Life in an Elven Fishing Town

at the very end of The Lord of the Rings, when Cirdan meets Elrond's party at the gates to the city and leads them down to the quay where the white ship waits. However, before reaching Mithlond, Elrond's party passes by Elostirion, "furthest away [from the Shire], standing alone upon a green mound." The palantir most closely attuned to the Master-stone in Avallone was placed by Elenedil in Elostirion. In "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", Tolkien writes "thither Elendil would repair, and thence he would gaze out over the sundering seas, when the yearning of exile was upon him; and it is believed that he would thus at whiles see far away even the Tower of Avallone upon Eressea, where the Master-stone abode, and yet abides." In The Road Goes Ever On, Tolkien writes "after the fall of Elendil the High-Elves took back this Stone into their own care, and it was not destroyed, nor again used by Men." The Noldor who lived outside of Lindon would visit Elostirion from time to time, and gaze into the palantir, "to look afar at Eressea (the Elvish isle) and the Shores of Valinor, close to which it lay. The hymn in Vol. I, p. 250, is one appropriate to Elves who have just returned from such a pilgrimage." The hymn Tolkien's comment refers to is that (apparently) sung by Arwen in Rivendell, but Gildor's folk sing a similar song in the Shire just before they encounter Frodo, Sam, and Pippin. Tolkien notes that Gildor and his people are traveling east and so must have visited Elostirion. The high tower by the sea would be as close to a church-like structure in Middle-earth as Tolkien has described. The High-Elves made pilgrimages there and sang hymns to the Valar which acknowledged their journeys. Although Elven-life would not have been as focused around the tower as a European village would be anchored by its church, Cirdan's people would have had special traditions concerning the tower. A great treasure like the palantir would not have been unguarded. Nor would it have been used lightly or casually. Safe and proper use of the palantiri required authority. Isildur or Valandil must have formally restored the palantir of Elostirion to the Noldor early in the Third Age. Mithlond, at least the eastern port, was as close to a holy city as Tolkien contrived for Middle-earth. It was not "the heart of

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