Disclaimer:
All videos are the result of my own research into the works of Tolkien unless otherwise stated. Permission and/or licences have been obtained for the use of copyrighted material. All scripts and editing are my own work and property, and no AI tools have been used to create this video.