[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I'm not much of a fan of the Second Age and do not know much of the back history behind the War of the Last Alliance and etc.

Ah I love the Second Age! Especially the relative mystery of it, and the misguided utopianism of Celebrimbor and his people, and shadow that lay upon much of Middle-earth at that time. I always think of the Second Age as a twilit age for some reason because of the state of things in Middle-earth.

Thanks everyone for some interesting responses. Yes I thought it was a bit doubtful, and some sacrifices were definitely intentional while others weren't. I suppose what tends to distinguish the Second and Third Ages from the First furthermore is that in each of those someone had to physically do something to end it (kill Sauron, drop the Ring into the Fire). Could someone be said to have done the same at the end of the First?

Here's a thought, after the fall of Angband when Sauron came to Eönwë's camp (and of course Maedhros and Maglor too) was Morgoth still there in chains, or had he already been transported to Valinor for execution? What technically ended the Third Age - Morgoth's defeat, his execution or his banishment into the void? Was he still around briefly in the Second Age? Largely technical questions of no great import I realise, but curious ones. I suppose the Third Age didn't end until the keepers of the Three passed over Sea, did it?