Aman
Encyclopedia
In J. R. R. Tolkien
's legendarium
, Aman, also known as the Undying Lands or Blessed Realm, is the home of the Valar
, and three kindreds of Elves: the Vanyar
, some of the Noldor
, and some of the Teleri
.
across the great ocean Belegaer
. The island of Tol Eressëa
lies just off its eastern shore. At the end of the Second Age
, Aman was removed from the surface of the Earth to another realm, and is no longer reachable by ordinary means of travel.
, which meant the "land of the Valar", but was the true Eldarin name of Aman, according to Tolkien .
The size of Eldamar is unknown, but the area between the Bay of Eldamar and the Pelóri was probably at least a few dozen miles wide; Eldamar also consisted of the shore of Taniquetil and the Calacirya pass where Tirion
was built. The shore probably extended hundreds of miles to the north of the Calacirya.
The land is regarded as being well-wooded, or at least containing areas of forest
, as Finrod was recounted as "walking with his father under the trees in Eldamar" and the Teleri needed timber to build their ships.
The city of the Teleri, on the north shore of the Bay is Alqualondë, or Haven of the Swans, whose halls and mansions are made of pearl. The harbour is entered through a natural arch of rock, and the beaches are strewn with gems given by the Noldor. It includes the Calacirya and stretches far to the north and around the east-slopes of Taniquetil.
In the bay is Tol Eressëa
, which was an island at one time adrift, until Ulmo
rooted it in the bay.
South of Eldamar is Avathar; to the north is Araman.
) is the pass in the Pelóri mountains north of Taniquetil where the elven city Tirion
was set on Túna
hill. After the hiding of Valinor
this was the only gap through the mountains of Aman. The Valar would have closed the mountains entirely but, realizing that the Elves, even the Vanyar, needed to be able to breathe the outside air, they kept Calacirya open. They also did not want to wholly separate the Vanyar and Noldor from the Teleri on the coast.
The name refers to the light of the Two Trees that streamed through the pass into the world beyond, the only source of light other than the stars before the coming of the sun and moon
.
The city had a central square at the top of the hill and a tower called the Mindon Eldaliéva, a beacon visible from the seashore miles to the east.
Alqualondë is perhaps best known as the site of the first Kinslaying as recounted in The Silmarillion
. The city is said to be north and east of Tirion between the Calacirya and Araman in northern Eldamar.
The city was walled and built in a natural harbour made of rock. Other than the great harbours where the Teleri ships were moored, it also housed the tower of Olwë, brother of Thingol
. The city was covered with pearls which the Teleri found in the seas and jewels obtained from the Noldor
.
. Seeking to isolate themselves, they raised a great mountain fence, called the Pelóri, on the eastern coast, and set the Enchanted Isles in the ocean to prevent travellers by sea from reaching Aman.
Outside the wall of the Pelóri the Valar left two lands: Araman to the northeast and Avathar to the southeast. Ungoliant
, an ancient evil being who chose the form of a great spider, lived in Avathar. When Melkor
was released from captivity, he fled to Avathar, scaled the mountains with the help of Ungoliant, and wrought destruction in Aman: he persuaded Ungoliant to kill the Two Trees of Valinor
and take from them what energy she could to quench her hunger, as Ungoliant (see also Shelob
) was always hungry.
Soon after that, the first Kinslaying occurred when Fëanor
led the host of Noldor to Alqualondë and slaughtered the Teleri for refusing Fëanor use of their ships. When Fëanor left Valinor he needed ships to get to Middle-earth without great loss, but the Noldor possessed no ships, and Fëanor feared that any delay in their departure would cause the Noldor to reconsider. The Noldor, led by Fëanor and his seven sons
, tried to persuade their friends, the Teleri of Alqualondë, to give him their ships. However, the Teleri would not help in any way against the will of the Valar, and in fact attempted to persuade their friends to reconsider and stay in Aman. In their insanity and rage, the Noldor started taking the ships and sailing them away. This angered the Teleri, and they threatened the Noldor with rocks and arrows, and they threw many of Fëanor's Noldor out of the ships into the harbour (though probably not killing any of them). They also began to attempt to block the harbour, but it is only slightly possible that the Teleri drew first blood.
Then the Noldor drew swords, and the Teleri their bows, and there was a bitter fight that seemed evenly matched, if not even in favour of the Teleri, until the second Host of the Noldor, led by Fingon
, arrived together with some of Fingolfin
's people. Misunderstanding the situation, they assumed the Teleri had attacked the Noldor under orders of the Valar, and they joined the fight. In the end many Teleri were slain and the ships taken, and many of the stolen ships were wrecked in the waves. All that continued towards Middle-earth were therefore cursed by Mandos.
The first mortal man to succeed in navigating to and passing the Isles of Enchantment was Eärendil
, who came to Valinor to seek the aid of the Valar against Melkor, now called Morgoth. His quest was successful, the Valar went to war again, and also decided to remove the Isles.
Soon after this, the great island of Númenor
was raised out of Belegaer, close to the shores of Aman, and the Three Houses of the Edain
were brought to live there. Henceforth, they were called the Dúnedain
, or Men of the West, and were blessed with many gifts by the Valar and the Elves of Tol Eressëa. The Valar feared — rightly — that the Númenóreans would seek to enter Aman to gain immortality (even though a mortal in Aman remains mortal, due to it not being their final destination), so they forbade them from sailing west of sight of the westernmost promontory of Númenor. In time, and not without some corrupting help from Sauron
, the Númenóreans violated the Ban of the Valar, and sailed to Aman with a great army under the command of Ar-Pharazôn the Golden. Eru
collapsed a part of the Pelóri on this army, trapping it but not killing it. It is said that the army still lives underneath the pile of rock.
In light of this new development, Eru removed Aman from the spheres of the world. The earth, at this time, was flat. Eru split it in two, and then made the half containing Middle-earth round, so that a mariner sailing west along Eärendil's route would simply emerge in the far east. For the Elves, however, Eru crafted a Straight Road that peels away from the curvature of the earth and passes to the now-alien land of Aman. Very few non-Elves are known to have passed along this road, including Frodo Baggins
, Bilbo Baggins
, Samwise Gamgee
, and Gimli
.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's legendarium
Legendarium
Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...
, Aman, also known as the Undying Lands or Blessed Realm, is the home of the Valar
Vala (Middle-earth)
The Valar are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are first mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but The Silmarillion develops them into the Powers of Arda or the Powers of the World...
, and three kindreds of Elves: the Vanyar
Vanyar
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Vanyar are the fairest and most noble of the High Elves. They are the smallest of the three clans of the Eldar, and were the first to arrive in Aman. According to legend, the clan was founded by Imin, the first Elf to awake at Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and...
, some of the Noldor
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are Elves of the Second Clan who migrated to Valinor and lived in Eldamar. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldoi by Teleri of Tol Eressëa. The singular form of the Quenya noun is Noldo and the adjective is Noldorin...
, and some of the Teleri
Teleri
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Teleri, Those who come last in Quenya were the third of the Elf clans who came to Aman...
.
Geography
Aman is a continent far to the west of Middle-earthMiddle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
across the great ocean Belegaer
Belegaer
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Belegaer, the Great Sea or the Sundering Seas, is the sea of Arda that is west of Middle-earth....
. The island of Tol Eressëa
Tol Eressëa
In early versions of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium , Tol Eressëa was an island visited by the Anglo-Saxon traveller Ælfwine which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion. The name is the Elvish for "Lonely Island"...
lies just off its eastern shore. At the end of the Second Age
Second Age
The Second Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. Tolkien intended for the history of Middle-earth to be considered fictionally as a precursor to the history of the real Earth....
, Aman was removed from the surface of the Earth to another realm, and is no longer reachable by ordinary means of travel.
Eldamar
Eldamar is "Elvenhome", the "costal region of Aman, settled by the Elves", wrote Tolkien. Eldamar was included in ValinorValinor
Valinor is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. It was also known as the Undying Lands, along with Tol Eressëa and the outliers of Aman. This is something of a misnomer; only immortal beings were allowed to reside there, but the land itself,...
, which meant the "land of the Valar", but was the true Eldarin name of Aman, according to Tolkien .
The size of Eldamar is unknown, but the area between the Bay of Eldamar and the Pelóri was probably at least a few dozen miles wide; Eldamar also consisted of the shore of Taniquetil and the Calacirya pass where Tirion
Tirion
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Tirion upon Túna was the city of the Noldor in Valinor...
was built. The shore probably extended hundreds of miles to the north of the Calacirya.
The land is regarded as being well-wooded, or at least containing areas of forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, as Finrod was recounted as "walking with his father under the trees in Eldamar" and the Teleri needed timber to build their ships.
The city of the Teleri, on the north shore of the Bay is Alqualondë, or Haven of the Swans, whose halls and mansions are made of pearl. The harbour is entered through a natural arch of rock, and the beaches are strewn with gems given by the Noldor. It includes the Calacirya and stretches far to the north and around the east-slopes of Taniquetil.
In the bay is Tol Eressëa
Tol Eressëa
In early versions of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium , Tol Eressëa was an island visited by the Anglo-Saxon traveller Ælfwine which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion. The name is the Elvish for "Lonely Island"...
, which was an island at one time adrift, until Ulmo
Ulmo
Ulmo is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears in The Silmarillion as a god or Vala of the Elven pantheon. Ulmo is a title, which means He who pours. He is also known as King of the Sea and Lord of Waters...
rooted it in the bay.
South of Eldamar is Avathar; to the north is Araman.
Calacirya
Calacirya (meaning "Light Cleft" in Tolkien's artificial Elvish language QuenyaQuenya
Quenya is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Quenya is one of the many Elvish languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called Quendi in Quenya. The tongue actually called Quenya was in origin the speech of two clans of Elves...
) is the pass in the Pelóri mountains north of Taniquetil where the elven city Tirion
Tirion
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Tirion upon Túna was the city of the Noldor in Valinor...
was set on Túna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
hill. After the hiding of Valinor
Valinor
Valinor is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. It was also known as the Undying Lands, along with Tol Eressëa and the outliers of Aman. This is something of a misnomer; only immortal beings were allowed to reside there, but the land itself,...
this was the only gap through the mountains of Aman. The Valar would have closed the mountains entirely but, realizing that the Elves, even the Vanyar, needed to be able to breathe the outside air, they kept Calacirya open. They also did not want to wholly separate the Vanyar and Noldor from the Teleri on the coast.
The name refers to the light of the Two Trees that streamed through the pass into the world beyond, the only source of light other than the stars before the coming of the sun and moon
Sun and Moon (Middle-earth)
The fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien of Middle-earth fame included Earth's sun and moon for the cosmology of his fictionalized version of existence....
.
Tirion
The city of the Noldor (and for a time the Vanyar also) is Tirion, which was built on the hill of Túna, raised inside the Calacirya mountain pass, just north of Taniquetil, facing both the Two Trees and the starlit seas.The city had a central square at the top of the hill and a tower called the Mindon Eldaliéva, a beacon visible from the seashore miles to the east.
Alqualondë
Alqualondë (meaning Swanhaven in Quenya) is the chief city of the Teleri on the eastern shores of Valinor.Alqualondë is perhaps best known as the site of the first Kinslaying as recounted in The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
. The city is said to be north and east of Tirion between the Calacirya and Araman in northern Eldamar.
The city was walled and built in a natural harbour made of rock. Other than the great harbours where the Teleri ships were moored, it also housed the tower of Olwë, brother of Thingol
Thingol
Elu Thingol is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Silmarillion, The Lays of Beleriand and Children of Húrin as well as in numerous stories in the many volumes of The History of Middle-earth...
. The city was covered with pearls which the Teleri found in the seas and jewels obtained from the Noldor
Noldor
In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are Elves of the Second Clan who migrated to Valinor and lived in Eldamar. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldoi by Teleri of Tol Eressëa. The singular form of the Quenya noun is Noldo and the adjective is Noldorin...
.
History
After the destruction of Almaren in ancient times, the Valar retreated to Aman, and established there the realm of ValinorValinor
Valinor is a fictional location in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the realm of the Valar in Aman. It was also known as the Undying Lands, along with Tol Eressëa and the outliers of Aman. This is something of a misnomer; only immortal beings were allowed to reside there, but the land itself,...
. Seeking to isolate themselves, they raised a great mountain fence, called the Pelóri, on the eastern coast, and set the Enchanted Isles in the ocean to prevent travellers by sea from reaching Aman.
Outside the wall of the Pelóri the Valar left two lands: Araman to the northeast and Avathar to the southeast. Ungoliant
Ungoliant
Ungoliant is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, described as an evil spirit in the form of a spider. She is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role in The Silmarillion. Her origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings don't explicitly...
, an ancient evil being who chose the form of a great spider, lived in Avathar. When Melkor
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
was released from captivity, he fled to Avathar, scaled the mountains with the help of Ungoliant, and wrought destruction in Aman: he persuaded Ungoliant to kill the Two Trees of Valinor
Two Trees of Valinor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Two Trees of Valinor are Telperion and Laurelin, the Silver Tree and the Gold that brought light to the Land of the Valar in ancient times...
and take from them what energy she could to quench her hunger, as Ungoliant (see also Shelob
Shelob
Shelob is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears at the end of the fourth book, second volume , of The Lord of the Rings.-Literature:...
) was always hungry.
Soon after that, the first Kinslaying occurred when Fëanor
Fëanor
Fëanor is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium who plays an important part in The Silmarillion. He was the eldest son of Finwë, the High King of the Noldor, and his first wife Míriel Serindë...
led the host of Noldor to Alqualondë and slaughtered the Teleri for refusing Fëanor use of their ships. When Fëanor left Valinor he needed ships to get to Middle-earth without great loss, but the Noldor possessed no ships, and Fëanor feared that any delay in their departure would cause the Noldor to reconsider. The Noldor, led by Fëanor and his seven sons
Sons of Fëanor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, the seven sons of Fëanor, the eldest prince of the Noldor, led their people from Valinor to rule over kingdoms in the Northeast of Beleriand:...
, tried to persuade their friends, the Teleri of Alqualondë, to give him their ships. However, the Teleri would not help in any way against the will of the Valar, and in fact attempted to persuade their friends to reconsider and stay in Aman. In their insanity and rage, the Noldor started taking the ships and sailing them away. This angered the Teleri, and they threatened the Noldor with rocks and arrows, and they threw many of Fëanor's Noldor out of the ships into the harbour (though probably not killing any of them). They also began to attempt to block the harbour, but it is only slightly possible that the Teleri drew first blood.
Then the Noldor drew swords, and the Teleri their bows, and there was a bitter fight that seemed evenly matched, if not even in favour of the Teleri, until the second Host of the Noldor, led by Fingon
Fingon
Fingon is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Silmarillion.-Character overview:...
, arrived together with some of Fingolfin
Fingolfin
Fingolfin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, appearing in The Silmarillion.-Internal history:He was a High King of the Noldor in Beleriand, second eldest son of Finwë, full brother of Finarfin, and half-brother of Fëanor, who was the eldest of Finwë's sons. His mother was...
's people. Misunderstanding the situation, they assumed the Teleri had attacked the Noldor under orders of the Valar, and they joined the fight. In the end many Teleri were slain and the ships taken, and many of the stolen ships were wrecked in the waves. All that continued towards Middle-earth were therefore cursed by Mandos.
The first mortal man to succeed in navigating to and passing the Isles of Enchantment was Eärendil
Eärendil
Eärendil the Mariner is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is depicted in The Silmarillion as a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the morning star across the sky.-Etymology:...
, who came to Valinor to seek the aid of the Valar against Melkor, now called Morgoth. His quest was successful, the Valar went to war again, and also decided to remove the Isles.
Soon after this, the great island of Númenor
Númenor
Númenor is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. It was a huge island located in the Sundering Seas to the west of Middle-earth, the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was known to be the greatest realm of Men...
was raised out of Belegaer, close to the shores of Aman, and the Three Houses of the Edain
Edain
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Edain were men who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves....
were brought to live there. Henceforth, they were called the Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
, or Men of the West, and were blessed with many gifts by the Valar and the Elves of Tol Eressëa. The Valar feared — rightly — that the Númenóreans would seek to enter Aman to gain immortality (even though a mortal in Aman remains mortal, due to it not being their final destination), so they forbade them from sailing west of sight of the westernmost promontory of Númenor. In time, and not without some corrupting help from Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
, the Númenóreans violated the Ban of the Valar, and sailed to Aman with a great army under the command of Ar-Pharazôn the Golden. Eru
Eru Ilúvatar
Eru Ilúvatar is a fictional deity in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Silmarillion as the creator of all existence . In Tolkien's invented language of Elvish, Eru means "The One", or "He that is Alone" and Ilúvatar signifies "Father of All"...
collapsed a part of the Pelóri on this army, trapping it but not killing it. It is said that the army still lives underneath the pile of rock.
In light of this new development, Eru removed Aman from the spheres of the world. The earth, at this time, was flat. Eru split it in two, and then made the half containing Middle-earth round, so that a mariner sailing west along Eärendil's route would simply emerge in the far east. For the Elves, however, Eru crafted a Straight Road that peels away from the curvature of the earth and passes to the now-alien land of Aman. Very few non-Elves are known to have passed along this road, including Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
, Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypical role as the sidekick of the protagonist, Frodo...
, and Gimli
Gimli (Middle-earth)
Gimli is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. A Dwarf warrior, he is the son of Glóin ....
.