Inside Middle-earth: Ar-Pharazôn
The reign of the last of the kings of Númenor was the culmination of centuries of decline, a nosedive that ended with the worst of fates for the Númenóreans.
In Tolkien’s universe, the corruption of power is a constant theme, often triggering significant events in the history of Arda. No being was safe from suffering this thirst for power; Melkor himself, an Ainur, was corrupted by this desire.
That perverse arm reached out to all the races of Middle-earth. Some of the most extraordinary Elves suffered in their flesh the influence of greed, which, mixed with misfortune, would mark their lives and the fate of their people. But where the corruption of power wreaked most havoc was among the Men, who were capable of the most remarkable feats and the worst calamities.
Even the most incredible Men that ever existed, the royalty of Númenor, ended up falling into the clutches of this atrocious hunger for domination.
This happened to Ar-Pharazôn, who became the most powerful of all the Númenórean kings and, simultaneously, the worst of those who ruled the island. His long reign of more than 64 years was a period in which the greatness of Númenor reached its highest heights, at the same time that decadence corroded the…
