Elrond ruled over the last highly populated realm west of the Misty Mountains. With their population significantly lessened and their lack of stemming the slow decay of their influence following the death of Gil Galad would have given most Elves reason to leave.Įregion, the country where the Noldor (Galadriel's people) had concentrated in the Second Age, had by the time of LOTR fallen into decay and been abandoned. The prosperity of the men in the following years, while there was still a High King of those realms, signified to most of the Eldar that their time in Middle Earth would soon be at an end, especially as much of their own realms had been lost even before Sauron came to power, such as Gondolin. ![]() The quotation above comes from The Silmarillion 23, Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin.At the time of the Lord of the Rings, more and more of the Elven population of Middle Earth have decided to return to the Undying Lands, due in part to the original rise of Sauron from which they endured heavy casualties but could not quite recover as the men of Gondor and Arnor did. His case is unique, though, because though he was born a Man, he was '.numbered among the elder race, and was joined with the Noldor.', so it may not be quite appropriate to speak of him as a mortal being. The Silmarillion states, or at least strongly suggests, that Tuor reached the shores of the Undying Lands with Idril. It is just possible, then (though rather unlikely) that some unusually fortunate mortals had come to the Undying Lands at some point in the Third Age, before the Ring-bearers' ship at the Age's end. had come to the lamplit quays of Avallónë.'. At the end of the Akallabêth, Tolkien hints that some mortals 'by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar. To an Elf, the condition of being 'undying' would be completely normal and natural - for one of the Firstborn to name a particular region as 'undying' would make little sense.Īpart from Ar-Pharazôn and his army, only a tiny number of mortals had found their way across the Sea before the White Ship sailed. 2 Tolkien is careful to point out, though, that even in Aman, mortals remain mortal. It is to the Undying Lands that the White Ship sails at the end of The Lord of the Rings the Ring-bearers, Bilbo and Frodo, were among the very few mortal beings to set foot on their shores. The Undying Lands, which until that time had been part of the world, were removed beyond the reach of Mortal Men, though the Elves could still sail West and come there, if they would. The Valar could not permit this: Manwë called upon Ilúvatar, and the land of Númenor was destroyed and lost forever. Believing Sauron, Ar-Pharazôn assembled a great navy and sailed westward to make hopeless war on the Valar for the imagined prize of endless life. This great Maia falsely persuaded the last King of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, that the ruler of the Undying Lands would be undying himself. Wise as the Valar were, though, they did not foresee the wiles of Sauron. From the first, the Valar placed a Ban on the Men of Númenor, that they should not sail into the West from their island, or set foot on the shores of Aman. ![]() 1 The Númenóreans, especially, envied the seemingly endless life of those who lived in these regions. ![]() 'Undying Lands' seems to be a name that originated among Men. The island of Tol Eressëa is several times identified as the easternmost of the Undying Lands, and, at the least, Valinor must also be included. A name of Aman, or at least that part of it inhabited by the Valar, Maiar and Elves.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |