Part I, The Fall of Numenor and the Lost Road, Chapters 1-2, The Early History of the Legend, The Fall of Numenor Summary and Analysis

In 1968, J.R.R. Tolkien recounted a discussion he had with C.S. Lewis where they decided who would write stories about two of the big "plot devices" of the day—time travel and space travel. Lewis chose space travel and wrote his famous Space Trilogy. Tolkien got time travel but his work "ran dry". Tolkien intended to write a new version of the Atlantis legend but the work only survives in its final scene, The Downfall of Numenor.

The Downfall of Numenor was intended to contain a cycle of a father and son appearing in human families...