Tol Eressëa
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Tol Eressëa | |
---|---|
Island | |
General Information | |
Other names | The Lonely Island |
Location | Aman, in Belegaer, east of the Bay of Eldamar |
Type | Island |
Description | Arrowhead-shaped island, green and beautiful |
Regions | Valinor |
Inhabitants | Eldar, mostly Teleri |
Gallery | Images of Tol Eressëa |
Tol Eressëa (Q, pron. [tol eˈresːe.a]) was a large island off the coast of Valinor. Its name translates from Quenya as the Lonely Island, for it lay originally in the middle of the Belegaer, far from any other landmasses.
History
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 principal location is the port city of Avallónë on the eastern shore.
Flora
Many beautiful trees grew on Eressëa, and their seedlings were gifted by the Eldar to Númenor to enrich the land.[1] Some of them were:
- Oiolairë,
- Lairelossë,
- Nessamelda,
- Vardarianna,
- Taniquelassë,
- Yavannamírë
- Malinornë
- Lavaralda
- Elanor
- Lissuin
Other versions of the Legendarium
In early versions of Tolkien's legendarium, the island was later visited by Ælfwine (or Eriol), an Anglo-Saxon from the early Middle Ages, which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion.
Most of The Book of Lost Tales Part One occurs on Tol Eressëa, and places such as Tavrobel, Alalminórë, Kortirion, the House of the Hundred Chimneys and the Cottage of Lost Play are mentioned. These names do not exist in the later Silmarillion.
A Gnomish name used for Tol Eressä was Dor Faidwen ("Land of Release").[2][3]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "A Description of the Island of Númenor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "I. The Cottage of Lost Play", pp. 13, 21
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "I-Lam na-Ngoldathon: The Grammar and Lexicon of the Gnomish Tongue", in Parma Eldalamberon XI (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, and Patrick H. Wynne), pp. 5, 7