Tolkien's Tragedy
Concerning Númenor, the Rings of Power, and the Second Age
In Tolkien’s Tragedy, writer and podcaster John Carswell turns his attention to one of the most enigmatic and consequential eras of Middle-earth: the Second Age. Through a careful reading of Tolkien’s writings on Númenor, the Rings of Power, and the rise of Sauron, Carswell weaves together and analyzes texts scattered across The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien’s letters to reveal the hidden narrative unity of this “lost age.”The result is a compelling portrait of the Second Age as Tolkien’s great unwritten epic: a tragedy of pride, power, and decline that lies at the very heart of his mythology.