The event
Elves and Men besiege Sauron in Mordor; Elendil and Gil-galad fall, and Isildur cuts the Ring from Sauron’s hand.
Causes
Sauron’s assault on Gondor and the alliance of Gil-galad and Elendil.
Consequences
Sauron is overthrown for a time, but Isildur keeps the Ring rather than destroying it — the seed of the War of the Ring.
Participants
Isildur
King of Gondor and Arnor who cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand, then kept it and was slain by Orcs.
Elendil
Survivor of Númenor and first High King of the Dúnedain in Middle-earth, who founded Gondor and Arnor.
CharacterSauron
A Maia and former lieutenant of Morgoth, forger of the One Ring and the central antagonist of The Lord of the Rings.
Place
Artifacts
Sources
The Silmarillion · 1977
Posthumously edited. Contains the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabêth and Of the Rings of Power.
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.