Originally posted by cgannon64
Question for the Tolkein nerds: Is there some island or something that the Elves go to? Because they always mention they're sailing away from Middle Earth, but Tolkein never mentions any other lands (IIRC) in the Hobbit and LotR...
This was answered shortly, above, but here is a more *complete* answer.
When Eru created the World, the lands of Valinor were within the sphere of Middle Earth. This is where the Valar (and the Maiar, and any other, lesser immortal beings of the time) went to live. The Elves awoke during the First Age, and the Valar tried to get them all to move to Valinor, to share in the Light of the Two Trees. But Melkor had found them first, and his whisperings turned many from the Valar, and others he simply kidnapped. (There were tales of "fell beasts" who would snatch children in the night.) From these, he bred the race of Orcs. Finally, three tribes of Elves went west to join the Valar: the Vanya, the Noldor, and the Teleri. The Vanya and the Noldor went to dwell in Valinor, but the Teleri tarried on the way, and when they got to the shores of the Sea, there were no boats to carry them across. They built their own boats, and became the great mariners of the First Age. At the end of the Age, when the lands of Middle Earth were broken, the Teleri finally went over the Sea, but were given the Isle of Tol Eressea to dwell on, where they could *see* the Tower of Manwe, but could also sail the Sea.
During the First Age, many Noldor returned to Middle Earth, to fulfill a vow made by Feanor and his sons. Those who did not return to Valinor at the end of the First Age (like Galadriel) were known as High Elves, because they had seen the Light of the Two Trees. They are also the "root stock" of the Half-Elven: i.e., Elrond, Arwen, and Aragorn.
At the End of the Second Age, when Ar-Pharazon the Golden sailed to Valinor, and set foot on the golden sands, to claim it for Numenor (under the promptings of Sauron, who promised that doing so would confer immortality to Men), the Valar laid down their Guardianship, and called upon Eru, the One. The World was changed, Numenor was drowned, and the Seas were bent, so that by sailing west, instead of finding Valinor, one only ended up where he started from, again. But for some, e.g., the Elves, a "Straight Road" remained, and by it, they could reach the land of Valinor, and dwell with the Valar until the Ending of the World.
But for Men, Valinor was forbidden, because Eru had given them the Gift of Death, and when they die, they are removed from the Circles of the World. But the Valar say that at the End, Men shall join them and the Elves, and they will all sing together before the throne of Illuvatar.
