Shadowy Seas

The Shadowy Seaswere part of the Great Sea that lay closest to the shores of the Blessed Realm, to the immediate east of Tol Eressëa and the Bay of Eldamar. After the Flight of the Noldor and the first rising of the Moon, the Valar elected to shield their realm from the outside world. They meshed these seas with a bewildering shadow - the source of their name - and created a chain of Enchanted Isles, each of which had the power to ensnare any mariner braving this region. Throughout the centuries that followed, no ship reached the shores of Aman, until Eärendil the Mariner finally succeeded in passing through the shadows of the Shadowy Seas. Later the Númenóreans under Ar-Pharazôn crossed this barrier, but were subdued when Ilúvatar crashed the mountians of Valinor on the mighty fleet.