Exploring My New Book: Tolkien's Tragedy - Concerning Númenor, the Rings of Power, and the Second Age

Hey there, Fellowship! My new book, Tolkien’s Tragedy , is available now in paperback! Visit TolkiensTragedy.com to learn more! This episode is a walkthrough of the book using the table of contents as a kind of map into the deeper themes. Númenor has always struck me as one of Tolkien’s most powerful creations—not just as a story within the legendarium, but as a meditation on power, mortality, and the quiet, creeping distortion of what is good. What begins as a gift gradually becomes something grasped at, controlled, and ultimately lost. In that sense, the fall of Númenor is not just an ancient tale, but a pattern that feels uncomfortably familiar. My aim in writing this book is to bring that pattern into clearer view. Tolkien wasn’t simply inventing a lost civilization; he was exploring something enduring about the human condition. Don’t forget to visit TolkiensTragedy.com to get your copy of the book. Alright, let’s dive in! Become a supporter of this podcast: .

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Exploring My New Book: Tolkien's Tragedy - Concerning Númenor, the Rings of Power, and the Second Age is an episode from The Tolkien Road by John Carswell.

This episode is 26:40 long.

This episode was published on Apr 20, 2026.

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