"Ar-Pharazôn:
from Armenelos to Aman"
Men >
Ar-Pharazon
index > "Ar-Pharazôn: from Armenelos to Aman"
English > original
Italian > French
Aman, the blessed kingdom, where the Valar live
lazing around in Valinor, is the Tolkienan Olympus if we can say that.
Seat of Valmar and Taniquetil, of treated and calm yards, of the great
and severe hall, of the woods free from the vulgar presence of mortal
beings. The time stream cannot be felt, and only ancient tales speak of
them in the Land Beyond the Sea to Elves, Dwarves and Humans.
It is a kingdom where wars and clashes weren't seen
for Ages and no one, not even Melkor and his armies, had the courage to
confront.and to reach the Valinorian shore. In the Tale of Arda there
is only one sovereign who, fatally in the end, moved against Aman. He
is Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, 25th and last king of Numenor.
But before telling the results of the expedition
that in 3319 SA sailed from the Numenorean harbor with black and gold
sails, it is necessary to do an introduction, a preamble, about the
life of the rash and brave king. Reading the Silmarillion we can early
frame the subject. He had already grasped the scepter and sat on the
throne in Armenelos, because he had usurped the throne, forcing queen
Miriel to marry him, and he decided to be called Ar-Pharazôn. He
was the most powerful and superb king that the Realm had ever had, and
his government was centered on wars as nobody else's. No one among the
kings of that age could compete with him.
When he heard about the raids of Sauron in
Middle-earth and, worse, of Sauron's nickname, that is “King of Men”,
the monarch became furious. He resolutely arrived with his mighty
fleets in Middle-earth. Occupying a hill, he set there the throne and
the pavilions, invoking the arrival as soon as possible of Sauron, who
was waiting to put hands in the affairs of Numenor. Sauron presented
himself to the king as if in submission and, with enticements and smart
movements, Sauron was able to obtain all he wanted. Thus
Ar-Pharazôn, proud of his victory, went back to the Numenorean
capital, dragging Sauron with him as a prisoner (3262 SA).
Early, with shrewdness, Sauron became next to the
king, a happening which it’s not possible to understand, but with which
the paining pages of the story of Arda began. There cannot be
justification for this fault, but there are some explanations:
ambition, thirst for power, and the immeasurable pride of
Ar-Pharazôn, added to what Sauron put in his mind and that was
not a little.
As years passed away, the more the king lost his
strength and judgment, as the more Sauron squeezed in his hands the
regent and Numenor; it could be said that Sauron was ruling the Realm.
In this way he put his puppet of Ar-Pharazôn against the Valar,
telling him with affable voice that he was “the king of kings” and that
he couldn’t leave the Everlasting Lands to the Valar, and that owning
those he would become immortal, and then he would have been ten,
one-hundred times more powerful and great than Manwë.
The king was convinced and, now a victim of
insanity, sailed the sea on board Alcarondas, meaning "Sea Castle",
bringing with him most of his army heading into a battle that he
believed they could win easily. The target was clearly Aman, and the
goal the Valar. While the strong army was settling in, Manwë
summoned Ilùvatar who, without the need of an army, vanished
Numenor under the impetuous waves and then dumped avalanches of soil on
the king and his army that ended buried on the shores of Valinor.
Never in the songs could it be heard about a man so
powerful as Ar-Pharazôn was; nevertheless, his ambition led him
to the dark abyss of Iluvatar's rage.
Reference: Silmarillion
Italian version
top