The Grey Havens
Mithlond; the last haven of the Eldar in Middle-earth
Name and Place
The Grey Havens — in Sindarin Mithlond — are the great haven-city at the mouth (the Gulf) of the Lhûn, in the western land of Lindon (the eastern remnant of Beleriand that survived the Drowning): — the port from which, age after age, the ships of the Eldar sailed into the West. It was ruled by Círdan the Shipwright, the oldest of the Elf-lords, and was the seat of the boats of the departing.
In the Tale
- Founded: After the War of Wrath and the sinking of Beleriand, the remnant of the Elves (with Gil-galad’s realm of Lindon) established the Havens; Círdan’s folk made the great quays and their white towers.
- The ships of the Elves: From Mithlond the fleets departed for Aman (and, one by one, the Elves of the Third Age took “the straight road”); the Havens’ swan-ships and their grey sails are the image of the ending of the Elf-ages.
- The keeping of the Ring: In the Second Age, Círdan kept (and passed on) the Ring of Fire Narya — “the light of the Havens” — and its warning-lights (“the Cinder”) — the Havens’ lamp was the last light seen by the Eldar departing the mortal lands.
Significance
The Grey Havens are the symbol of the Elves’ long farewell: the threshold between the mortal world and the Uttermost West, the ending of each age’s hope and the beginning of the sea-voyage — the place from which the “last ship” sailed, whose memory closes the whole story of the Eldar in Middle-earth.
Related
Werke: die Quellen sind seitenübergreifend die Bücher von J.R.R. und Christopher Tolkien (Silmarillion, Hobbit, Herr der Ringe, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-earth, Nature of Middle-earth u. a.) — eigene Zusammenfassung. Siehe die Concordance und den README der Quelle für die Einzelbelege.
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