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Valinor, Aman

Valinor or Valinórë was the realm of the Valar in central Aman.   Valinor was the place to which the Valar moved after Almaren was destroyed by Melkor. Valinor properly refers to the inhabited lands of the continent of Aman, home to the Valar and the three kindreds of Elves: the Vanyar, some of the Noldor, and some of the Teleri. Valimar is its central city. The island of Tol Eressëa was located just off the eastern shore.   Valinor was encircled by the Pelóri mountains to the east, which were raised by the Valar as a defence against Melkor. To the west was Ekkaia, the encircling sea which surrounded both Valinor and Middle-earth.   Everything in the realm, from the stones to the waters, were hallowed and stainless and there was no sickness, corruption or withering. In Valinor the Valar brought what beauty and light they salvaged from the Spring of Arda before the marring, and they created new things, making Valinor even fairer than Almaren.   Its major city was Valimar of many bells, built in the midst of the plain, where the Vanyar and the Valar reside. To the west of Valimar was a green mound called Ezellohar and from this mound grew the Two Trees that lit the land.   Two other cities are Alqualondë and Tirion, the respective homes of the Teleri and the Noldor. It also had an island, Tol Eressëa, just off its east coast.   Each of the Valar had their own region of the land where they resided and altered things to their desire:   Yavanna, the Vala of nature, growth, and harvest, resided in the Pastures of Yavanna in the south of the island.
  Oromë, the Vala of the hunt, lived in the Woods of Oromë to the north-east of the pastures. The forest was home to many creatures which Oromë could track and hunt.
  Nienna, the lonely Vala of sorrow and endurance, lived cut off in the far west of the island in the Halls of Nienna where she spent her days crying, looking out to sea. Just south of the Halls of Nienna and to the north of the pastures there were the Halls of Mandos.
  Mandos, the brother of Nienna, was the Vala of the afterlife. All inhabitants of Arda went to the Halls of Mandos should they happen to die, mortals and immortals alike although it was said that in death as in life, they were separated. Also living in the Halls of Mandos was his spouse Vairë the weaver, who wove the threads of time.
  To the south were situated the Gardens of Lórien, where dwelt Irmo, the Vala of dreams. And on an isle situated in the middle of the lake of Lórellin in Lórien, dwelt Irmo's wife Estë.
  To the north of this were the Mansions of Aulë the smith Vala who was spouse to Yavanna. In the north-east lay the Mansions of Manwë and Varda, the two most powerful Valar.   To the west of them stood the Ring of Doom, and nearby the mound Ezellohar with the Two Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin.   After the destruction of Númenor, the Undying Lands were removed from Arda so that Men could not reach them and only the Elves could go there by the Straight Road and in ships capable of passing out of the Spheres of the earth.

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