Black Númenóreans

The black Numenoreans were a group of Numenoreans that called themselves the king's men. Their lineage traced back to those who revolted and opposed the Valar's rule over the Elves. The ancestors of the black Numenoreans were victims of the betrayal of Sauron. Sauron assumed the form of Annatar to gain the people's loyalty. When Sauron acquired their trust, he corrupted them to worship the Dark Lord Melkor and convinced them to serve him. They became Sauron's servants. Sauron was able to easily oppress the people of Middle-earth and cause them to turn their hearts against the Valar.

In the Second Age, the city of Numenor flourished, and the knowledge and power of the Numenoreans grew. But despite being blessed, they were not content. They knew they had more benefits than other races of men, but they wanted more power and control. They understood that despite the power and influence, they were mortals and were bound to die. This was all because the half-elven Elros decided to live a mortal life instead of an immortal one. Because of this, the Numenoreans began to probe into the decisions of the Valar for their misfortune. Sauron knew of this insecurity and raised the fear of death among them with time. They became distressed with the thought of death and jealous of the Eldars, whose ancestors had preferred immortality.

The Numenoreans hated that they looked like the Eldars but did not have their immortality. The Eldars, on the other hand, sought to console the Numenoreans that dying was a form of kindness from Iluvatar. They advised that it is a dishonor to condemn the wisdom of Iluvatar by regretting their fate and hoping for another one in exchange. Following King Tar-Ancalimon of Numenor's coronation in 2221 of the Second Age, Sauron gained more control as the Numenoreans became more desperate. The king was weak and easily corrupted. He sought more power and territories under Sauron's guidance. In the final years of Numenor, the Numenoreans have become so mighty and powerful that they disregarded the Valar and sought Sauron's teaching. Sauron grew so comfortable in his new position of power and told the people that the Iluvatar was an invented lie fabricated from within the Valar to keep the Numenoreans enslaved. By this time, the King of Numenor, Ar-pharazon, was becoming old, and he feared that he could lose his life.

In Numenor, the worship of the Dark Lord became widespread. It gradually crossed over the ocean as the Numenoreans sailed to the east from Numenor into most of their territories in Middle-earth. It was there that they started the full, unrestrained worship of the Dark Lord. The worshippers of Sauron thrived in Endor, especially in The City of Corsairs, after Numenor was destroyed. The connection between the worshippers and Sauron was the reason the Umbar always opposed the free people. The Black Numenoreans kept their loyalty towards Sauron, and the worshipers reviled the throne of Arnor and Gondor.

Sauron's first set of loyal Numenoreans were powerful and influential people who were previously deceived into Sauron's worship by their love for power, influence, and immortality. It is estimated that they worshipped Sauron for a thousand years before his fall. The relationship between the free people and the Numonoreans worsened with the worship of the Dark Lord Melkor, which later turned to the worship of Sauron. The division became irrevocable between those who had faith in Iluvatar and those who worshipped the Dark Lords. The rituals and activities of the Dark Lord's worshippers later became the early cultural traits associated with the Black Numenoreans many years afterward.

For many centuries that followed the Downfall of Numenor, the Kings Men's descendants held onto their old territories in Endor, the areas in the far north, with Umbar as the most famous of the realms. Many of the Numenoreans who held onto their belief were called The Faithfuls. The Faithfuls did not dissociate from the immortal elves. They stayed true to Ilúvatar, survived the fall of Numenor, and moved to recreate their Realms to the north of Umbar, in safe and habitable territories. The Numenoreans lived apart, with each side thinking slowly of the other. The Faithfuls saw those in Umbar as renegades while the feeling is mutual from the south for them. The black Numenoreans had a worse perception of the Faithfuls and their later generations due to their evil inclination from the Dark Lords' worship. Only two Numenorean lords from the Black Numenoreans were mentioned from the final years of the Second Age. They are Fuinur and Herumor. Like those before them, the two were extreme in their desire for dominion over other races of men. Their passion helped them rise among the Haradrim and the people of Umbar. After the defeat of Sauron, their fate remains unknown.

Sauron's defeat marked the period of decline in influence for the Black Numenoreans and their racial dominance. However, the Black Numenorean elites survived many years after in Umbar. They lived for about 1,000 years after Numenor's fall. Despite the decline in power, they maintained their influence up to Angamaitë. An impressive feat despite being ousted from their original lands for over a century. In the Third Age, during the Witch King's conquest of Arnor.

Black Numenoreans joined him to offer their support. After the Battle of Fornost, there is not much known about the Black Numenoreans that went to Angmar anymore. The army was probably demobilized. After the defeat of the Black Numenoreans in the hands of Gondor's Ciryaher in 1050 of the Third Age, there was no record of their further activities. It is said that many of them lived in Middle-earth after the War of the Ring.

The wife of King Tarannon of Gondor, Queen Berúthiel, had a Black Numenorean descent. She came from the realm around the south of Umbar. Her union was a loveless one. It is believed that it was only a political-inspired union. There are other cases of mixed descent; an example is the Mouth of Sauron, the being that mocked the army of free people with King Elessar II at the Black Gate. He was described as having both a Black Numenorean and "Renegade" descent.

The Black Numeroneans did not relate to one another using Westron. They seemed to maintain the use of the old dialect of Adunaic. A member of the Notion Club Papers, Arundel Lowdham, referenced two records of Adunaic usage. One was the tongue of the Numenoreans, while the other looked like Westron.

In the video game Lord of the Rings Online, [1] the Black Numenoreans and the Angmarin reside in Carn Dum in Angmar. They later served Mordirith and Amarthiel. A black Numenorean named Agandaûr was the main antagonist of this online game.

In this video game's storyline, the Witch King of Angmar [2] subjugated the Black Numenoreans after conquering them. They served as Angmar, the elite unit's faction. The game portrays Black Numenoreans as using distinctive iron masks that showed their heritage prominently as "the King's Men.'. They are made of three divisions: the Thrall Masters and Sorcerers, the Dark Rangers, and the Swordsmen from the Twilight Temple. The game also portrays Angmar as frozen wastelands that affect the lifestyle, weaponry, and mode of dressing of its inhabitants, the Black Numenoreans.

Here, the Black Numenoreans were elite bodyguards and soldier units that were either mounted or dismounted. They cause far more destruction than the Troll-men from Harad, Arnor Longswordmen, and the Uruk-hai Berserkers. The Black Numenoreans were later split into temple units into Mordor and Ar-Adûnaim units in Umbar as a Divide and Conquer tactic. [3]

Tolkien stated in one of the author's letters that three Numenoreans were part of the Nazgul; in another game, Games Workshop models: non-canon GW, only two were part of the Nazgûl being originally Numenorean. The Nazgul named The Dark Marshal as the most evil-hearted and ruthlessly cruel of all Nazgûl. He was a Black Numenorean. The Dark marshall's name is recognizable for evil and death. When the Dark Marshal walked past a place, evil creatures became stronger, and even the most promising warriors felt death's icy grip upon their hearts.

On his armor, there are clear indications that he was one of the Nazgul's three Numenorean Ringwraiths. He was to the Nazgul what the Corsairs of Umbar were to the men. The third powerful Numenorean Lord is a knight of Umbar and turned out to be one of the Dark Lord's most important servants. Mystery encapsulates the Knight of Umbar's life before becoming a Nazgul. There are so many rumors surrounding him that the real events are unknown. The prevailing one, however, was that he was a powerful Numenorean king that ruled over the Southlands before the Battle of Last Alliance. His power is as those of Fuinur or Herumor who moved to the southern islands of Numenor in the Second Age. The Knight of Umbar, for unknown reasons, was one of those that desired the most to put out Gondor.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings Online™.
2. ^The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king.
3. ^Third Age: Reforged mod for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms mod.