Aman
Aman (Quenya; "blessed realm") was a continent that lay west of Middle-earth, across the great BELEGAER OCEAN. It contained VALINOR, home of the Valar, and also three kindreds of Elves: the VANYAR, some of the NOLDOR and the TELERI. The island of TOL ERESSEA lay just off the eastern shore.
History
Upon the destruction of ALMAREN in very ancient times of ARDA, the Valar fled to the great continent of Aman in the far west of Arda, and there established the realm of Valinor. Seeking to isolate themselves, they raised a great mountain fence, called the PELORI, on the eastern coast, and set the ENCHANTED ISLES in the ocean to prevent travellers by sea from reaching Aman.
For reasons unknown, the Valar left two lands outside the wall of the Pelóri: ARAMAN to the northeast and AVATHAR to the southeast. UNGOLIANT, a great spider of unknown origin, had managed to escape notice in Avathar. When MELKOR was released from his captivity, he fled to Avathar, scaled the mountains with Ungoliant's help, and wrought the destruction of the TWO TREES OF VALINOR.
The first navigator to succeed in passing the Isles of Enchantment was EARENDIL, 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 NUMENOR 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 Dunedain, 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), so they forbade them from sailing west 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 their GREAT ARMAMENT under the command of AR-PHARAZON the Golden. ERU ILUVATAR collapsed a part of the Pelóri on this army, trapping but not killing them. It is said that the army still lies beneath the pile of rock in the CAVES OF THE FORGOTTEN.
As a result of the Númenórean attack, the Valar laid down their governance of Arda and called upon Eru Ilúvatar, and he changed the shape of the world, making Arda round and removing Aman from it, so that a mariner sailing west along Eärendil's route would simply emerge in the far east. For the Elves, however, he crafted a Straight Road that peeled away from the curvature of the earth and passed to Aman.[1] A very few non-Elves are known to have passed along this road, including the Hobbits FRODO BAGGINS and Bilbo Baggins, SAMWISE GAMGEE and the Dwarf GIMLI.
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