Tolkien OC Week Day 5: Worldbuilding
Gates of Tol Eressëa: Tales out of reach
At the beginning of the Fourth Age, after the last elves willing to leave Middle-earth had arrived in Valinor, Tol Eressëa turned from a place for the new arrivals during their first time in their new home into a small, independent Kingdom under the joint leadership of the last High King of the Noldor on Middle-earth and the Crown Prince of the last Sindar and Silvan realm in the old world. There, everyone not quite yet ready to let go of their old life was welcome to dwell for however long they wished to. On this island, the memory of Middle-earth and all its folks and wonders and beauty was passionately kept alive, in tales, art and in the shape of its heroes.
For some elves who missed their former life especially badly, these efforts did not suffice though. They would restlessly wander the coast and frequently swim out as far as they dared. Often, they spent weeks and months and years, just staring at a horizon they knew they would never be allowed to reach again.
Among those Firstborn with such deep homesickness were Élnen, the young daughter of the former Prince of Eryn Lasgalen, her uncle Tegiend and Tegiend’s husband Haldir, as well Élnen’s mentor Círdan. Thanks to the teachings of the latter, Élnen soon became a gifted sailor. Under the protection and guidance of her uncle and his husband, she sailed the shores of her home as far as the critical, watchful observation of the Valar would allow. Together, the four of them learned about the ways and creatures of the sea and the guidance of the stars of their new home.
In time, other elves joined the group who preferred the solitude of living at the very edge of their home over the hustle on the island and especially the main land. A floating city of ships soon housed hundreds of elves who only rare came back to the beach for visits or supplies. This phenomenon became known as the Gates of Tol Eressëa.
At some point, the four leaders of these elves befriended the maia Ossë, an old acquaintance of Círdan, who delighted in this silent but persistent rebellion against the powers that were and often gave the ships of this fleet a helping hand when a storm sent by the Valar tried to slow their children’s thirst for adventure.
While the Valar were worried about these developments, and sad that there were still elves suffering from their too-deep connection to a realm that would no longer have them, they never tried to put a stop to these activities on the ocean. Not least because they knew that if the prophecy of the end of all things would one day come true and darkness would return to their lands of peace, these eyes on the horizon of their borders would be the first to know that the time for a final stand had come.
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(Tales Untold - a “The Lord of the Rings” series
"Tales Untold" aesthetics | "Tales Untold" glossary)
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