The Sea-ward Tower or Seaward Tower[1], also called Tirith Aear, was a tower situated in or near Dol Amroth.[2]
In a poem recorded in the Red Book of Westmarch,[2] a single "slow bell" that was "high in the Seaward Tower" rang solemnly at an "unseemly hour" to announce "the news of" the Man in the Moon's "moonsick cruise" aboard "a fisherman's boat" in the Bay of Belfalas.[1]
Etymology
Tirith Aear is a Sindarin name possibly meaning "sea watch". It consists of the word tirith ("watching, guarding;[3] watch, ward, guard")[4] and aear ("sea")[5].[6]
Other versions of the legendarium
The wise will stay here and hope to rebuild our town...
In the first version of The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon, The Man in the Moon's arrival in Norwich town was announced by "the city's fifty towers", referring to the many churches in the city.[7] This was changed in the "second professional typescript" to "the city's ringing towers".[8]. These "ringing towers" are identified by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull as St Peter Mancroft, a parish church in the center of Norwich. In a subsequent typescript, Tolkien changed the line to "in tall St. Peter’s tower". In 1961, Tolkien changed the line to "high in the Seaward Tower" and wrote the names Tirith Aear and the Sea-ward Tower in the preface.[9]
Portrayal in adaptations
1996: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- The Tirith Aear is conceived to have been constructed as a refuge for the Elves of Edhellond by the Sinda lord Amroth, between S.A. 1600 and S.A. 1620. It is also said to have been used by Galadriel, who installed "a huge bronze bell in its highest chamber" in T.A. 1. A full layout of the tower is provided.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Preface"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 42, July 2001, p. 11
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), pp. 25, 31
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Notes and Translations", in The Road Goes Ever On (J.R.R. Tolkien, Donald Swann), p. 65
- ↑ Paul Strack, "S. Tirith Aear loc.", eldamo
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Commentary"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, "VIII. The Tale of the Sun and Moon", Why the Man in the Moon came down too soon, pp. 204-6
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "24. Why the Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon: An East Anglian Phantasy · A Faërie: Why the Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon · The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon (1915-62)", pp. 131-47
- ↑ Jason Beresford, Anders Blixt, Mats Blomqvist, Gunnar Brolin, Jeff Hatch, Tim Innes, Åke Rosenius, Martin Rundkvist, Erik, Rågvik, Chris Seeman, Magnus Seter (1996), Southern Gondor: The Land (#2021)