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Location
The Great Sea separated Aman from Middle-earth
Bays and gulfs
Bay of Balar, Bay of Belfalas, Forochel, Great Gulf, Gulf of Lhûn, Haven of Umbar
Islands
Enchanted Isles, Himling, Isle of Balar, Isle of Meneltarma, Númenor, Tol Morwen, Tolfalas, Shadowy Isles
Meaning
A poetic description of the Great Sea (which was not in fact literally Shoreless, but was immensely wide and difficult to cross)
Title of
Belegaer, the Great Sea

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 25 March 2025
  • This entry is complete

The Shoreless

A title of the Great Sea Belegaer

Map of the Great Sea, Belegaer the Shoreless

The Shoreless Sea of Belegaer (somewhat conjectural)1

The Shoreless Sea of Belegaer (somewhat conjectural)1

The title given to the Great Sea that washed the western shores of Middle-earth, and stretched on from there for an unimaginably vast distance. The title 'Shoreless' is poetic but inaccurate: far across the world, the Shoreless Sea did indeed reach a shore - that of Aman in the Uttermost West. After the Downfall of Númenor, Aman was taken away from the world, and the Sea reached different shores in the west, those of new lands created after the world was made 'Bent'.


Notes

1

Seen from Middle-earth, the Great Sea extended far beyond the horizon, and so was known as 'Shoreless' though it did in fact have a distant western shore. This map (which is based on rough maps in volume IV of The History of Middle-earth) shows the Sea as it would have appeared in the First and Second Ages. After the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319, the lands in the West were taken away from the world, but other lands were made to take their place, and so the 'Shoreless' Sea continued to wash far western coasts.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 25 March 2025
  • This entry is complete

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2016, 2025. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

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The Shoreless

A title of the Great Sea Belegaer

Location
The Great Sea separated Aman from Middle-earth
Bays and gulfs
Bay of Balar, Bay of Belfalas, Forochel, Great Gulf, Gulf of Lhûn, Haven of Umbar
Islands
Enchanted Isles, Himling, Isle of Balar, Isle of Meneltarma, Númenor, Tol Morwen, Tolfalas, Shadowy Isles
Meaning
A poetic description of the Great Sea (which was not in fact literally Shoreless, but was immensely wide and difficult to cross)
Title of
Belegaer, the Great Sea

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 25 March 2025
  • This entry is complete

The Shoreless

A title of the Great Sea Belegaer

Map of the Great Sea, Belegaer the Shoreless

The Shoreless Sea of Belegaer (somewhat conjectural)1

The Shoreless Sea of Belegaer (somewhat conjectural)1

The title given to the Great Sea that washed the western shores of Middle-earth, and stretched on from there for an unimaginably vast distance. The title 'Shoreless' is poetic but inaccurate: far across the world, the Shoreless Sea did indeed reach a shore - that of Aman in the Uttermost West. After the Downfall of Númenor, Aman was taken away from the world, and the Sea reached different shores in the west, those of new lands created after the world was made 'Bent'.


Notes

1

Seen from Middle-earth, the Great Sea extended far beyond the horizon, and so was known as 'Shoreless' though it did in fact have a distant western shore. This map (which is based on rough maps in volume IV of The History of Middle-earth) shows the Sea as it would have appeared in the First and Second Ages. After the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319, the lands in the West were taken away from the world, but other lands were made to take their place, and so the 'Shoreless' Sea continued to wash far western coasts.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 25 March 2025
  • This entry is complete

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2016, 2025. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

Website services kindly sponsored by myDISCprofile, the free online personality test.
How do your personal strengths fit in with career matching? How can you identify them? Try a free personality test from myDISCprofile.