Aman
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This Middle-earth-related article describes an aspect of Middle-earth in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (December 2009) |
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It has been suggested that Calacirya be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
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| Place from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium | |
| Other names | Undying Lands, Eressëa, Deathless Lands |
|---|---|
| Description | Land of the Ainur and the Elves |
| Location | Valinor, Eldamar, Araman, Avathar |
| Lifespan | Years of the Trees – forever |
| Founder | Valar |
| Lord | Manwë |
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Aman, also known as the Undying Lands or Blessed Realm, is the home of the Valar, and three kindreds of Elves: the Vanyar, some of the Noldor, and some of the Teleri.
Aman is a continent far to the west of Middle-earth across the great ocean Belegaer. The island of Tol Eressëa lies just off its eastern shore. At the end of the Second Age, Aman was removed from the surface of the Earth to another realm, and is no longer reachable by ordinary means of travel.
After the destruction of Almaren in ancient times, the Valar retreated to Aman, and established there the realm of Valinor. Seeking to isolate themselves, they raised a great mountain fence, called the Pelóri, on the eastern coast, and set the Enchanted Isles in the ocean to prevent travellers by sea from reaching Aman.
Outside the wall of the Pelóri the Valar left two lands: Araman to the northeast and Avathar to the southeast. Ungoliant, an ancient evil being who chose the form of a great spider, lived in Avathar. When Melkor was released from captivity, he fled to Avathar, scaled the mountains with the help of Ungoliant, and wrought destruction in Aman: he persuaded Ungoliant to kill the Two Trees of Valinor and take from them what energy she could to quench her hunger, as Ungoliant (see also Shelob) was always hungry.
The first mortal man to succeed in navigating to and passing the Isles of Enchantment was Eärendil, who came to Valinor to seek the aid of the Valar against Melkor, now called Morgoth. His quest was successful, the Valar went to war again, and also decided to remove the Isles.
Soon after this, the great island of Númenor was raised out of Belegaer, close to the shores of Aman, and the Three Houses of the Edain were brought to live there. Henceforth, they were called the Dúnedain, or Men of the West, and were blessed with many gifts by the Valar and the Elves of Tol Eressëa. The Valar feared — rightly — that the Númenóreans would seek to enter Aman to gain immortality (even though a mortal in Aman remains mortal, due to it not being their final destination), so they forbade them from sailing west of sight of the westernmost promontory of Númenor. In time, and not without some corrupting help from Sauron, the Númenóreans violated the Ban of the Valar, and sailed to Aman with a great army under the command of Ar-Pharazôn the Golden. Eru collapsed a part of the Pelóri on this army, trapping it but not killing it. It is said that the army still lives underneath the pile of rock.
In light of this new development, Eru removed Aman from the spheres of the world. The earth, at this time, was flat. Eru split it in two, and made the half containing Middle-earth round, so that a mariner sailing west along Eärendil's route would simply emerge in the far east. For the Elves, however, Eru crafted a Straight Road that peels away from the curvature of the earth and passes to the now-alien land of Aman. Very few non-Elves are known to have passed along this road, including Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Gimli.
[edit] References
- The Silmarillion
- Unfinished Tales
- The Lord of the Rings
- Day, David (1996). Tolkien: the illustrated encyclopaedia. Simon and Schuster. p. 56. ISBN 9780684839790. http://books.google.com/books?id=Nzh93npJTe4C&lpg=PA56&dq=Aman%20valar%20-wiki&pg=PA56#v=onepage&q=aman&f=false.
- Manguel, Alberto; Guadalupi, Gianni (2000). The dictionary of imaginary places. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 18. ISBN 9780156008723. http://books.google.com/books?id=T3603Pi01f4C&pg=PA683&dq=Aman+valar+-wiki&as_brr=3&cd=6#v=onepage&q=aman&f=false.
- Drout, Michael D. C. (2007). J.R.R. Tolkien encyclopedia: scholarship and critical assessment. CRC Press. p. 337. ISBN 9780415969420. http://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&lpg=PA693&dq=Aman%20valar%20-wiki&as_brr=3&pg=PA337.
