[Finwe]

1. Who are the Numenoreans? What happened to them? How do they affect the history of ME?

The Numenoreans were the descendants of the Men of the First Age, who lived on this big island called Numenor, between Aman and Middle-earth. They generally were a lot better off than the rest of Men in Middle-earth, since they were very tall and had very long lifespans (although they weren't immortal).

Their kings were descended from Elros Tar-Minyatur, who was the brother of Elrond. They became renowned mariners and explorers of the seas. The only problem was that the Valar told them that if they wanted to sail west, they could only sail with the island of Numenor in sight. They couldn't go any farther. Now, the Valar had a good reason for doing this, which I will get to later.

Meanwhile, in Middle-earth, Sauron was growing in strength. He made his headquarters in Mordor, and started oppressing people. Back in Numenor, the Men were suddenly not very happy. They started getting jealous of the Elves, who, up til now, served as their mentors, teaching them nice, philosophical kingly stuff. They wanted to be immortal just like the Elves, and some got the fool notion that if they sailed West to Aman, they would become immortal as well. They forgot that it was the people that made the land, not the other way around. It was a coincidence that all the people who lived in Aman were immortal.

After a while, the Kings of Numenor started hating the Elves. They completely banned all Elvish things, the Elvish languages, and all traffic with the Elves. Now, a few Elf-friends, or Elendili, remained. These were the people who were still friends with the Elves, and their "headquarters" on Numenor was the city of Andunië, on the west coast. The Kings kept hating and hating the Elves.

The second-to-last King of Numenor, Tar-Palantir actually repented of his ancestors' pride and folly, and tried to reconcile Numenor back with Aman, but it didn't work. Too many people already resented the Elves. After his death, his nephew, Ar-Pharazon (or Tar-Calion the Golden) married his cousin Ar-Zimraphel (or Tar-Miriel, the daughter of Tar-Palantir) and took the throne of Numenor. Now this one was the craziest of them all.

Ar-Pharazon heard that Sauron was starting to call himself Lord of Middle-earth, and got very ****ed off. So, he assembled a huge navy, and sailed to Middle-earth. Now this army was so huge and strong, that all of Sauron's servants high-tailed it out of there, leaving the Big S. all by himself. Sauron realized that he wouldn't be able to defeat the Numenoreans (whom he hated for being so strong and great) by force, so he decided to do it by guile.

When Ar-Pharazon landed, Sauron went to him, and sucked up a lot. So in the end, instead of killing him, Ar-Pharazon brought Sauron back to Numenor as a prisoner. Then, as expected, Sauron squirmed his way into all of Ar-Pharazon's counsels, and told him that Morgoth would give him everything he wanted, if he marched on Aman. Ar-Pharazon, who by this time was getting old, decided to march on Aman. He gathered a HUGE navy, and set out.

Meanwhile, the Elf-friends were completely freaking out. Their leader was Elendil, and his sons were Isildur and Anarion. They all knew that something catastrophic would happen, and kept a bunch of ships ready, with all their possessions on board. When Ar-Pharazon landed in Aman, all of his army was cast down and they sleep beneath the hills of Aman, waiting for the Last Battle. The Valar also asked Eru to intercede, and Numenor was also destroyed.

When Elendil and his followers saw the first signs of destruction, they boarded their ships, and set sail towards Middle-earth. They landed there, and founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. The descendant of Isildur was Aragorn.

2. This may be a stupid question, but why did the Stewards become "king" of Gondor? Why didn't Isiludur's son (I am assuming he had a son since Aragorn is his descendant) become the King?

The Stewards of Gondor became king, because the last King of Gondor, Earnur, rode off to meet the challenge of the Witch-king at Minas Morgul. He never came back, so everyone assumed that he was dead. His steward, Mardil, took up the throne in his stead, keeping it in the name of the King. After him, his son took up the office, of the Ruling Steward, and that is how the office passed on all the way to Denethor II.

3. Who are the Men of the West and South?

The Men of the West are the Rangers, Aragorn's "family." They are the remnants of the kingdom of Arnor, that was destroyed by the Witch-King of Angmar and his army. The Men of the South are the Haradrim (whom Tolkien intended to resemble Africans). They serve Sauron, and are fierce enemies of the Free Peoples.