Enchanted Isles

The barrier in the sea

After the Noldor went into exile the Valar closed the Blessed Realm. The Pelóri were raised to an unclimbable height on the land, and on the sea, east of Tol Eressëa, they set a net of islands in the water like a fence, with the Shadowy Seas about them. The waters there were dim and confused, and on the isles themselves lay an enchantment: any ship that came among them was lost in the shadows, and any mariner who set foot on them fell into a sleep that lasted until the world was changed. This was the Valar's answer to the Kinslaying and the Oath, that neither the rebels nor any other from Middle-earth should come to Valinor uninvited.

The barrier held through the whole of the First Age. Turgon sent ships from Gondolin and the Falas to seek the West, and none came through; Voronwë was the sole survivor of the last of them, driven back after years wandering in the shadows. Only Eärendil, sailing with the Silmaril bound on his brow and Elwing beside him, found the light of the jewel strong enough to pierce the shadows, and by it Vingilot came through the isles to the shores of Eldamar. After the War of Wrath the returning Eldar were guided past the barrier by the Valar's leave, and it is not recorded that the isles troubled them. When Aman was taken out of the world at the Downfall of Númenor the whole sea was reshaped, and the isles passed with the Undying Lands beyond the reach of any who did not find the Straight Road.

The isles lay in the Great Sea east of Tol Eressëa, across the whole approach to the Bay of Eldamar from Middle-earth, with the Shadowy Seas about and beyond them. A ship sailing west from Beleriand would meet them before ever sighting the tower of Avallonë.