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Originally Posted by Lal
The Valar had overstepped the mark by giving Men this island which was so temptingly close to the Undying Lands, by idolising Men too much. Then when Men came to act as they inevitably would, wanting to explore the seas and wanting to see what it was about the Undying Lands which gave the inhabitants unending life (to their minds, it was the place which did this, not the inherent nature of the peoples there - the Men of Numenor lacked understanding of immortals just as much as the Immortals lacked any comprehension of mortality) the Valar were powerless to act. They pleaded with Eru, the one who made these creatures, and Eru smote.
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But let us not forget Sauron's influence. Did that encourage what happened or speed it up? Personally, I am not sure... The whole of Numenor was not corrupted for there still were those who were faithful. Rather like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis, it seems that the faithful are brought out before the destruction of the land and they go on living in Middle Earth.