The Bay of Eldamar was a wide bay on the coast of Aman, on the western shores of the Great Sea. It was here that the island of Tol Eressëa completed its long journey and remained forever at the shores of the Blessed Realm.

History

For many years the Teleri lived on the island of Tol Eressëa after it had carried them across the Great Sea. In time, the Maia Ossë guided them through the calm, windless waters of the Bay of Eldamar to the shores of Aman. There the Elves founded their famous haven of Alqualondë, which became the chief city of the Falmari.

Many ages later, the bay again played an important role in the history of Arda. During the War of Wrath, the mortal mariner Eärendil arrived here. His ship Vingilot dropped anchor in the waters of the bay, after which Eärendil journeyed to the Blessed Kingdom with an embassy to the Valar, to ask for their aid against Morgoth. This voyage was the turning point that led to the beginning of the War of Wrath and the fall of the first Dark Lord.

In Other Works by Tolkien

The Bay of Eldamar is also mentioned in the story "Roverandom", which J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in 1927.

In the plot, the great whale Uin takes the enchanted dog Roverandom on a journey across the seas. They pass through the Shadowy Seas and reach the "Bay of Fairyland," located beyond the Magic Isles. From there, Rover sees the mountains of the Elven country and the radiance of Fairyland. In the distance, it seems to him that a snow-white city of the Elves gleams on a green hill.

Although the book uses a fairy-tale name, the description of this place clearly echoes the Bay of Eldamar and the coast of Eldamar from Tolkien's legendarium.

Sources

• The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië."
• The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath."
• Roverandom, pp. 73-74.