Amazon's The Lord of the Rings-series will take place in the Second Age of Middle-Earth. The era is hardly explored in the original trilogy and The Hobbit since they occured in the Third Age. This is everything we know about the Second Age.

The Second Age is also known as 'The Age of Númenor' and covers 3441 years in total. Númenor is known as a lost mythical city on Arda (earth). The city is located on an island in the Great Sea and was destroyed long before Aragorn and Frodo even came into the picture. The island was a gift from the Valar (the gods).

Númenor

Elros, son of Eärendil and Elwing, was the first king of Númenor. Under his reign, mankind became a strong race. The Valar did not allow the inhabitants of Númenor to sail west, because they might end up in the Undying Lands where people were not welcome. Yet, over time, people decided to disobey the gods and sail east to colonize large parts of Middle-Earth. This proces was done in a friendly way at the start, but later the Men became tyrants. Only a small part (the Faithful) remained loyal to the Valar and stayed friendly to the Elves.

Sauron, the Dark Lord, started a war against the Elves between 1693 en 1699 of the Second Age. Sauron won the battle and dropped his shadow on Númenor. In 3255, the last king of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, sailed to Middle-Earth. The Númenoreans came in such large numbers that Sauron surrendered. Sauron then poisened the spirit of the king and those of the Númenoreans, promising them eternal life if they would honor Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Ar-Pharazôn made many human sacrifices to Morgoth under Sauron's authority.

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At this time, the White Tree, Nimloth the Fair, which was said to be bound to the line of kings, was cut down and burned as a sacrifice to Morgoth. Isildur (who cuts off the One Ring from Sauron's hand at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) took a seed from the tree and planted it in Middle-Earth. The seed grew out to be the White Tree of Gondor, which is also the sign on the flag of Gondor.

Ar-Pharazôn built an enormous army and sailed west to start a war against the Valar and seized the Undying Lands. The king travelled to Aman where a battle with the head of the Valar changed the shape of the world from flat to round, causing the island of Númenor to sink and its inhabitants to die. Sauron's body also sank to the bottom of the ocean. The Dark Lord was deprived of his ability to take on a charming shape. This event, that took place in the year 3319, is known as the Downfall of Númenor.

The rings of power

You probably already know the story about the Rings of Power from the original trilogy. Nineteen rings were made in the Second Age by the Elven smiths of Eregion, under the direction of the Ñoldorin master smith Celebrimbor. Three rings were meant for the Elves, seven for the Dwarves and nine rings for Men. In addition, one more ring was forged, for Sauron himself: the One Ring, which was made in the fire of Orodruin, known as Mount Doom. All of the other rings were connected to the One Ring, hence the bearers of the Rings of Power could be controlled by the wearer of the One Ring. If the One Ring were to be destroyed, the force of all the Rings of Power would fade away.

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The nine rings that Sauron gave to great lords and warriors ensured that Sauron gained control over them. They became known as the Nine, the Ringwraiths or the Nazgûl. In the LOTR-trilogy they did whatever it took to get the One Ring back to Sauron.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

The last alliance of elves and men

In 3430, the alliance between Elves and Men was formed to defeat Sauron, which led to the War of the Last Alliance. Elendil (the first High King of Gondor and Anor), his son Isildur and an army of Men, united with Gil-galad, Elrond (who is known from the original trilogy) and lots of other Elves to battle against Sauron, after years of making preparations in Rivendell.

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The long war ended with Gil-galad and Elendil defeating Sauron, although they died in the process themselves. Isildur then cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand with Narsil, the sword of his father Elendil, which spread Sauron's soul. The (temporary) fall of Sauron brought an end to the Second Age (in 3441) and so the Third Age began. Three years after the war, Isildur was killed, which left the One Ring lost in a river for two and a half millenium.

It is questionable which events from the Second Age will eventially end up in the Amazon series. We'll have to wait and find out.