For Tolkien fans, books add new layers to series

Now that “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has finished its first season, what are Tolkien fans to do as we await the next installment? Never fear: The Tolkien literary estate seems to have an enchanted carpetbag, with wonders that emerge long after it has seemingly been emptied.

This month, it released “The Fall of Númenor,” a trove of source material about one of Middle-earth’s most intriguing and central backstories. The book is beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee and nimbly edited by Brian Sibley, who has toiled on a dozen previous Tolkien projects. Compiled from previously published material, the book is a handy addendum for any Tolkien completist and also a neat introduction for those whose sole knowledge of the doomed island comes from “The Rings of Power.”

“Númenor” was Tolkien’s attempt to grapple with what he called his “Atlantis complex” or “Atlantis-haunting.” In a 1964 letter, he wrote: “This legend or myth or dim memory of some ancient history has always troubled me. In sleep I had the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave, either coming up out of a quiet sea, or coming in towering over the green islands. It still occurs occasionally, though now exorcised by writing about it.” Indeed, hints of Númenor’s cataclysmic history appear in “The Lord of the Rings,” with lengthier accounts recorded elsewhere in the vast Tolkien Legendarium. In a nutshell:

At the end of the First Age of Middle-earth, the evil Morgoth/Melkor is defeated by an alliance of Elves and Men. The Valar, “Guardians of the World,” are directed by Iluvatar the All-Powerful to reward these Men with their own island haven, a place “removed from the dangers of Middle-earth.” The sole hitch is the “Ban of the Valar.” This forbids the Númenóreans from ever sailing even farther west, out of sight of their island home, or setting foot upon the Undying Lands, where the Valar and select among the Elves dwell.

Men are mortal; the Elves and Valar are not. To sweeten the deal, Númenóreans are gifted a life span of hundreds of years, along with the promise of a peaceful existence on their paradisal island. Years of bliss follow as, protected by the Valar and enjoying their continuing friendship with the Eldar Elves, the people of Númenor prosper during the Second Age.

“The Fall of Númenor” would make a very nice holiday gift. But for especially deserving Tolkien fans, you might consider the sumptuous new edition of “The Silmarillion,” lavishly furnished with Tolkien’s paintings, drawings, embellishments and maps, plus an excerpt from “The Tale of Túrin” written in the Rúmilian alphabet used only by the elves in Valinor.