Straight Way

Throughout the long First Age, and for most of the Second, the form of the world remained a simple disc or plane, upon which the Great Lands of Middle-earth and the Blessed Realm of Aman were separated by the Great Sea. Though the Valar placed impediments within the Sea to protect their realm, the land of the Valar remained within the world, and while there were many obstacles to the voyage, there was nothing in principle to prevent a mariner sailing from Middle-earth into the West.

This primordial geography came to an end with the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319, in which the rebellion of the Númenóreans was punished by the destruction of their island homeland and the reshaping of the world itself. At this time, the lands of the Valar in the West were removed from the mortal world altogether, and the form of the world changed to become 'bent' or round. Where the Blessed Realm had lain westward beyond the Great Sea, new lands emerged. In this new world, a mortal mariner sailing far enough westward would eventually circumnavigate the newly-made globe, and return to the place from which they had set out.

This new shape of the world did not, however, apply to the Elves, who were still permitted to make the crossing. For them a Straight Way still existed, leading across the Great Sea to the lost lands of the West. To make such a journey required a ship specially made and hallowed, which would set out on its journey after the Sun had set. Steering due west, to those watching from the shore it would seem that the departing vessel did not dip beneath the horizon, but simply dwindled from sight as it faded into the distance of the evening twilight. To those aboard to vessel, the new Bent World would fall away beneath its hull, as it continued its journey across the old Straight Way eventually to reach Tol Eressëa and the Blessed Realm.

Though the Straight Way was used most often by Elves passing into the West, there were also exceptional cases. It could evidently be used for those from Aman who wished to pass eastward into Middle-earth, but this was exceptionally unusual, and our only definitive record of such a passage is in the coming of the Maiar called Istari or Wizards, who came out of the West in the Third Age to lead resistance against Sauron. At the end of the Third Age, certain mortals were also permitted to pass along the Way, so that Frodo and Bilbo Baggins were able to make the journey aboard the White Ship. Years later, Samwise Gamgee and apparently Gimli the Dwarf were also apparently accorded the same privilege, as a special compensation for the parts they played in the War of the Ring.