Sauron becomes an esteemed counselor to the kings of Númenor. He stirs their greed and bids them seek untold riches in the far reaches of the world, including the Ancient Darkness beyond the Edge of the World where dwells Melkor. Ar-Pharazón and the Númenoreans begin worshiping the darkness. Amandil and his son Elendil are part of the Faithful and close to Ar-Pharazón. Amandil is hated by Sauron and is dismissed from the council. Sauron urges Ar-Pharazón to cut down the White Tree, but he will not for fear of the prophecy of Tar-Palantir. Suspecting that this will happen in due time, Isildur, son of Elendil, sneaks to the tree and removes a fruit before being assailed by guards. He escapes and a shoot grows from the fruit. Sauron cuts Nimloth the White Tree and orders the building of a great temple in Armenelos in which the tree is burned and sacrifices are made to Melkor that he would release them from death. 01:50 Dan reads pages 271-274 from the Silmarillion, 2nd Edition 13:46 Summary 15:35 Discussion "Beyond all lay the Ancient Darkness. And out of it the world was made. For Darkness alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him, so that the increase of their power shall find no end." ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch this Episode on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Send feedback to [email protected] Follow us as we follow Tolkien: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TWITTER⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DISCORD⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Rings of Power comes to Amazon, but nothing compares to the real story JRR Tolkien wrote. Is the Silmarillion his masterpiece? The Silmarillion is a book everyone should read, but it can be intimidating. Go on a journey with us. Witness the creation of Tolkien's universe, meet the villain that's bigger and badder than Sauron, and hear a love story that will leave you in tears. We are not experts, we're just fans like you. And we're having a blast going through this masterpiece of fiction, 15 minutes at a time. Grab a cup of tea or your favorite scotch (or your steering wheel!) and join us every week! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beforethefellowship/support