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''This article is about the seas east of [[Middle-earth]]. For the original Inner Seas, see [[Belegaer]] and the [[East Sea]].''
'''Inner Seas''' is a concept that refers to different bodies of water in different Ages of [[Arda]].


The '''Inner Seas''' were a sea east of [[Middle-earth]]. They are believed to be the remnants of the [[Sea of Ringil]].
==Inner Seas in the earliest times of Arda==
The Inner Seas in the very beginning of Arda were [[Belegaer]] and the [[East Sea]], the two oceans between the two outer continents ([[Aman]] in the West and the [[Land of the Sun]] in the East), and [[Middle-earth]] proper, contrary to the [[Outer Sea]] that extended from the edges to the nether side of Arda.


==History==
When [[Ulmo]] came to Arda with his [[Maiar]], he gave to [[Ossë]] and [[Uinen]] "the government of the waves and the movements of the Inner Seas", while he personally abode in the Outer Sea.<ref>{{S|1}}</ref>
After the [[Two Lamps]] were toppled by [[Melkor]], two seas were formed: the [[Sea of Helcar]] in the north and the [[Sea of Ringil]] in the south.


During the [[War for the Sake of the Elves]] the Sea of Ringil was greatly widened and expanded, and eventually grew into the Inner Seas between the southern continent of Middle-earth and the [[Dark Land]], which were connected to both [[Belegaer]] and the [[East Sea]]. It is also likely that the [[Mountains of the Wind]] became an island chain in the sea.
In the [[Ambarkanta]] the Inner Seas, or "the ancient seas", are described as laying "in troughs" between the central continent and the western and eastern lands, and their waters only spilled into the chasm in north and south, where they had no shores.<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}, p. 238.</ref>


Though the sea was named the "East Sea" in the [[Ambarkanata maps|Ambarkanata Map V]], which decipts the geography of Arda after the destruction of the [[Lamps of the Valar]]:<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}, p. 251.</ref> in the places where the Lamps stood, had been formed two great bodies of water, the "Inland Sea" or the [[Sea of Helcar]] in the North, and the "East Sea" in the South. The East Sea was renamed the "Inner Seas" by [[Karen Wynn Fonstad]] in the [[Atlas of Middle-earth]].<ref>Karen Wynn Fonstad, ''[[Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', Revised Edition, p. 45.</ref>
==Inner seas in the Second Age==
When the [[Dúnedain]] could not go very far to the West from [[Númenor]] because of the [[Ban of the Valar]] they are told to have sailed eastward from North to South and they
"came even into the inner seas, and sailed about Middle-earth and glimpsed from their high prows the [[Gates of Morning]] in the East".<ref>{{S|Akallabeth}}</ref>


==Oceanography==
These "inner seas" were reached ''from'' the Belegaer and therefore must have referred to something quite else than the great Inner Seas of the beginning of days.
The Inner Seas were decipted as a narrow but large sea, over 2,500 miles from its southern to northern end and about 800 miles at its widest point. It was connected to the wider ocean by two straights: one in the south with Belegaer, and a narrower one in the north with the East Sea (this latter one is believed to be the former location of the [[Mountains of the Wind]]). What the seas looked like is unknown, but it is believed that they had both warm and cold currents.
 
The answer may be found from the [[Ambarkanta maps|Ambarkanta Map V]] which depicts the geography of Arda after the destruction of the [[Lamps of the Valar]]:<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}, p. 251.</ref> in the places where the Lamps stood, had been formed two great bodies of water, the "Inland Sea" or the [[Sea of Helcar]] in the North, and the "East Sea" in the South. Especially the East Sea, to the south of which was the [[Dark Land]], offered a route from the Belegaer to the great eastern ocean &ndash; also named as the [[East Sea]], in the Ambarkanta Map IV.<ref>{{SM|Ambar}}, p. 249.</ref>
 
Note that the "East Sea" of the Ambarkanta Map V was named as "Inner Seas" by [[Karen Wynn Fonstad]] in the map that describes the voyages of the Dúnedain in the Second Age, obviously based on the mention in the ''[[Akallabêth]]'' and disregarding the name Tolkien himself gave to the sea.<ref>Karen Wynn Fonstad, ''[[Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', Revised Edition, p. 45.</ref>


{{references}}
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Latest revision as of 10:37, 29 July 2020

Inner Seas is a concept that refers to different bodies of water in different Ages of Arda.

Inner Seas in the earliest times of Arda[edit | edit source]

The Inner Seas in the very beginning of Arda were Belegaer and the East Sea, the two oceans between the two outer continents (Aman in the West and the Land of the Sun in the East), and Middle-earth proper, contrary to the Outer Sea that extended from the edges to the nether side of Arda.

When Ulmo came to Arda with his Maiar, he gave to Ossë and Uinen "the government of the waves and the movements of the Inner Seas", while he personally abode in the Outer Sea.[1]

In the Ambarkanta the Inner Seas, or "the ancient seas", are described as laying "in troughs" between the central continent and the western and eastern lands, and their waters only spilled into the chasm in north and south, where they had no shores.[2]

Inner seas in the Second Age[edit | edit source]

When the Dúnedain could not go very far to the West from Númenor because of the Ban of the Valar they are told to have sailed eastward from North to South and they "came even into the inner seas, and sailed about Middle-earth and glimpsed from their high prows the Gates of Morning in the East".[3]

These "inner seas" were reached from the Belegaer and therefore must have referred to something quite else than the great Inner Seas of the beginning of days.

The answer may be found from the Ambarkanta Map V which depicts the geography of Arda after the destruction of the Lamps of the Valar:[4] in the places where the Lamps stood, had been formed two great bodies of water, the "Inland Sea" or the Sea of Helcar in the North, and the "East Sea" in the South. Especially the East Sea, to the south of which was the Dark Land, offered a route from the Belegaer to the great eastern ocean – also named as the East Sea, in the Ambarkanta Map IV.[5]

Note that the "East Sea" of the Ambarkanta Map V was named as "Inner Seas" by Karen Wynn Fonstad in the map that describes the voyages of the Dúnedain in the Second Age, obviously based on the mention in the Akallabêth and disregarding the name Tolkien himself gave to the sea.[6]

References

  1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Beginning of Days"
  2. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta", p. 238.
  3. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor"
  4. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta", p. 251.
  5. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta", p. 249.
  6. ↑ Karen Wynn Fonstad, Atlas of Middle-earth, Revised Edition, p. 45.
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