Belegaer: Difference between revisions
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Before the end of the Second Age, the continent of Aman, home of the [[Valar]], formed the western edge of Belegaer. Before the ruin of [[Beleriand]] at the end of the [[First Age]], the sea was narrow and ice-filled in the north, forming the strait of Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. It was thus possible to cross from Aman to Middle-earth on foot, though with difficulty, as did [[Fingolfin]] and his people of the [[Noldor]] when fleeing [[Valinor]]. | Before the end of the Second Age, the continent of Aman, home of the [[Valar]], formed the western edge of Belegaer. Before the ruin of [[Beleriand]] at the end of the [[First Age]], the sea was narrow and ice-filled in the north, forming the strait of Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. It was thus possible to cross from Aman to Middle-earth on foot, though with difficulty, as did [[Fingolfin]] and his people of the [[Noldor]] when fleeing [[Valinor]]. | ||
After the [[War of Wrath]] Belegaer was widened by the drowning of a large part of Middle-earth, and possibly parts of Aman. The bridge of ice in the north was removed, removing land access to the western continent. During the | After the [[War of Wrath]] Belegaer was widened by the drowning of a large part of Middle-earth, and possibly parts of Aman. The bridge of ice in the north was removed, removing land access to the western continent. During the Akallabêth in the Second Age, the seas were bent and the world was made round. Aman was removed from the world, Belegaer washed "new lands", and only the chosen could find the "Straight Road" to [[Valinor]]. The new western end of Belegaer is never described in the narrative, although there are indications that Númenórean refugees reached them in search for Valinor. | ||
==Oceanography== | ==Oceanography== |
Revision as of 12:22, 21 December 2014
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Belegaer | |
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Ocean | |
General Information | |
Other names | The Great Sea, Sundering Seas, Alatairë |
Location | East of Aman, west of Endor |
Type | Ocean |
History | |
Events | The War of Wrath & Akallabêth |
Gallery | Images of Belegaer |
Belegaer, the Great Sea or the Sundering Seas, was the sea of Arda that was west of Middle-earth.
History
Before the Second Age, Belegaer stretched from the Gap of Ilmen in the far north, where a bridge made of ice known as the Helcaraxë connected Middle-earth and Aman, to the far south, where it also connected with Ilmen and froze, although no strait was formed there. Belegaer was narrower in the north than in the south, with its widest part near the equator of Arda.
The full extent of Belegaer after the Akallabêth is never made clear, but it reached far enough to the north to be ice-covered, and far to the south.
Before the end of the Second Age, the continent of Aman, home of the Valar, formed the western edge of Belegaer. Before the ruin of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the sea was narrow and ice-filled in the north, forming the strait of Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. It was thus possible to cross from Aman to Middle-earth on foot, though with difficulty, as did Fingolfin and his people of the Noldor when fleeing Valinor.
After the War of Wrath Belegaer was widened by the drowning of a large part of Middle-earth, and possibly parts of Aman. The bridge of ice in the north was removed, removing land access to the western continent. During the Akallabêth in the Second Age, the seas were bent and the world was made round. Aman was removed from the world, Belegaer washed "new lands", and only the chosen could find the "Straight Road" to Valinor. The new western end of Belegaer is never described in the narrative, although there are indications that Númenórean refugees reached them in search for Valinor.
Oceanography
Islands
Belegaer had several islands and island chains:
- Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle close to the shore of Aman
- the Twilit Isles or Enchanted Isles seaward of Tol Eressëa
- Númenor (Second Age only)
- the Western Isles (after the First Age)
- Balar, in the Bay of Balar (First Age only)
- Tolfalas, in the Bay of Belfalas
Bays and inlets
Other features of Belegaer:
- Bay of Eldamar
- Bay of Balar (First Age only)
- the Great Gulf (First Age only)
- Firth of Drengist (First Age only)
- Ice Bay of Forochel (after First Age)
- Gulf of Lune (after First Age)
- Bay of Belfalas (after First Age)
Etymology
The name is Sindarin, and has the elements Beleg ("mighty") and aer, an element meaning "sea".[2] The Quenya name of Belegaer, never used in primary writing, is Alatairë.[3]
Comment
Karen Wynn Fonstad has noted that "Belegaer was comparable to the Atlantic".[4]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Last Debate"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
- ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad The Atlas of Middle-earth p. 194