is the grandfather of modern fantasy fiction. J.R.R. Tolkien created an entire world for fans to experience, one with its own cosmology and history. and tell the story of the West of Middle-earth, but a concept is introduced early in the Elves of Middle-earth leaving and sailing to the Blessed Realm in the West. For fans who have only read and or watched the movies, the Utmost West is a mystery. However, for readers of the land of Aman, as the Blessed Realm is called, is quite familiar.
Much of Tolkien's Middle-earth saga hasn't been adapted, so many fans have never actually experienced Tolkien began working on the Middle-earth mythos in the early 1900s, and the amount of his writings edited and released by his late son Christopher is voluminous.
Many of these writings deal with the land of Aman, specifically Valinor, the home of the Valar. The Blessed Realm is a very important part of the saga of Middle-earth, as many events of the later Ages all have their origin in the West.
with the This is the creation myth of Middle-earth. It introduces readers to Eru Ilúvatar, the God of the Middle-earth mythos. Eru created the Ainur and one day decided to show them what was going to come next, and so began the Music of Ilúvatar.
The Ainur were so entranced with the music and the visions they were seeing because of it that they joined in on the music, adding their voices and bringing even more to the Music. Not all the Ainur looked upon the Music as a thing to love, but looked at it covetously. This is where readers are introduced to . Melkor tried to take control of the Music, suborning it for his own purposes. Eru had to get involved several times before finally telling the Ainur that all of what they added to the Music was always there and there was nothing they could do to control it. As he spoke, the world came to be in front of the Ainur, and they witnessed the themes that they had sung brought to life.
Some of the Ainur decided that they wanted to go into the world and be a part of it, and Eru allowed this. The Ainur who left Eru's side to go to Middle-earth became known as the Valar, and the land they descended into was in the Utmost West of Middle-earth - the land of Aman, where the Valar would establish the realm of Valinor.
An interesting thing about Middle-earth at this point in its history was that it was flat. Christopher Tolkien published many of his father's hand-drawn maps of Middle-earth at this point, and calling Aman the Utmost West was the perfect way to describe it because it was on the extreme western end of Middle-earth.
The land of Aman was roughly crescent-shaped, which fits the oval shape of the original Middle-earth. Later, after the Númenoreans tried to attack Valinor at the behest of Sauron, the Valar laid down their dominion of Middle-earth and Eru reshaped the world, making it into a globe and removing Valinor from the circles of the worlds. Any mortal who tries to find Aman after the end of the Second Age will find nothing but seas and will eventually find themselves in the East. The way was bent, although Elves and those who had the blessing of the Valar could find their way to Valinor taking what was later called "the straight path".
Before one reaches Valinor, they arrive on Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle. Tol Eressëa wasn't always there; it was the landmass the Valar used to ferry the Elves to Valinor upon their awakening in Middle-earth when Oromë discovered the Elves on the shores of the lake known as Cuiviénen. Oromë led the Elves to the coast, and Ulmo brought up the landmass to bring the Elves across the sea. When Tol Eressëa reached what would be known as the Bay of Eldamar, Ossë rooted the island to the sea floor at the behest of the kindred of Olwë, who still wanted to be able to see the stars at night. Tol Eressëa became the home of the Teleri, who became known for their seafaring prowess, and was
, based out of the port city of Alqualandë. Tol Eressëa became part of the Blessed Land by proxy, although the Valar never actually lived there.
The Valar who came to Middle-earth were Manwë, Ulmo, Oromë, Aulë, Námo (who would become known as Mandos, after his land in Valinor), Irmo (who would become known as Lórien, after his land in Valinor), Tulkas, Varda, Yavanna, Nienna, Estë, Vairë, Vána, Nessa, and Melkor Morgoth. They became like , each of them responsible for different things and states of being.
Aman wasn't their first home; originally, they lived in Middle-earth, in a place called Almaren, which was destroyed in the first wars against Melkor. The Valar retreated to Aman, the far western continent, and founded the land of Valinor there. They began by raising the Pelóri, encircling mountains that protected the land of Valinor. However, not all of Aman was considered a part of Valinor. The northern and southernmost parts of Aman, Araman, and Avathar were outside the Pelóri. Araman curved to the East and was joined to Middle-earth by the Hellcaraxë, frozen wastes known as the Grinding Ice.
Avathar in the south was home to Ungoliant, a fell spirit from the Void who took the shape of a spider. Ungoliant's power, mixed with the protective spells the Valar put on the Pelóri, made Avathar a land of madness. Melkor retreated there during his last rebellion, and it was from Avathar that he and Ungoliant attacked Valinor.
Valinor became the home of the gods. It began at the Pelóri, in the center of which was a cleft called the Calacirya, which overlooked the Bay of Eldamar and Tol Eressëa and allowed the Teleri to come to Valinor if they so desired. The city of Tirion, upon the hill of Túna, was the first city in Valinor a visitor would come to after coming through the Calacirya and became the chief home of the Noldor Elves.
Standing to one side of the Calacirya was Taniquetil, which was also known as Oiolossë, Amon Uilos, Arfanyarassë, and many other names. Taniquetil was the highest mountain in Middle-earth and, at times, was visible even from Númenor before the bending of the world. Taniquetil was a high holy place where Manwë and Varda would watch the outside world. Taniquetil would also become home to the Vanyar, the kindred of Evles called by many the High Elves, who abandoned the city of Tirion to live closer to the glory of Manwë and Varda, who had their dwelling in Ilmarin on the mountain. The Vanyar were considered the greatest of all Elves.
They stayed out of the wars of Middle-earth, so they aren't counted among . After arriving in Valinor, the Vanyar never left, basking in the glow of the Valar. West of the Calacirya and Tirion was Valmar, City of the Bells. To the west of Valmar was mound of Ezellohar, where the Two Trees grew before they were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant, and west of that was the Máhanaxar, the Ring of Doom, where the Valar met to pass judgment on their foes. Valmar was technically considered the capital of Valinor.
Each Valar had their own land in Valinor. There were the Pastures Of Yavanna in the south, where the Lady of Growing Things had her garden. To the northeast of the pastures were the Woods of Oromë, where the Valar of the Hunt would ride through the forest with his retinue. In the far west of Valinor were the Halls of Nienna, where the Valar of sorrow and endurance wept for the world. Bordering Nienna's hall were the Halls Of Mandos, where the souls of dead Elves and Dwarves were gathered. Námo spent so much time there as warden of the dead that everyone just began calling him Mandos. Also residing in Mandos's Halls was Vairë, who wove the threads of time.
To the east of the Halls of Mandos was the lake known as Lorellin, where the Isle of Estë was. Lorellin was located in the Garden of Lórien, where Irmo lived. These Gardens are the land of dreams. They inspired Galadriel, who would name her land after them in Middle-earth, and were home to the Maiar named Olórin, who would one day become Gandalf. To the north of the Garden were the Halls of Aulë, where the Valar of smithcraft had his forge and taught the Noldor the making of gems. This is also where Sauron, at the time a Maiar of Aulë, learned much of his craft. There was also the fortress of Formenos in the north, which was built by the Noldor Fëanor, which contained his forge, where he created the Silmarills and the vault where he kept the various treasures created by his hand.
Valinor was a land of peace for years until the return of Melkor after the first war against him. It is considered the most beautiful land in Middle-earth, and several tried to create its like in Middle-earth. While most think of Galadriel's Lórien, the closest to Valinor's glory was the land of Thingol and Melian, known as Doriath. Thingol was first known as Elwë, the brother of Olwë, and was part of the exodus of Elves to the Blessed Realm. Thingol had seen the Blessed Realm, brought there with Olwë and Finwë to bear witness for the rest of the Elves. He returned to Middle-earth and helped rally the remaining Elves for their journey to Valinor.
On this trip, he witnessed the Maiar known as Melian and fell in love with her, her power freezing him for years while the Elves left him behind. Thingol was never reunited with his people in Valinor until his death, but Melian created a land for him and the other Elves who didn't go to Valinor, using her power to surround it with the Girdle of Melian. Doriath became known as the fairest realm outside Valinor, and that was only possible because of Melian and Thingol, who had both seen the light of the Two Trees and did their best to create a land that was its equal. Valinor was a dream for the Noldor in the years of their exile after Fëanor led them to Middle-earth to retrieve the Silmarills.
After the final war of the First Age, when the Valar and Maiar were roused by the plight of Elves, Men, and Dwarves by Eärendil, the Noldor were allowed to come home again, although most who left were long dead in the wars against Melkor Morgoth. Valinor was also opened to the Moriquendi, the Elves of Darkness who had never come to Valinor in the past, and they left Middle-earth throughout the years of the Second and Third Age, returning to Valinor to see the land of the gods and find their forever home.
, and Aman plays a key role in all of them. It wasn't the first home of the Valar on Middle-earth, but it was the one where the most important events happened. It was the land of the Valar, hallowed and holy, but evil could still occur there, as evidenced by the works of Melkor - the attack on Formenos, the slaying of Fëanor's father Finwë and the taking of the Silmarills - which caused the rebellion of the Noldor, the Kinslaying at Alqualondë when the Noldor stole the boats of the Teleri on Tol Eressëa, and the terrors of the crossing of the Hellcaraxë, where the host of Fingolfin was left behind by Fëanor and the Noldor in ships in the Grinding Ice.
It was also home to Ungoliant and her terrors in the south of the continent.
Aman is a place of unparalleled beauty, made all the more acute by the holy denizens of the land. It is the home of the Elves, where their dead souls return to be reborn in new bodies. Aman is also going to be the site of the last battle of Middle-earth. When Ar-Pharazon and his Númenorean host tried to attack Valinor, they were imprisoned in caves under Aman and were to be awakened when Melkor would return from the Void to destroy Middle-earth. Aman has played a key role in the events of Middle-earth's history, and its status as home of the gods means that it will continue to do so until the end of time.
