A place far westward from Middle-earth beyond the Great Sea that was lay under perpetual darkness, and was also known as 'Evernight'. It was through this shadowy region that Eärendil voyaged on his quest to reach the Valar and plead for their aid. Elwing had carried a Silmaril to Eärendil's vessel Vingilot and, aided by the light of that shining Jewel, Eärendil was able to pass through the darkness and reach the shores of the Blessed Realm.
We have almost no detail about the Night of Naught, except for a line in Tolkien's unfinished index to The Lord of the Rings, where he defines it as a 'dark region south of Valinor' (quoted in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion). That might be taken to imply a part of the land of Aman (and indeed the description sounds like it might apply to Avathar, a dark land known to lie southward of Valinor). Bilbo Baggins' "Song of Eärendil", however, makes it plain that Eärendil sailed across this region on his way to Valinor, so it must have been at least partly an area of sea rather than land. In this respect it perhaps matches more closely with the Shadowy Seas created by the Valar to protect their realm.
Notes
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The full meaning of this poetic phrase is not explicitly explained, but we can take 'night' in the general sense of 'darkness', while 'naught' means 'nothing', so the entire name can be interpreted as something like 'darkness and nothingness'. The alternative name of 'Evernight' implies that this was a place of permanent darkness and shadow.
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In Bilbo's Song of Eärendil, the Mariner is aboard his ship when he comes to Night of Naught ('...on starless waters far astray...' - The Fellowship of the Ring II 1, Many Meetings) and fails to find the shore beyond them ('...and never sight he saw of shining shore...' - ibid). Though Tolkien doesn't make a direct connection, this description matches well with what we know of the Shadowy Seas established by the Valar to protect their land.
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- Updated 6 January 2025
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