Númenor is the fictional island kingdom created by J.R.R. Tolkien that later sank beneath the sea.
Númenor was granted to the Edain, the Men who had aided the Elves during the wars of the First Age. The island lay in the Great Sea between Middle-earth and Aman, and its people became renowned for long life, learning, seafaring, and great architecture.
Over time, Númenórean fear of death and resentment toward the immortal Elves intensified. Under King Ar-Pharazôn, the kingdom challenged the divine order by sailing against Aman. The resulting catastrophe destroyed Númenor and changed the shape of the world in Tolkien’s mythology.
Survivors led by Elendil escaped and founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. That history connects Númenor directly to Aragorn’s ancestry and to the royal traditions of Gondor. Númenor is distinct from Beleriand, a land of the First Age that was also ruined, and from Doriath, an Elven kingdom within Beleriand.