Ages
The Ages, also known as the Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar, Ages of Awakening, or Ages of the Elvish World are large spans of Time in which the Wise and loremasters of the Eruhíni divided the history of Arda. The division was made according to significant historical upheavals such as the overthrowing of a Dark Lord.
The Ages
First Age
The First Age saw the arising of the Speaking Peoples: first the Elves, second the Dwarves, and third Men; and Morgoth's terrible wars against them. It ended with the War of Wrath and the drowning of Beleriand. Morgoth was captured by the Valar and expelled from Arda, thus ending centuries of his dominion in Middle-earth.
Second Age
In the Second Age the Edain prospered in Númenor, but Sauron, a servant of Morgoth also came to dominate the Westlands. The Rings of Power were created as one of such attempts. Sauron's influence also caused the Downfall of Númenor and the Changing of the World. The Age ended with the War of the Last Alliance and the defeat of Sauron.
Third Age
The Third Age saw the gradual fading of the Elves and also the rise of Sauron against the Númenórean kingdoms, until he was defeated during the War of the Ring. The Age ended some years later with the departure of the White Ship from the Grey Havens.
Fourth Age
The Fourth Age was a time when the Elves faded while Men, Hobbits, and, for a time, Dwarves prospered and recovered after the defeat of Sauron, until the Dominion of Men.
Further future
Tolkien said in a letter written in 1958 that he imagined that the events of The Lord of the Rings had happened approximately 6000 years earlier, so it was about the end of the Fifth Age if the length of the Ages had remained unchanged, but they had probably quickened and it was about the end of the Sixth Age or in the Seventh. However, he did not explain the criteria of why the Ages should be shortened.
Two years after that letter, Tolkien changed this idea and wrote that, instead, we were already in the year 1960 of the Seventh Age, indicating that this Age follows the Christian reckoning.
Other versions of the legendarium
In earlier texts, such as The Later Annals of Valinor, J.R.R. Tolkien referred to the 'First Age(s) of the World' rather than the 'First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar'. This variation had much earlier starting point, extending the First Age back to the creation of Arda, but consistently ended with Morgoth's defeat in Beleriand.
The terms 'First Age of the Sun' and 'Ages of the Sun' are commonly used by many fans, but do not appear anywhere in Tolkien's writings. The 'First Age of the Sun' in this conception is held to begin with the first rising of the Sun and continue until Morgoth's defeat nearly 600 years later. While this is at odds with Tolkien's statements that the first age was the longest by far it is a common misapprehension because the subsequent ages all took place entirely during the Years of the Sun.
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 20/05/2026.
