Bay of Belfalas

On the map the bay is the large bite of sea below Gondor. Its northern shore runs along Anfalas and Belfalas, its eastern shore along Harondor, and its southern limit is the promontory that shelters Umbar. Beyond its western mouth lies the open Belegaer.

Everything about Gondor's naval history happened here. Fleets out of Pelargir sailed down the Anduin and into the bay to strike at Umbar, and Corsair fleets came the other way to burn the coasts of Lebennin and Belfalas. Gondor's greatest sea kings, Eärnil I and Telumehtar Umbardacil, fought their campaigns across this water. The bay is also why Gondor could hold two fronts at once: men and supplies moved faster by ship between the southern fiefs than by the roads over the White Mountains, and a fleet at Pelargir could reach Dol Amroth or the Poros in days.

Elven ships also sailed it. The haven of Edhellond on its northern shore sent vessels west over the Great Sea until Amroth was lost off the coast in TA 1981, and Legolas heard gulls above the bay on the way to Pelargir, which woke in him the sea-longing that never left afterward. Gulls from the bay follow ships a long way up the Anduin.

Events at this place

1. TA 933 · Appendices

   Gondor takes Umbar

   Eärnil I sailed the bay and captured the haven of Umbar on its southern shore for Gondor.

2. TA 1981 · Appendices

   Amroth drowned off the northern shore

   A storm carried Amroth's ship out into the bay, and he was lost trying to swim back toward Edhellond.

3. TA 3019, March 13 · The Lord of the Rings

   The Corsair fleet turns

   The ships taken at Pelargir sailed back up the Anduin under Aragorn's banner instead of raiding Gondor's coasts.

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