80,000-3601 BCE
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GO TO PART ONE: "The Big Bang"-80,001 BCE
- The Valian Age / Muvian Age: 80,000-61,796 BCE
- The Years of the Lamps: 61,795-46,465 BCE
- The Years of the Trees: 46,464-36,404 BCE
- The First Age: 36,403-31,501 BCE
- The Second Age: 31,500-28,060 BCE
- The Third Age: 28,059-25,039 BCE
- The Fourth Age: 25,038-20,505 BCE
- The Thurian Age / Pre-cataclysmic Age: 20,504-16,494 BCE
- The Acheronian Age: 16,493-13,330 BCE
- The Hyborian Age: 13,329-9565 BCE
- The Mesolithic Age: 9564-6001 BCE
- The Neolithic Age: 6000-3301 BCE
DISCLAIMER: This timeline won’t necessarily reflect what you’re used to in your history books, your literature, your films, your television shows or your comic books. Because this is what really happened...
80,000 BCE
The “roots” of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, finally grew enough to connect the universe of Eä with our universe, thus allowing the Valar (or Middle Gods) to freely travel to Earth for the first time. They established a permanent portal between the great world of Aman in Eä and planet Earth in our universe via the Atlantic Ocean, so that one can easily access the other by sea voyage. Then they begin to explore Earth and to alter it to fit the vision of the Ainulindalë. This was considered the beginning of the Valian Age on Earth.
It also coincided with the height of the human kingdom in Mu, and so an alternate name for this time period is the Muvian Age. At this time, the Muvians worshiped many dark gods, including Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog.
By this time in history, Earth’s rotation almost perfectly matched its current rate, so that days were only about one second shorter than they are now—an imperceptible and almost negligible difference.
Around this time, a tribe of early humans undertook a quest for fire.
77,897 BCE
The Kree set up a base on the planet Uranus in our Solar System.
75,210 BCE
The First War of the Valar began as Melkor assaulted his brethren and disrupted the ordered symmetry they sought to build on Earth. Melkor begins to use powwrful magic to blot out the Sun, Moon and stars, and cause great volcanic eruptions, leading to an age of deadly darkness, ice and cold. [In Tolkien's original mythology, the Sun, Moon and stars had not been created yet, but it makes more sense in this timeline that Melkor would simply cloak the Earth in darkness.]
75,000 BCE
Within two hundred years of the start of the War of the Valar, Earth had become a full glacial world. The cold, dry climate would last for 15,000 years. [This is scientific fact and explained nicely by Melkor's treachery.]
73,148 BCE
In the Kingdom of Mu, this was known as the “Year of the Red Moon.” Melkor had been making the Sun, Moon and stars gradually grow less visible in the sky, and this year the Moon took on a distinct reddish tint as it dimmed even further. In Mu, Ghatanothoa became the supreme god in Mu, following the god’s destruction of a high priest of Shub-Niggurath. [Here, the Tolkien and Cthulhu mythos dovetail nicely. According to Friedrich von Juntz, the Year of the Red Moon was 173,148 BCE, but this was due to a mathematical error.]71,000 BCE
The Toba Volcano in Sumatra erupted around this time, sparking a particularly cold millennium (71,000-70,000 BCE). There was rapid human genetic divergence during this time.
70,000 BCE
As the extreme climate conditions took their toll, the human population dwindled to a “bottleneck” of only 5,000 remaining.
At this point, the Elder Goddess Gaea urged her father the Demiurge, now known as Eru Ilúvatar, to awaken the additional humans he had created in order to save the dwindling human population, but he did not heed her request. Desperately, Gaea decided to make her own humans out of the earth itself, but her efforts to awaken them failed and they remained lifeless. [An explanation for the origin of the "first men" of the Golden Age Greek myth, using bits from Marvel Comics and Tolkien.]
68,000 BCE
Around this time, a red dwarf star (known as Scholz’s star) passed within 0.8 light years of our Sun, just outside the outer edge of the Oort Cloud. Because of the low mass of the star (and its even smaller brown dwarf companion), it did not cause much gravitational disturbance to the Oort Cloud.
Tulkas arrived on Earth, the last of the Valar to come from Eä. Melkor fled from him and hid in an unknown part of Eä. The First War of the Valar ended, and the Valar began their labors anew, repairing the lands and seas of Earth and ordering them to their liking.
62,000 BCE
Around this time, the Valar created the isle of Almaren (later known as Númenor, and later still as Atlantis) to dwell upon in what is now the Atlantic Ocean.
61,844 BCE
Ghatanothoa’s worship had become so strong in Mu by this time that other religions were outlawed. Zanthu, the last high priest of Ythogtha, tried to free his god, and ended up destroying Mu, as the entire Philippine Tectonic Plate sank into the Pacific Ocean. Zanthu fled to the Plateau of Tsang, where he scribed what are later known as the Zanthu Tablets.
61,795 BCE
Aulë created two great lamps, Illuin and Ormal, and the Valar set them upon pillars to provide divine light for the Earth, since Melkor had rendered the Earth’s atmosphere impenetrable to the light of the Sun and the Moon. Illuin was placed near the North Pole at Helcar, and Ormal near the South Pole at Ringil. This marked the beginning of the Years of the Lamps.
60,000 BCE
The “Spring of Arda” began, as the special light of the Two Lamps finally brought an end to the deadly ice age that had gripped the planet. Earth entered a “middling phase” of unstable, but generally cool and dry climate, which would last until the Thurian Age. [Scientific fact, syncing nicely with Tolkien's timeline.]
The divine light of the Two Lamps also inspired what archaeologists call the “Great Leap Forward” in human expression: over the next 20 thousand years, mankind invented painting, jewelry and other forms of sophisticated arts and crafts.
Around this time, humans first reached China via Southeast Asia.
Dogs and wolves became distinct.
50,000 BCE
Around this time, Eurasian humans separated from Africans.
48,000 BCE
Somewhere in the Middle East, a mysterious meteor crashed to the ground, bathing Vandar Adg, the leader of the caveman Blood Tribe, in radiation and granting him incredible intellect and immortality. He would later take the name Vandal Savage. An observer named Klam from the Bear Tribe would later approach that same meteorite and become Savage’s eternal nemesis, the Immortal Man, possessing the power to resurrect as a new persona every time he is killed.47,422 BCE
The wedding of Tulkas and Nessa took place on Earth in this year, somewhere in “Middle-earth” (Europe). They were the only Valar to be wed on Earth instead of in Eä.
47,400 BCE
Around this time Melkor’s spies and secret friends (chief among them a great Maiar craftsman servant of Aulë, who would later take the name Sauron) informed him that the Valar were weary from their labors repairing the Earth. He returned in secret with followers from other realms and began building his stronghold Utumno.
47,200 BCE
Around this time, Melkor began to corrupt the lands and living things of Earth, turning them into sickly or monstrous shapes. The Valar became aware of Melkor’s return and began seeking his stronghold Utumno.
46,943 BCE
In this year, Melkor and his followers destroyed the Two Lamps and the isle of Almaren, bringing the “Spring of Arda” to an end. Melkor soon retreated to Utumno, while the Valar began to save what they could from the cataclysm as the Earth was plunged again into nearly 500 years of darkness. During that time, the Valar left Earth and established a new home, Valinor, on the great world of Aman in Eä. To defend the portal to Eä in the Atlantic Ocean, they raised the Pelóri mountains (later known as the Pictish Isles) around its perimeter.
46,464 BCE
In this year, the Trees of the Valar were created, sang into existence by the Vala known as Yavanna. Silver Telperion and golden Laurelin grew on the hill Ezellohar located outside Valimar in Aman, but their light could be seen through the portal into Earth. They gave off light comparable to the Moon and the Sun, reilluminating the Earth and marking the beginning of the “Years of the Trees.”
40,000 BCE
Around this time, European humans separated from Eurasians.
The first human-invented boats appeared and were used to sail to New Guinea and Australia. This led to the first extinctions of large mammals caused by humans, which took place in New Guinea and Australia over the next 5,000 years.
39,000 BCE
Around this time, the Vala known as Aulë made the Dwarves. His wife Yavanna thought of the Ents in response. However, neither was allowed by Eru Ilúvatar to awaken their creations.
38,000 BCE
Centuries of darkness and danger had caused the human population to fall to another dangerously low level. A “bottleneck” of only about 10,000 worldwide remained at this time.
36,882 BCE
The Valar held council this year to discuss the concerns of Oromë and Yavanna regarding Earth and the impending arrival of the “Children of Eru Ilúvatar.” In this council, Varda announced that she had begun to discover a way to penetrate Melkor’s Veil of Darkness to re-illuminate the Great Stars on Earth. Soon thereafter, she succeeds in re-illuminating Menelmacar (the constellation of Orion) and begins working on restoring other constellations in the Earthly sky. [Tolkien's original mythology states that the stars were created at this time, but it makes more sense for this timeline that Melkor's dark magic was penetrated and the stars were revealed once more.]
36,403 BCE
Varda finished her work on the Great Stars by discovering Ursa Major in the north, a constellation that did not exist when Melkor first brought darkness to the Earth, because the stars that comprise it had not yet moved into place. Varda named it the “Sickle of the Valar” as a challenge to Melkor. Sensing that the time was finally right, Eru Ilúvatar then awakened the Elves under the stars, thus beginning The First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar (also known as the First Age of Magic).
36,115 BCE
Around this time, Melkor discovered and began capturing Elves in secret. He soon began breeding Orcs from the Elves, Trolls from Serpent People, and Giants from primitive humans. Melkor’s activities caused the pre-human Old Race to migrate further east into the northern Rhûn (what is now the Baltic States and Russia) and south into Africa.
36,068 BCE
This was the year that Oromë, the only one of the Valar to still spend time on Earth on a regular basis, first learned of the Elves. He returned to Valinor to inform the other Valar of the dangers faced by the Elves, and then returned immediately to Cuiviénen.
36,020 BCE
The Valar marched to war against Melkor on behalf of the Elves.
36,000 BCE
The Valar layed siege to Utumno.
35,933 BCE
Melkor was captured and Utumno destroyed. He was taken to Valinor in chains and sentenced to serve a term in the Halls of Mandos for three Ages. Sauron escaped capture and remained in Angband, breeding Orcs and Trolls for Melkor. (By this time, the Giants had fled north to the Arctic. Many Serpent People had willingly turned to Sauron and become Trolls, although those on the Iberian Peninsula remained unchanged.)
35,914 BCE
The Valar decided to summon the Elves to dwell with them in Aman.
35,905 BCE
Oromë brought three ambassadors of the Elves to Aman: Ingwë of the Vanyar, Finwë of the Noldor, and Elwë of the Teleri.
35,885 BCE
The three ambassadors returned to Earth and worked to convince the Elves to accept the summons of the Valar. They accumulated many followers.
35,876 BCE
The Great Journey of the Elves began: the Elves departed for Aman (but not all answered the summons).
35,780 BCE
The Elves reached the great river which would later be called Anduin. A group of Teleri under Lenwë (or Dan) abandoned the March at Anduin and become the Nandor.
35,732 BCE
The Fathers of the Dwarves and the first Ents were “awakened” by Eru Ilúvatar. The Elves soon discovered the Ents and began teaching them language.
35,684 BCE
The Vanyar and Noldor arrived in Beleriand.
35,656 BCE
The Teleri arrived in Beleriand after tarrying in the great forests of Eriador.
35,000 BCE
Around this time, the Black Oil virus first entered the body of a human after a fight ensued between an alien and two primitive humans in a cave in now what is now northern Texas.
33,049 BCE
Melkor, freed from his sentence, began corrupting some of the Noldor.
33,000 BCE
Modern humans began to enter southeastern Europe.
32,570 BCE
Fëanor completed the forging of the Silmarils.
32,187 BCE
Fëanor, deceived by Melkor, drew arms against his brother and was banished from Tirion. His father, Finwë, and many of the Noldor followed him in exile to Formenos.
32,139 BCE
The “Darkening of Valinor” occurred. Manwë tried to heal the feud of the Noldor, and summoned Fëanor to a festival in Valimar. Melkor and Ungoliant destroyed the Two Trees, killed Finwë and stole the Silmarils. Fëanor and his sons swore an oath to regain the Silmarils and the majority of the Noldor departed from Valinor. The Noldor killed many Teleri and seized their ships in the First Kinslaying.With the fall of the Two Trees, a period of almost fifty years of darkness began.
32,129 BCE
In a prophecy of Mandos, the Noldor were banished from Valinor and faced great doom.
32,120 BCE
Melkor returned to Angband, and tried to take Beleriand. At the First Battle of Beleriand, Denethor of the Green-Elves was slain and the Havens of the Falas were besieged.
The Noldor arrived at Helcaraxë. Fëanor and his host betrayed the sons of Indis and sailed across to return to Middle-earth, then burned the ships.
Melkor’s army attacked Fëanor. Dagor-nuin-Giliath (“the Battle under Stars”) was fought. Fëanor was slain by Balrogs in sight of Angband. Maedhros was taken captive.
32,110 BCE
The Valar cause the broken isle of Almaren to rise again from the sea, hiding the portal to Eä and Valinor behind it the “Enchanted Isles” of their former home. (The restored Almaren would later be known as Númenor, and later still as Atlantis.) They raised the Pelóri mountains (later known as the Pictish Isles) to even greater heights to further conceal the portal to Eä.
Varda discovered at last a way to unmask the Moon and Sun from Melkor’s spells, and she and her husband Manwë began working to end the darkness that had plagued the Earth for millennia.
32,091 BCE
Varda finally succeeded in re-illuminating the Moon, and Earth experienced its first moonrise in 30,000 years. (This act would still be remembered long into the Thurian Age more than 13,000 years later, when Varda would be worshipped simply as “The Moon Woman.”)
By this time, the remainder of the Noldor had arrived in Middle-earth.
32,090 BCE
Together, the Valar succeed in re-illuminating the Sun in the Earth’s sky and breaking Melkor’s spell of darkness completely, thus marking the beginning of “The Years of the Sun.”
Eru Ilúvatar immediately awakened the humans he had created in Hildórien. Many of them were soon corrupted by Melkor, but the Atanatári (“Fathers of Men”) resisted and began to lead their people toward Europe. This marked the beginning of what Hesiod and Ovid called the Second (or “Silver”) Age of Man. [A combination of Greek myth and Tolkien.]
31,546 BCE
The Host of the Valar arrived in Beleriand and the War of Wrath began.
31,504 BCE
Melkor was defeated and the War of Wrath ended. The remaining two Silmarils were stolen by Maedhros and Maglor, but were lost in the earth and in the sea. Most of Beleriand and the lands to the north were sunk.
31,501 BCE
Melkor was cast into the deepest realm of The Abyss. The Elves were summoned to Valinor and settled in Tol Eressëa. A small part of the Noldor and Sindar would remain in Lindon or depart east and establish realms.
31,500 BCE
The Second Age of the Children of Ilúvatar (also known as the Second Age of Magic) began with the foundation of Mithlond (the Grey Havens) under Círdan, and Lindon as the Noldorin Kingdom under Gil-galad.
31,469 BCE
The race of humans known as the Edain first reach Númenor, which was formerly the great isle of Almaren (and would later be known as Atlantis). The Valar had raised it again from the Atlantic Ocean and gave it now as a gift for the Fathers of Men who had stood with the Elves of Beleriand against Melkor in the War of the Jewels. Elros Half-elven, son of Eärendil, and brother of Elrond and descendant of all the royal houses of Elves and Edain, became the first King of Númenor. Under his rule, and those of his descendants, the Númenóreans rose to become a powerful people in the Second Age.30,501 BCE
Sauron began building Barad-dûr.
30,500 BCE
By this time, modern humans had settled all of eastern Europe and to the southernmost part of the Italian peninsula.
30,000 BCE
The Serpent People founded a new kingdom of Valusia in southwest Europe (modern day Spain), causing the extinction of the last group of Neanderthals.
Sophisticated religious expression first appeared among human beings.
There was a major wave of migration to India from the Middle East.
29,911 BCE
The Three Rings were completed in Eregion.
29,901 BCE
The One Ring was forged and Barad-dûr was completed. Celebrimbor began fighting Sauron.
28,182 BCE
Against the wishes of the Valar, Ar-Pharazôn sailed from Númenor, passed through the portal to Eä and set foot on Aman, seeking to become immortal. The Valar drove him and his men back to Earth and then cursed the portal so that it led not to Eä, but to another realm, the abyss of monsters and demons that would later come to be known as Tartarus. They then drove all who had set foot on Aman back through the portal and sealed it behind them. (The sealed portal would thereafter be known as “Doom’s Doorway.”) [A nice dovetail of Tolkien and Wonder Woman mythology.] Eru Ilúvatar then sank the portal beneath the Atlantic Ocean and also destroyed the Kingdom of Númenor (later known as Atlantis), with much of it sinking beneath the waves as well. Elendil and his sons managed to escape Númenor and arrived on the shores of Arda (Europe).28,181 BCE
Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion, founded Gondor and Arnor in what is now southern Europe. Umbar was founded by the so-called Black Númenóreans as a realm in exile. Sauron returned to Mordor.
28,072 BCE
Sauron attacked Gondor, conquered Minas Ithil and burned the White Tree. Isildur fled to Arnor, while Anárion defended Osgiliath and Minas Anor.
28,071 BCE
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men was formed.
28,067 BCE
The Last Alliance crossed the Misty Mountains. Sauron’s forces were defeated in the Battle of Dagorlad. The Siege of Barad-dûr began.
28,060 BCE
Elendil and Gil-galad faced Sauron in hand-to-hand combat, but they themselves perished. Isildur took the shards of his father’s sword Narsil and cut the One Ring from Sauron’s finger. Sauron’s physical form was destroyed, and Barad-dûr was razed to the ground.In the aftermath of the war, many Elves of Gil-galad’s following departed to Valinor. It was the end of the Noldorin realms in Middle-earth.
28,059 BCE
The Third Age of the Children of Ilúvatar (also known as the Third Age of Magic) began.
28,058 BCE
The Second White Tree was planted at Minas Tirith. Isildur was killed by Orcs in the Disaster of the Gladden Fields, losing the One Ring in the Gladden River.
28,000 BCE
By this time, modern humans had settled most of what is now called Europe. Also around this time, the presence of the Hobbits was first noted in the Valley of Anduin, between the Greenwood and the Misty Mountains. [Best current scientific estimate, plus Tolkien's own timeline. Map of Middle-earth by Peter Bird.]27,060 BCE
The five Maia known as the Istari, or “Wizards,” came from Eä to help aid the people of Middle-earth against the threat of Sauron. Curumo the servant of Aulë (later known as Saruman the White), Aiwendil the servant of Yavanna (later known as Radagast the Brown), and Olórin the servant of Manwë (later known as Gandalf the Grey) stayed in the west, while the two servants of Oromë, the “Blue Wizards” Alatar (also known as Morinehtar) and Pallando (also known as Rómestámo), traveled to the east.
27,010 BCE
As Sauron’s power grew, a shadow began to fall upon the Greenwood and it increasingly became known as Mirkwood. This troubled the Hobbits in the nearby Valley of Anduin, causing them to begin the arduous task of crossing the Misty Mountains and settle together in Bree-land, Dunland and the Angle formed by the rivers Mitheithel and Bruinen.
26,760 BCE
The Nazgûl reappeared in Middle-earth. The kingdom of Angmar first appeared at Arthedain’s northeastern border, built by the Witch-king, who was later revealed as Lord of the Nazgûl.
26,459 BCE
The Shire was first settled by Hobbits in what is now the area of Great Britain.
25,600 BCE
Sauron returned to Middle-earth and established himself in Dol Guldur in southern Greenwood (which would soon be known as Mirkwood). The Watchful Peace ended.
25,597 BCE
Sméagol (later known as Gollum) became the bearer of the One Ring.
25,290 BCE
The dragon Smaug layed waste to the town of Dale and captured Erebor with all of its treasure. The surviving Dwarves there were driven into exile.
25,270 BCE
Thrór entered Moria and was killed by the Orc chieftain Azog, starting the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
25,261 BCE
The Battle of Azanulbizar, the culmination of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, was fought on Moria’s East Gate, in which the Dwarves defeated the Orcs of Moria, including slaying their chieftain Azog, but lacked the strength to retake Moria.
25,129 BCE
Aragorn was born to Arathorn II and Gilraen.
25,119 BCE
Thorin Oakenshield, Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo Baggins (age 51) and company embarked on the Quest of Erebor. Bilbo Baggins obtained the One Ring. The White Council drove Sauron out of Dol Guldur. Esgaroth was attacked by the dragon Smaug, who was consequentially killed by Bard the Bowman. The Battle of Five Armies was fought. Dáin II Ironfoot became King of The Lonely Mountain. The town of Dale was reestablished by Bard.25,118 BCE
Bilbo Baggins (age 52) returned to Bag End in the Shire.
25,059 BCE
Bilbo Baggins turned 111 years old, passed the One Ring on to his nephew Frodo Baggins, and left the Shire. Aragorn (age 70) and Gandalf began intermittently hunting for Gollum.
25,042 BCE
The Ringwraiths were given the task of retrieving the One Ring. Frodo Baggins left the Shire. The Council of Elrond met at Rivendell, and the Fellowship of the Ring set out on their quest to destroy the One Ring.25,041 BCE
Gandalf fell in Khazad-dûm while fighting the Balrog known as “Durin’s Bane,” but later returned. The Battles of the Hornburg (Helm’s Deep) and Pelennor Fields were fought. The One Ring was destroyed at Mount Doom, destroying the physical form of Sauron once and for all and bringing a final end to the War of the Ring. Aragorn (age 89) reclaimed the thrown of Gondor and wed the elven princess Arwen (b. 27,819 BCE), daughter of Elrond.
25,039 BCE
Elrond, Galadriel, Gandalf, Frodo and Bilbo (age 131) departed the Grey Havens for Aman.
25,038 BCE
The Fourth Age of the Children of Ilúvatar (also known as the Fourth Age of Magic) began.
25,000 BCE
24,919 BCE
Aragorn, King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor, died after 210 years of life and 122 years of reign. His son Eldarion ascended the throne. The bodies of Meriadoc and Peregrin were laid beside that of Aragorn. On the death of Aragorn, Legolas built a ship and sailed into the west to the Undying Lands, taking Gimli (now a very old Dwarf) with him and marking an end to the Fellowship of the Ring.
24,918 BCE
Arwen died (age 2,901) one year after her husband Aragorn.
24,900 BCE
Responding to conflicts with the Serpent People on the border of his kingdom, King Eldarion of Gondor and Arnor began to aggressively defend his empire against the threat. His kingdom soon expands into an empire as nearby nations united under his rule as he drives back the enemy. It also spread eastward into the desolate lands of Mordor.
24,850 BCE
Toward the end of King Eldarion’s reign, the Serpent People had been driven underground and their threat seemed ended. His empire covered the whole of Middle-earth (Europe).
24,800 BCE
Following the reign of King Eldarion, the Serpent People began to reappear and the war resumed with greater ferocity. The humans in Valusia were soon conquered again by the Serpent People and enslaved. The humans and Serpent People fought for centuries, with one side sometimes gaining and sometimes the other, but over the course of time, the Serpent People steadily gained territory.
24,000 BCE
Around this time, the Eternals waged a civil war, with Kronos and his faction winning. Kronos became the Prime Eternal. Uranos and his defeated faction left Earth and established a colony on the planet Uranus. Some of the Uranus colony tried to return to Earth to rekindle the war, but they were attacked by a passing Kree ship and were forced to land on Saturn’s moon Titan, where they established another colony. Experiments performed by Kree scientists on a captured Eternal led them to go to Earth and perform their own genetic experiments on a group of humans, thus creating the Inhumans.By this time, most of the Dwarves had left Earth, venturing through a portal deep beneath the ground to a land prepared for them in Aman. (That land was later known in some human tongues as “Nidavellir.”) The only Elves and Dwarves who now remained on Earth were ones who were fated to “diminish”: that is, to turn over time into faerie folk like Pixies, Sprites and Leprechauns.
23,000 BCE
By the middle of the Fourth Age, the human empire in Europe had splintered, each small group fighting for its own survival, the glory of Gondor a distant memory. (Record keeping had all but disappeared, so there is no consensus date for the ultimate fall of Gondor.)
The Earth entered a full glacial period that would last 10,000 years, and the cold, dry climate disrupted populations and erased the last signs of Gondor and the old civilizations of Middle-earth.
Religion underwent radical changes in the late Fourth Age. Humans had always been more religiously expressive than the Elves and other peoples who had shared Earth with them in the past. Now that their allies had left them and they were under great duress, they turned their voices to the gods and prayed for help. A few heirs of Gondor in the North and East remained true to the Valar, whom they had long worshipped. Others turned in their despair to dark forces better left undisturbed – demons and more horrible things as yet undiscovered. Xultha the Ape-Man had a particularly successful cult early during this time period, and even late in the Thurian Age he still had followers who referred to him as “The First God.”
22,200 BCE
The Inhumans established the sanctuary of Attilan on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Iceland.
21,000 BCE
The Ice Age climate was at its coldest at this time (from about 21,000-19,000 BCE).
20,752 BCE
The city of Kôr was founded in East Africa.
The Thurian Age / Pre-cataclysmic Age
20,504 BCE
At this time, some of the denizens of the planets New Genesis and Apokolips achieved immortality and vast power, and adopted the name “New Gods.” As they did so, it triggered a spark within the Source that simultaneously reawakened the Godwave power it had seeded throughout the universe nearly five billion years prior upon the death of the Old Gods.
This Godwave strengthened the New Gods, although their power still remained far below what their predecessors had attained. The New Gods of New Genesis built the floating city of Supertown and began referring to the still mortal inhabitants of the plant below them as “bugs.” Meanwhile, the New Gods of Apokolips, ruled by Yuga Khan and his queen Heggra, took advantage of the mortals remaining on their planet, which they called “lowlies.”
The “Godwave” energy also created vastly powerful, god-like beings out of mortals on other planets throughout the universe. On Earth, dozens of individuals were affected, seemingly at random, all across the world. Among the humans to receive this power were Ibis, Khnemu, Neith, Shu and Tefnut in what is now North Africa; Buluku and Nana in South Africa; Gitche Manitou and Nokomis in North America; Cipactonal and Oxomoco in Central America; Pacha Kamaq and Mama Pacha in South America; Akka, Búri, Crom, Erce, Jumala and Rod in Europe; the brothers Ouranus and Pontus in Anatolia; Anshar and Kishar in Mesopotamia; the sisters Aditi and Diti in the Iranian Plateau; Vayu in India; Hou-Tu and Pan-Ku in China; and Yo and Inn in Japan. Near the North Pole, Ymir of the frost giants was also affected, and deep beneath the Earth, Surtur, the last of the Balrogs, found his power amplified.
The Godwave energy also resonated within a certain valley in Tibet (later known as Shambhala or Shangri-La) in such a way as to create extraordinary longevity in those who resided there.
The advent of the Godwave marked the beginning of the Fifth Age of Magic on Earth, and is also generally viewed as the beginning of the Thurian Age.
(Note that this Godwave also occurred in parallel universes, albeit to a lesser extent, and it happened at the same absolute moment in time. Therefore, in the Earth-M universe, where history had already progressed 1,000 further, the Godwave occurred in the year 19,504 BCE. Meanwhile, in the Earth-E universe, where history lagged 4,892 years behind our own, the Godwave occurred in 25,396 BCE. The general effect of this variance was that the gods of myth that we know did not exist or were not as prominent in parallel universes, although the Godwave occasionally did yield other effects there.)
20,341 BCE
In the dwarf galaxy NGC 185, a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy known to the locals as “The Burning Galaxy,” a species known as the Korbinites had built a peaceful empire of several star systems. However, their entire empire was destroyed in a galactic cataclysm when Surtur, last of the Balrogs, consumed the galaxy’s core in flame in order to forge his “Sword of Doom.” Several thousand Korbinites had managed to evacuate in great space arks defended by planet Korbin’s greatest champions, a pair of bio-engineered and cybernetically enhanced super-soldiers who fought off Surtur’s fire demon legions. The artificially intelligent spacecraft placed the Korbinites in suspended animation and began jumping through hyperspace in search of a new home.
20,000 BCE
Around this time, modern humans reached the Asian Arctic.
19,803 BCE
For millennia, Melkor and his servants had gathered their strength from their otherdimensional prison, plotting their revenge against the Valar for their defeat and banishment in the War of Wrath (31,504 BCE) and the subsequent defeat of Melkor’s disciple Sauron in the War of the Ring (25,041 BCE). A cult of evil had continued to worship the Dark Lord all this time, hoping to bring about his return. In this year, the Cult of the Black Shadow succeeded in making contact with Melkor, allowing him to ensnare the Valar in “Dagor Dagorath” (later known as “Ragnarök”), a cycle of death and rebirth that generated power for Melkor and his top commanders, including Sauron and Fankil. Calling him “The Unnamable One” (and his council “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow”), the Cult of the Black Shadow worked for the next 700,000 days (200 Valarian years) to bring about “the end of the world.”
19,500 BCE
The humans affected by the Godwave had soon discovered that their powers were as much a curse as a blessing. Their immortality did not pass to their descendants, and they found themselves outliving everyone they knew and becoming isolated, solitary and sullen. About a thousand years after the Godwave, some had begun to go mad and turn demonic as the Elder Gods had before them, while others were drawn to the mountains and other remote areas where they could live apart from humanity and search for a higher meaning. Crom led his people for a while as a hero-god before becoming sullen and retreating to the mountains. Ouranus was another human-turned-god who had retreated to the mountains, while his brother Pontus set sail into the deep sea.
19,444 BCE
The Frost Giant king Ymir tricked his fellow northern hero-god Búri at this time and entrapped him in a glacier.
19,332 BCE
Having made his home as a solitary drifter in the sea, the human-turned-god named Pontus had encountered many strange phenomena. His bravery and skill in the face of danger caught the attention of the Elder Goddess Gaea, who came to him and conceived a child, Ler (or Llyr), who would later come to be known as Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea.
19,000 BCE
This was the last glacial maximum. At this time, the Voormis (Yeti), now known as “snow-apes,” had driven far south from the polar region, establishing a permanent population in what would become known as the Himalayas.
Pontus and the Elder Goddess Gaea built a palace together on the island that would later be known as Rhodes. There they conceived many children, including son Thaumas and daughter Eurybia, who appeared human; son Phorcys and daughter Ceto, who appeared as great sea monsters; and nine children known as the Telchines, who were somewhere in-between.
18,513 BCE
King Kull the Conqueror (b. 18,544 BCE in Atlantis) became king of Valusia after defeating the kingdom of the Serpent People there.By this time, the Valar were still the primary gods worshiped throughout Earth, but they were now known by different names, spread by eastern merchants, and any historical connection had been lost to most people. Tulkas, the youngest of the Valar, was now known as “Valka,” and his great strength had made him a god of vitality and fertility. He was the patron god of Atlantis and one of the most widely worshiped gods in the world. Aulë was now second only to Tulkas in esteem among humans. A god of war and technology, he was known most often by the name “Hotath.” His wife Yavanna was sometimes invoked along with him, and she was now known by the name “Helfara.” Varda, had many names but was known primarily as “The Moon Woman” and her “sisters” Vairë and Etsë as the “The Star Maidens.” Manwë was known as either “Honan” or “Honen.” Námo had come to be known as “Zukala,” the disposer of souls, and his brother Irmo was known as “The Strange God” or “The God Which is Unknown.” Many of the other Valar had faded from human memory: Oromë and Vána chose to remain in Valinor and minister to the Elves, while Ulmo, Nienna and Nessa chose to remain apart.
In addition to the Valar, one of the humans-turned-gods had ascended to worldwide prominence at this time: Pontus, the brother of Ouranus, who had also become known by some as Poseidon, had made his home in the sea and had established himself as the god of seafaring folk.
Ouranus, meanwhile, had used his power to create a city and a palace high in the mountains of Anatolia, a “Kingdom in the Sky,” and had gathered humans and all manner of fantastical creatures to serve him.
There were also many active cults at the time, including the cult of Holgar, the cult of the Serpent (Set worshippers) and the cult of the Great Scorpion (Girtablullu, son of Tiamat, who transformed his most loyal priests into scorpion-men). Also growing in prevalence at this time was the insidious cult of the Black Shadow, keepers of the secrets of “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow.”
By this time, the Deviants had conquered Lemuria and built a kingdom there, easily conquering and enslaving the humans who had dwelled there before them.
18,411 BCE
In the 69th Valian year of the first “Dagor Dagorath” (a.k.a. “Ragnarök”) cycle, a failed sacrifice by Guron, priest of the Cult of the Black Shadow [“The Altar and the Scorpion”], inadvertently created a recurring “change event.” In future cycles, an event in this point of the cycle could introduce variations that would alter the outcome in unexpected ways. Minor variations had been expected, however, and “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” were at first unconcerned by this development. [This is the 69th Valian year, or the 666th Earth year of the first cycle. The math just worked out that way, honest.]
18,090 BCE
Drax was born, eldest son of Yuga Khan and Heggra, rulers of the New Gods of Apokolips.
18,000 BCE
By this time, all of Europe had finally been settled by humans.
From Lemuria, the Deviants began conquering most of Europe, Asia and Africa. They did not, however, conquer the pre-human Giant-Kings who had built mighty cities in the Rhûn (northeastern Europe) and ruled several kingdoms in central and northern Africa. They were also unable to conquer Atlantis, which had by now developed into a powerful, advanced civilization thanks to its people’s new-found arcane technologies. The Atlanteans were defended in part by their development of massive, energy-driven creatures (what we now refer to as kaiju) as defensive weapons. The initial pterosaur-like bat creatures they developed were known as Gyaos.
Around this time, Zhered-Na, a magic user from Atlantis became Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. Zhered-Na prophesied the sinking of Atlantis, for which she was banished from her kingdom. She reestablished herself on the mainland and a cult grew up around her teachings, but she was eventually murdered for them.
17,865 BCE
Ymir, god of the frost giants and king of the Vanir and Aesir, had a son, whom he named Fornjót. He was the first of his children to inherit any of his divine power. Fornjót did not get along with his father and soon traveled far to the west, where he and his descendants would become known as the Storm Giants.
17,500 BCE
As the threat of Lemuria subsided, Atlantis found that the Gyaos they had created to defend them instead turned on their creators and began to attack the Atlanteans themselves. The Atlanteans developed a new class of guardians, including an enormous turtle-like monster called Gamera, to destroy the Gyaos. However, one clutch of undeveloped juvenile Gyaos escaped destruction and would lay in hibernation until 1995 CE. The Atlanteans would likewise place Gamera, the last remaining guardian, in a state of suspended animation until it was needed again.17,162 BCE
The first cycle of Ragnarök (a.k.a. “Dagor Dagorath”) ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to engage in a terrible battle with Surtur, last of the Balrogs, and his fire demon hordes. The final confrontation engulfed and destroyed the Valar’s homeworld of Aman, killing almost all of the combatants, god and mortal alike.
Through the dimensional portal that Aman shared with Earth through Yggdrasil, the World Tree, the war of the gods spilled over from Eä into our universe. There, it dovetailed with a civil war in the mighty civilization of Atlantis. Because of the magical energies released during this war, some of the humans were transformed into a new, magic-sensitive sub-species known as Homo sapiens magi (or colloquially as “wizards”). [This explains both DC Comics magic users and Harry Potter.]
17,161 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök (a.k.a. “Dagor Dagorath”) began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
The Acheronian Age
16,493 BCE
The Second Host of the Celestials arrived on Earth. While there, they became embroiled in a battle with the Deviants. That battle ended up spurring “The Great Cataclysm” that caused the destruction and sinking of both Atlantis (except for two islands, Bal-Sagoth and Poseidonis) and Lemuria, and upheavals throughout the rest of the world that changed the appearance of the continents.
Nommo, a sorcerer from the city of Kôr in East Africa, witnesses the sinking of Atlantis, where the vast majority of people lost their lives that day. (However, a small number - mostly of the Homo sapiens magi sub-species - did manage to survive, and scatter throughout the planet.) Nommo created the Flame of Life from their collected life energy and hid it in a dormant volcano. The flame granted him immortality, which he used to become Kôr's sorcerer-king.
The weapon used by the Celestials on Lemuria actually relocated the entire land, moving it thousands of miles south and sinking it nearly a mile underwater. (It is still there today in the southern Indian Ocean, where it is now known as the Kerguelen microcontinent.) Deviant Emperor Phraug was killed and the Deviant Empire collapsed. The Celestials also punished one of their own, imprisoning the Dreaming Celestial in the Diablo Mountains.
In the wake of the Great Cataclysm, many human refugees from Lemuria and nearby affected areas fled to Central Asia and were enslaved by the people already there, the Khari, who were ruled by sorcerers.
From Atlantis, refugees made their way to what had been known as the Thurian continent (modern day Europe), becoming the barbaric Cimmerians. Meanwhile, the upheavals caused the people who would soon be known as the “Hybori” to flee north, driving the “snow-apes” (i.e., the Voormis or Yeti) who had lived in those lands even further north.
These events marked the end of the Thurian Age and the beginning of the Hyborian Age, which is also viewed by wizards (Homo sapiens magi) as the Sixth Age of Magic on Earth.
Religion underwent further changes in the Hyborian Age. The Middle Gods had steadily lost ground to Modern Gods (those humans affected by the Godwave) and rediscovered ancient forces in the late Thurian Age, and after the Great Cataclysm, they were all but forgotten.
Distraught by cataclysm and the sinking of Atlantis, the sea god Pontus (known to some as Poseidon) became sullen and turned away from humanity. His consort, the Elder Goddess Gaea, left him to tend to the fragile planet.
16,321 BCE
Ymir the frost giant had a daughter, whom he named Atali. She was only the second of the frost giant god’s children to inherit any of his divine power.
16,168 BCE
A “Lesser Cataclysm” occurred, creating an inland sea.
16,012 BCE
Uxas was born, the second son of Yuga Khan, the ruler of Apokolips, and his queen Heggra. The child would one day become known as Darkseid.
By this time, the Deviants had rebuilt their society underground.
In East Africa, the city and kingdom of Kôr fell to barbarians. The Flame of Life was lost, still burning but hidden among the ruins of the once great city.
15,579 BCE
The “Nightmare Empire” of Acheron was founded by the children of the Giant-Kings. These were users of strange, dark magic, a brutish but technologically advanced people descended from the pre-human alien race that had migrated to Africa.
15,558 BCE
The human-turned-god Búri was discovered frozen in a glacier by the people who would come to be known as the Hybori. (As legend has it, one of their cattle was licking him free of the ice.) When they freed him, he began to lead them to greatness.
15,246 BCE
The second cycle of Ragnarök (a.k.a. “Dagor Dagorath”) ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons. Aman was once again engulfed and destroyed, and nearly all of the combatants died. This time, the war of the gods did not spill over into war in Atlantis, since Atlantis had been destroyed in the Great Cataclysm (during the 69th Valian year of the Ragnarök cycle). However, an Earth-bound conflict had been enwoven in the “tapestry of fate” for the cycle, and so this Ragnarök instead coincided with a fierce battle in Central Asia, as the Lemurians rose and destroyed their masters, the Khari, driving them west into Europe.
15,245 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
The adventures of the Dar, the “Beastmaster,” occurred around this time in the land of Shem (the Eastern Mediterranean, which was not submerged during this time). Dar’s village was destroyed by the “Jun hordes,” bands of marauding Khari who had been driven out of Central Asia by the Lemurians.15,000 BCE
The Ice Age climate went through one of its coldest and driest periods (15,000-12,500 BCE). Rainfall diminished drastically and human populations retreated to fertile areas (the "Fertile Crescent," the Indus River valley, etc.) or made do with foraging as best they could.
Around this time, the Khari overthrew the Giant-Kings in northern Africa, founding the kingdom of Stygia. (Some Giant-Kings remained as nobility in Stygia through the end of the Hyborian Age.)
This was also the time when the Hyborians were rising to prominence in the northern part of the continent (what would become Europe) and beginning their southward migration.
Around this time, the Cimmerian chieftain Crom-Ya (who worshiped Tsathoggua) was compromised by the Great Race of Yith. Soon thereafter, the hero-god Crom after whom he had been named came to the Cimmerians, his former people, and taught them again the secrets of forging iron. The Cimmerians turned to worship of Crom, but he turned his back on them again and went back to his mountain.
14,991 BCE
Ymir’s son Thruthgelmir was born. He was only the third and final of the frost giant god’s children to inherit any of his divine power.
14,862 BCE
Búri, god of the Hyborians, had a son, Borr, by Ymir’s daughter Atali.
14,500 BCE
By this time, Stygia had expanded into Shem and the eastern Acheron Empire, the kingdom of Zamora had been founded, and the aboriginals in Zingara (the modern-day Iberian Peninsula) had been absorbed by an influx from the Pictish Isles to the west.
14,000 BCE
Widespread habitation of the Americas began (14,000-11,000 BCE).
Hyborians settled in the lands under Stygian rule (between Acheron and the Picts) and founded their first nations. On the Iberian Peninsula, Zingara was founded after a tribe of Hyborians conquered it.
13,770 BCE
Thruthgelmir’s son Bergelmir was born.
13,441 BCE
Búri and Atali had a second son, Mimir.
13,329 BCE
The third cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing Aman to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die. This time, the war of the gods was echoed on Earth by another war involving the Hyborian tribes, as this time they brought about an end to the Acheron Empire fell. Over the centuries, its rulers had become increasingly nightmarish to behold and were spoken of as “beast-men” or “sub-men.” Their king, who had taken the name Kull after the legendary king of the past, faked his own death and went into suspended animation in a secret underground chamber, where he would remain until 1951 CE.
The fall of Acheron is viewed by wizards (Homo sapiens magi) as the beginning of the Seventh Age of Magic on Earth.
13,328 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
13,300 BCE
Koth, Ophir and Corinthia rebelled against Stygia. Koth drove the Stygians south of the River Styx.
13,276 BCE
Bergelmir’s son Bolthorn was born.
13,201 BCE
The Inhuman scientist Randac discovered Terrigen.
13,000 BCE
By this point, all of the major kingdoms of the Hyborian Age had been defined. The kingdoms of Aquilonia, Nemedia, Argos and Brythunia had been founded in the wake of Acheron by its Hybori conquerors, while the far north of Nordheim had settled into the two kingdoms of the Æsir and the Vanir.
The Lemurians had become the Hyrkanians and established the nation of Turan.
Also around this time, the god Pteor (who would later be known as Anshar) and goddess Ishtar (who would later be known as Kishar) gave birth to sons and daughters, one of whom they named Anu. He would be a minor god of Ophir during the Hyborian Age, but was destined to become a major god of ancient Mesopotamia.
12,801 BCE
Bolthorn’s son Olvaldi was born.
12,594 BCE
Bolthorn’s daughter Bestla was born.
12,500 BCE
Rapid deglaciation began at this time as the climate turned warmer and moister.
Hyborian civilization entered its height.
12,000 BCE
Ouranus and his Kingdom in the Sky gained the attention of the Elder Goddess Gaea, and she fell in love with him and came to live with him as his queen.
11,913 BCE
Borr and Bestla were wed.
11,733 BCE
Yuga Khan, ruler of the New Gods of Apokolips, was lost when he tried to probe the Source Wall for answers to the mysteries of the universe. His queen Heggra became the new ruler of Apokolips.
11,500 BCE
The small kingdoms of Khauran and Khoraja were founded.
11,429 BCE
Borr and Bestla’s first son, Cul, was born.
11,413 BCE
The fourth cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing Aman to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die. This time, the war of the gods was once again echoed on Earth by another war involving the Hyborians, as they engaged in a bloody war with the giants of the north, the Jötnar.
11,412 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
11,180 BCE
A genetically-stable, winged offshoot of the Inhumans known as the Aerie (or Bird People) founded the floating city of Akah Ma’at (or Sky Island).
The art of boat building was rediscovered by humans on a large scale for the first time since around 40,000 BCE.
The mysterious “Black Knight” satellite entered Earth’s orbit at around this time.
10,800 BCE
The Younger Dryas began, as the climate rapidly became drier and cooler.
10,747 BCE
Borr and Bestla’s second son, Odin (also known as Woden), was born.
10,557 BCE
Conan the Cimmerian (b. 10,572 BCE) began his adventures at age 15.
10,533 BCE
Borr and Bestla’s third son, Vili (also known as Hoenir), was born.
10,532 BCE
After many adventures, Conan the Cimmerian became king of Aquilonia at age 40.10,510 BCE
At age 62, Conan the Cimmerian abdicated the throne of Aquilonia to his son, Prince Conn, and sailed into the “unknown west.”
10,132 BCE
Borr and Bestla’s fourth son, Vé (also known as Lodurr or Odur), was born.
10,000 BCE
Hyborian Age civilization began to decline.
A young mammoth hunter named D'Leh journeyed through uncharted territory to Stygia to rescue his tribesmen.
For many thousands of years, Deviants who appeared too human had been killed, used as slave labor, or (rarely) exiled. Around this time, an offshoot group of exiled, human-looking Deviants, also known as the Gortokians, began rebuilding and repopulating the undersea ruins of the sunken island of Mu in what is now the Philippine Sea.
Due to environmental pressures in Indonesia and genocide by the Picts in Europe, Homo floresiensis ("Hobbits") became all but extinct on Earth, with only the Ebu gogo offshoot remaining in their original home of Flores, Indonesia until the 19th century.
The last human crossings took place from Siberia to the Americas over the Beringia land bridge.
The sorceress Ayesha, Rain Queen of the Balobedu Kingdom in South Africa, became Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.
9716 BCE
Borr’s oldest son Cul was captured by frost giants and thrown from a high mountain peak, breaking many of his bones. He then crawled to the giants’ camp and took his revenge, leaving only one survivor to tell the tale.
9564 BCE
Furious with Ouranus for imprisoning her children, the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires in Tartarus, Gaea forged a sickle capable of harming him and conspired with her remaining children, the Titans, to kill him. Only one of them, Cronus, was brave enough to do so. With the sickle, he castrated and killed his father and inherited his crown.
As Ouranos bled to death, he cursed Cronus and prophesied that one of Cronus’ own sons would dethrone him just as he had done. With his dying breath, he then cursed the Earth and struck it with such force that it caused a global cataclysm. The very rotation of the Earth was affected as the North and South Poles shifted, continental plates moved, the last two islands of Atlantis sank, and the face of the known world was rearranged.
Most significantly, though, the natural dam that had built up at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea burst, flooding the fertile plain that had become a center of the Hyborian civilization. This “Great Deluge” swallowed entire kingdoms and brought an end to the Hyborian Age. Even nearby kingdoms like Aquilonia collapsed amid the ruins. Human civilization collapsed back to the Stone Age. The Age of the Titans had begun.
As King of the Titans, Cronus took his sister Rhea as his queen, but he was wary of his father’s prophecy. As she bore him children, he would banish each of them to the prison dimension of Tartarus. He also broke his word to his mother Gaea and kept his siblings, the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, imprisoned in Tartarus.
9511 BCE
Ymir the frost giant, god and king of the Aesir and Vanir of Nordheim, killed Búri, the god of the Hyborians. Búri’s son Borr inherited the allegiance of the northern Hybori tribes.
9500 BCE
Cronus grew impatient with humans, who were still struggling to rebuild their civilization after the cataclysm he had wrought. Deciding they were too weak, he went about creating a new race of humans. He and his siblings crafted them from bronze and then brought them to life and released them to repopulate Greece, Anatolia and the world beyond. This marked the beginning of what Hesiod and Ovid called the Third (or “Bronze”) Age of Man. The men they had created, however, proved too warlike, and Cronus soon grew impatient with them as well.
The cataclysm had brought about changes to the global climate, causing the Younger Dryas (a period of drier, cooler climate) to end around this time.
9496 BCE
The fifth cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing Aman to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die. This time, the war of the gods was once again echoed by a war on Earth. This time, the war on Earth began when Odin, Vili and Vé, the gods of the northern Hyborians, took revenge for the slaying of their grandfather Búri. They killed Ymir, the god of the frost giants, and in the war that followed, they killed almost all of his house. Of all of Ymir's descendants, only Bergelmir and his wife survived the slaughter. Their father Borr was also killed, and their older brother Cul became the new All-Father. The eastern part of Ymir’s Nordheim kingdom, Asgard, was conquered, and the Æsir people soon turned to Cul and his kin as their new gods, but the Vanir people of the west remained free. With Ymir and his Jötnar slain, they remembered the old ways and turned back to worship of the Valar.
9495 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
9086 BCE
On the planet Apokolips, when the New God Drax attempted to claim the “Omega Force,” he was murdered by his brother Uxas, who claimed it for himself. Uxas the renamed himself “Darkseid.”
9004 BCE
Two humans, Adam (“ground” or “Earthling”) and Hiywan (“source of life”; later known as “Eve” in Greek), were created by the Supreme Being in the “Garden of Eden,” a perfect idyllic paradise in what is now eastern Turkey, at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Adam was created from the dust of the earth and Hiywan from one of his ribs. They were created perfect and without flaw and given the chance to remain so, but they chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and for this they were cast out of the Garden and made mortal. By the time of the Great Flood (5608 BCE), all humans alive could trace their ancestry in part to these two human beings.
9000 BCE
At this time, the Sahara region had a more humid climate, with numerous lakes and diverse fauna. This would last until the end of the Age of the Titans (around 4000 BCE) when it would become the desert we know it as today.
Also around this time, humans reached the southern tip of South America, the last of the uninhabited continents except Antarctica.
8831 BCE
The first battle of the Æsir-Vanir War was fought, as the two nations began their centuries-long conflict. Without realizing it, the gods of the Æsir had initiated an event that would eventually sweep them into the Dagor Dagorath cycle of war, death and rebirth, which they would come to know as “Ragnarök.”
8500 BCE
Around this time, a new Agricultural Revolution took place in the Fertile Crescent region, led by the descendants of Adam and Hiywan.
8431 BCE
Cul, chief god of the northern Hyborians and Æsir, had shut his brothers out of his government and installed those he called his “Worthy” as his closest aides. Sensing that Cul’s rule was unjust, Odin seized the throne for himself and locked Cul away in a prison at the base of mighty Yggdrasil, the World Tree, where Cul survived by gnawing on its roots.
8235 BCE
In the area then known as Vanaheim (modern-day Norway), a tribesman discovered a strange meteorite that turned out to be the Bloodgem, a powerful artifact linked to an extradimensional being called the Exo-Mind. An ancient agent of evil known as Ulluxy'l Kwan Tae Syn tried to collect the Bloodgem in an effort to awaken the Great Old Ones and reclaim the Earth. In the ensuing encounter, the Bloodgem killed the tribesman's entire tribe before he managed to shatter it with his spear. One of the pieces lodged in his chest, granting him immortality, and he eventually became known as Ulysses Bloodstone. Meanwhile, Ulluxy’l would spend the next 10,000 years struggling against Ulysses and gathering the shards of the Bloodgem to reassemble them.8145 BCE
The interstellar state known as The Dominion was founded on the far side of the Milky Way Galaxy by the Changelings, a species of shapeshifting, liquid life forms.
7949 BCE
The god Anu became the leader of the Anunnaki, the family of gods that would come to be worshiped in ancient Mesopotamia.
7580 BCE
The sixth cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing Aman to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die. The war of the gods was once again echoed by a war on Earth, but this time that war was an intensification of the ongoing Æsir-Vanir War. During the conflict, the Vanir goddess known as Gullveig (the Valar originally known to the elves as Vairë) was captured and brought to Odin's court. There, she was condemned to death and was repeatedly stabbed with spears and burned, but the peculiar magic of the Ragnarök cycle brought her back to life each time. On the third resurrection, she claimed her name was Heidi and seemed to have no memory of what had occurred. Odin then realized that powerful dark magic was in play and released her.
7579 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger. The Æsir-Vanir War continued, but Odin felt ill at ease and warned his people to proceed cautiously.
7500 BCE
Around this time, neolithic tools and domesticated animals began to appear in China.
6966 BCE
In this year, peace was declared in the Æsir-Vanir War. After centuries of skirmishes, the gods of the two nations traded representatives and declared a truce. From the Valar, Ulmo (whom the Æsir gods call Njörðr) and Nienna (whom they called Nerthus) agreed to go and dwell among the gods of the Æsir.The Æsir gods were given a realm of their own on the great world of Aman, living side-by-side in peace with the Valar, Elves, Dwarves and others. In time, the names from the language used by the Æsir and Vanir came to replace the Elvish names of old. The Valar became known as the Vanir gods and then as just the Vanir; Aman became known as Asgard.
6913 BCE
The New God Darkseid married the scientist and sorceress Suli, against the wishes of his mother Heggra, ruler of Apokolips.
6500 BCE
Agriculture began in South America.
Long-distance trade began in the Middle East.
The city of Jericho was built, the earliest known permanent human settlement for which archaeological evidence still exists today.
Homo mermanus first appeared in Earth’s oceans, most likely as a result of experiments by the Deviants.
The Neolithic Age
6000 BCE
The “Neolithic Wet Phase” began (6000-5000 BCE): after a long arid stretch, rains returned and food production began again in west and central Europe, the Middle East and the Indus Valley.
The Nile Valley was settled again, and the settlers constructed buildings, raised cattle and irrigated crops.
The submerged ruins of Atlantis were first colonized by Homo mermanus, and several small kingdoms appeared over the next century.
5900 BCE
The undersea kingdoms of Atlantis was besieged by the Faceless Ones. United into one kingdom by the legendary Atlan, First King of Atlantis, the people persevered.
5825 BCE
King Atlan the First of Atlantis was usurped by his younger brother Orin. Atlan’s wife and children were all murdered, and he and his loyalists were hunted.
5775 BCE
Atlan the First returned to Atlantis, intent to take back his throne. During his exile, he had used his arcane knowledge to forge the six great artifacts of ancient Atlantis, and he used them to kill his usurper Orin and his queen. Five years of civil war and chaos followed.
5770 BCE
The Atlantean civil war ended in defeat for Atlan the First. He was chased from Atlantis again and later was presumed to have died. In fact, he used his arcane knowledge to transition into a state of undying sleep. Years later he would awaken and be known as the “Dead King.”
5750 BCE
Around this time in Atlantis, a group of separatists were exiled. With Atlantis’ bloody civil war still fresh in his mind, the king decided that separatists were too dangerous to be allowed to live free. He had them cast through an interdimensional nexus in the center of the Bermuda Triangle into a pocket of the Dimension Aqua. In the harsh, unearthly environment of this elemental realm, many of the separatists died. Those who survived eventually founded the kingdom of Xebel.
5663 BCE
The seventh cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing Aman (now known as Asgard) to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die. This time, the war of the gods was not echoed by a war on Earth, but instead included the Asgardian gods, who had merged with the Valar and become the primary gods of Aman.
The champion known as Shazam found that his powers had failed and began a quest back to his homeland in Vanaheim to contact the ancient gods that had bestowed those powers upon him.
5662 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Asgardians, Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger.
The champion known as Shazam reestablished contact with his gods, the Valar, and regained his powers. Although his powers levels had changed somewhat from what he had been used to, he adjusted and carried on his mission to defend the world from evil.
The Supreme Being grew impatient with the wickedness that had filled the world, and unleashed a “Great Flood” (5608-5607 BCE) throughout the Fertile Crescent region. Heavy rains fell throughout the area for forty days and forty nights. During this time, the Black Sea area was flooded, as Mediterranean waters broke through natural earth dams and flooded the Bosporus Valley. Likewise, sea waters that had been rising since that last Ice Age finally broke through and flooded the Persian Gulf area, a densely populated 500 mile by 120 mile civilization. The “Bronze Men” of Cronus were completely wiped off of the face of the Earth. However, the floods only affected a narrow region, and within that region some individuals were warned of the flood beforehand and built boats to survive the flood. Among them were Atrahasis, Deucalion, Gilgamesh, Noah, Utnapishtim, and Ziusudra.
The Great Flood marked the beginning of what Hesiod and Ovid called the Fourth (or “Iron”) Age of Man. (Hesiod split this Age into two parts, “Heroic” through the generation that fought the Trojan War until about 1100-1000 BCE, and “Iron” thereafter.)
5500 BCE
The Predynastic Period began in Egypt (5500-3100 BCE) as small settlements flourished.
The Submerged ruins of Lemuria were colonized by Homo mermanus.
5300 BCE
The first cities arose in Mesopotamia.
5002 BCE
The Asgardian god Thor was born for the first time, son of Odin and the Elder Goddess Gaea.
Osiris began ruling in Heliopolis.
The youngest son of Cronus, Zeus, was born. Unlike his siblings, his mother Rhea managed to deceive Cronus and Zeus was not banished to Tartarus. Instead, he was raised by nymphs on Mount Ida in Crete.
Around this time, the modern horse was domesticated in what is now the Ukraine.
3747 BCE
The eighth cycle of Ragnarök ended, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Asgardians and Valar to once again engage in a terrible battle with Surtur and his fire demons, causing the realm of Asgard (formerly known as Aman) to become engulfed and destroyed, and almost all of the combatants to die.
For the second time, the champion known as Shazam found that his powers had failed and began a quest back to his homeland in Vanaheim to contact the ancient gods that had bestowed those powers upon him.
3746 BCE
The cycle of Ragnarök began again, as the Asgardians, Valar, elves, fire demons and other combatants found themselves regenerated. Some reawakened as if from a dream, with cloudy memories of what had transpired. Some had no memory of what had happened, or had different memories. Finally, some were not regenerated immediately, but were born again to their parents as the cycle repeated. Meanwhile, “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” fed off of the psychic energy that the event had created, and found themselves growing stronger. As this was the first cycle of Ragnarök to include Thor and many of the other children of the Æsir and Vanir, and the tone of the final battle had became even more grand and epic, making the final payoff even greater for “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow.”
The champion known as Shazam reestablished contact with his ancient gods. However, having spent over 3,000 years battling evil, he had grown weary and asked that he be able to find a replacement. With the consent of the Valar, he took on an apprentice named Oggar and began grooming him to be his successor. (In the interim, Shazam was able to share his power with Oggar in much the same way that Billy Batson was later able to share his power with his sister and Freddy Freeman.) In the meantime, the Valar began to teach Shazam in the ways of wizards.
A son, Kalibak, was born to the New Gods Darkseid and Suli of Apokolips.
The Uruk Period of Sumerian civilization began in Mesopotamia (3700-2900 BCE).
3600 BCE
Zeus freed his siblings, the Olympians, from Tartarus and led them to battle with the Titans.
3590 BCE
After ten years of war, known as the Titanomachy, the Olympians were victorious over the Titans. Zeus, having now established himself as ruler of the gods, banished most of the male Titans to Tartarus and took the wise and beautiful Metis, daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, as his bride. However, as his father Cronus was cast into Tartarus, he cursed the marriage, saying that Zeus would suffer the same fate as his grandfather and father before him, and that if Metis bore him a son, Zeus himself would be overthrown.3589 BCE
Metis became pregnant with the child of Zeus. Fearing the curse that had been placed on him, Zeus tricked his wife into turning herself into a fly and promptly swallowed her. However, Metis used magic to create a pocket dimension where she survived and raised her daughter, Athena. The presence of this pocket dimension within Zeus’ body caused him great discomfort for centuries.
3500 BCE
The Three Soveriegns and the Five Emperors period began in China (3500-2070 BCE).
3313 BCE
Zeus took his sister Hera as his second bride, making her queen of the gods of Olympus.
Holy shit. I'm not entirely sure what I just read, but it's amazing.
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