The Third Age
The Third Age is the one most known to us, as it’s when the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings occur, albeit they’re in the last few decades of a period that lasts three thousand years. Sauron, once again having lost physical form, spends most of it biding time as a big ol’ Eye in Mordor and searching for his long-lost One Ring after Isildur loses it in an orcish raid on the way back to Gondor. The Elvens, continuing their transition to the Valar’s side in the Undying Lands of Valinor, secede much power to the rising dominance of Men, and then…well, you know. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings happen, and the Third Age ends with the destruction of Sauron and the One Ring thanks to a very good Hobbit and his gardener.
