East Sea
The East Sea, also called the Eastern Sea, was the sea between Middle-earth and the Land of the Sun.[1]
History
Initially, its size and shape corresponded symmetrically with Belegaer, the Western Sea separating Middle-earth from Aman, but when Melkor cast down the Two Lamps, this symmetry was lost; Middle-earth was thrust eastward, causing Belegaer to expand and the East Sea to narrow.[2][3] At this time, the East Sea was narrowest in the extreme north and south, with only small straits of ice separating Middle-earth and the Land of the Sun.[4]
During the War for the Sake of the Elves between the Valar and Morgoth, the East Sea was again changed when the inland Sea of Ringil, originally set in the mid-south of Middle-earth, grew in size and "became a great sea flowing north-eastward and joining by straights both the Western and Eastern Seas."[5][note 1]
In the Second Age, the Númenóreans sailed around Middle-earth far enough east that they could see the Gates of Morn from their ships,[6] suggesting that they may have sailed into the East Sea. It was also in this age that a final change was made to the earth that likely affected the East Sea: when Ilúvatar sunk Númenor and made the world round, he "cast back ... the Empty Lands east of [Middle-earth], and new lands and seas were made".[6] How this impacted the geography of the East Sea is unknown.
Notes
- ↑ Confusingly, the former Sea of Ringil was also called the "East Sea" by Tolkien on one early map. See J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Map V".
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Of the Fashion of the World", p. 293
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Of the Fashion of the World", pp. 292-293
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Commentary on the Ambarkanta", pp. 301-302.
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Map IV"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Of the Fashion of the World", pp. 293-294
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor"
