Belegaer

Before the Second Age, Belegaer stretched from the Gap of Ilmen in the far north, where a bridge of ice known as the Helcaraxë connected Middle-earth and Aman, to the far south, where it also connected with Ilmen and froze, although no strait was formed there. Belegaer was narrower in the north than in the south, with its widest part near the equator of Arda. The continent of Aman, home of the Valar, formed the western edge of Belegaer.

The full extent of Belegaer after the Downfall of Númenor is never made clear, but it reached far enough to the north to be ice-covered, and far to the south.

Before the ruin of Beleriand at the end of the First Age, the sea was narrow and ice-filled in the north, forming the strait of Helcaraxë, the Grinding Ice. It was thus possible to cross from Aman to Middle-earth on foot, though with difficulty, as did Fingolfin and his people of the Noldor when fleeing Valinor.

After the War of Wrath, Belegaer was widened by the drowning of a large part of Middle-earth, (and possibly parts of Aman). The bridge of ice in the north was removed, removing land access to the western continent. During the Akallabêth in the Second Age, the seas were bent and the world was made round. Aman was removed from the world, Belegaer washed "new lands", and only the chosen could find the Straight Road to Valinor. The new western end of Belegaer is never described in the narrative, although there are indications that Númenórean refugees reached them in search for Valinor.

Belegaer had several islands and island chains:

• Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle close to the shore of Aman
• the Twilit Isles or Enchanted Isles seaward of Tol Eressëa
• Númenor (Second Age only)
• the Western Isles (after the First Age)
  • Tol Morwen
  • Tol Fuin
  • Himring
• Balar, in the Bay of Balar (First Age only)
• Tolfalas, in the Bay of Belfalas
• Ened, in the Firth of Drengist

Other features of Belegaer:

• Bay of Eldamar
• Bay of Balar (First Age only)
• the Great Gulf (First Age only)
• Firth of Drengist (First Age only)
• Ice Bay of Forochel (after First Age)
• Gulf of Lune (after First Age)
• Bay of Belfalas (after First Age)

Belegaer is Sindarin for "Great Sea", from beleg ("mighty") + aer ("sea"). The Quenya name of Belegaer, never used in primary writing, is Alatairë.

Belegaer is comparable to the real Atlantic Ocean, which was once known to English cartographers as the Great Western Ocean.

This is further reinforced by Henry Resnick quoting Tolkien as saying that "Middle-earth is Europe", and Karen Wynn Fonstad noting that "Belegaer was comparable to the Atlantic".

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 21/05/2026.