Henneth Annun Reseach Center

Places in Middle-earth

Ilmen

Type: Other Natural Formations

Region: Other Arda

Location: The realm of the stars, above the air.

Description:

Ilmen The region above the air where the stars are.

The Silmarillion, Index of Names

[Then] the Trees died.... But the flower and the fruit Yavanna gave to Aulë, and Manwë hallowed them, and Aulë and his people made vessels to hold them and preserve their radiance.... These vessels the Valar gave to Varda, that they might become lamps of heaven, outshining the ancient stars, being nearer to Arda; and she gave them power to traverse the lower regions of Ilmen, and set them to voyage upon appointed courses above the girdle of the Earth from the West unto the East and to return....

Isil was first wrought and made ready, and first rose into the realm of the stars, and was the elder of the new lights, as was Telperion of the Trees....

Now Varda purposed that the two vessels should journey in Ilmen and ever be aloft, but not together; each should pass from Valinor into the east and return, the one issuing from the west as the other turned from the east....

But Morgoth hated the new lights.... Then he assailed Tilion, sending spirits of shadow against him, and there was strife in Ilmen beneath the paths of the stars; but Tilion was victorious.

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 11, Of the Sun and Moon and the Hiding of Valinor

And [the loremasters] taught that, while the new world fell away, the [Straight Road] and the path of the memory of the West still went on, as it were a mighty bridge invisible that passed through the air of breath and of flight (which were bent now as the world was bent), and traversed Ilmen which flesh unaided cannot endure, until it came to Tol Eressëa....

The Silmarillion, Akallabêth


Etymology
ilm- This stem appears in Ilmen, Ilmarë, and also in Ilmarin ('mansion of the high airs', the dwelling of Manwë and Varda upon Oiolossë).

The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names

Contributors: Elena Tiriel 8Dec05

Related Library Entries

Places Search

   

Full Text Search


Character Bios

Things

No related things

Go to Things