Eldalondë

A harbour city of Númenor, Eldalondë stood at the mouth of the river Nunduinë where that river emptied into the wide Bay of Eldanna. Eldalondë lay on the western coasts of Númenor, in the midst of a wide curving stretch of shoreline between the promontories of the Andustar to the north and the Hyarnustar to the south.

Because of its location on Númenor's western shores, it was to Eldalondë that the Elves most often sailed from their isle of Tol Eressëa to the west (and indeed this is the source of the city's name, which means 'Elf-haven'). These visiting Elves often brought gifts of trees and flowers, which grew in profusion along the coasts northward and southward of Eldalondë. For this reason the city was sometimes called 'Eldalondë the Green', and the coastlands about it were known as Nísimaldar, the 'Fragrant Trees'.

Many varieties of trees grew in the lands around Eldalondë, but most evident were the golden malinorni¹, which grew to an immense height, towering over the landscape around the town. Despite the beauty of its surroundings, the importance of Eldalondë was destined to wane in the later years of Númenor's history. Many of the people of the isle would turn away from the Eldar, and in the last centuries of Númenor's existence, few ships from the West visited the haven at Eldalondë.