Tol Eressëa

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"...It is a long tale..." — Aragorn
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Tol Eressëa
Island
Billy Mosig - Parting from Eressea.jpg
General Information
LocationAman, in Belegaer
TypeIsland
DescriptionArrowhead-shaped island, green and beautiful
RegionsValinor
InhabitantsEldar
GalleryImages of Tol Eressëa

Tol Eressëa is a large island, where the mallorn trees come from. Its name may be translated from Elvish as the Lonely Island, for it lay originally in the middle of the Belegaer, far from any other landmasses.

Ulmo pushed it back and forth across Belegaer twice to transport the Elves to Aman. After that, it came to rest forever just off the eastern shore of that continent in the Bay of Eldamar, and was inhabited by the Teleri of Aman, until they left to Alqualondë.

With the end of the First Age, many of the Eldar of Middle-earth exiles (and Teleri that never left it) went to Aman, and lived in the island of Tol Eressëa. Its principle location is the city/port of Avallone on the eastern shore. It was large enough to house many other towns and villages, and one of its houses was the Cottage of Lost Play.


In early versions of Tolkien's legendarium (see: The History of Middle-earth), the island was later visited by Ælfwine (or Eriol), an Englishman from the Middle Ages, which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion.