Belegaer

On the map Belegaer is everything west of the coast, from the ice of the far north past Lindon, the Bay of Belfalas and Umbar toward the south. The Elves called it the Great Sea and the Sundering Seas, because it divided them from Valinor.

It was formed when the world was shaped, and it grew wider after the wars of the First Age. At the end of that age, when the Valar overthrew Morgoth, Beleriand was broken and sank beneath it, which is why the coastline of the Third Age runs where it does, with the Blue Mountains at the sea's edge and islands like Himling and Tol Fuin as the tops of drowned hills. It was widest between Lindon and the shores of Aman, and the Elves counted that crossing in weeks even with a fair wind sent for them.

In the middle of the sea the Valar raised Númenor for the Edain in SA 32. For most of the Second Age its ships crossed Belegaer in both directions, and the Ban forbade them only to sail west out of sight of their own shores. When Ar-Pharazôn broke that ban in SA 3319 and sailed for Aman, Númenor was drowned and the world was changed: Aman was taken beyond the circles of the world, the seas were bent, and a mortal ship sailing west would come round to the east again.

After that only the Straight Road remained, granted to the Elves and to those given leave. Their ships still left the Grey Havens at the head of the Gulf of Lune and passed out of sight of ordinary sailing. At the end of the Third Age Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel took that road, and Sam followed years later.

Events at this place

1. FA 587 · The Silmarillion

   Beleriand drowned

   At the end of the War of Wrath the land west of the Blue Mountains broke and sank beneath the Great Sea.

2. SA 32 · The Silmarillion

   Númenor raised

   The Valar lifted an island out of Belegaer within sight of Tol Eressëa and gave it to the Edain.

3. SA 3319 · The Silmarillion

   The world made round

   Ar-Pharazôn's fleet sailed west against the Ban. Númenor was drowned, Aman was removed, and the seas were bent.

4. TA 3021 · The Lord of the Rings

   The last ship from the Havens

   Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel sailed from Mithlond on the Straight Road, ending the Third Age.

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