Ilmen

Ilmen (Q, pron. [ˈilmen]) was a part of the atmosphere that surrounded the world of Arda before the cataclysm at the end of the Second Age. Ilmen formed the outer layer of normal air: unlike Vaiya it only existed above Arda itself. Below Ilmen was the inner air, Vista.

The Moon passed through Ilmen on its way around the world, plunging down the Chasm of Ilmen on its way back.

[edit] Names

In some manuscripts, Tolkien used the name Elenarda, the "Stellar Kingdom", for Ilmen.^[1][2]

[edit] References

1. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta", pp. 240-1, 242-3, 253
2. ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Addenda and Corrigenda to the Etymologies — Part One" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter and Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 45, November 2003, p. 16