Taras-ness

The land of Nevrast, northward of Beleriand, was surrounded by chains of mountains. One of these ran down the coast along Nevrast's northern shoreline, while another ran westward from Ered Wethrin to form the land's southern border. These two ranges came together at the western point of the land, and there they formed a promontory extending out into the Great Sea. From this headland rose a single mountain, Mount Taras, and the promontory itself was known as Taras-ness.

From early times, long before the Moon and Sun first rose into the sky, the starlit land of Nevrast had been occupied by Grey-elves. When the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, Turgon son of Fingolfin chose the land to dwell in, and he built a coastal city on the slopes of Taras-ness. This new city of Vinyamar looked out over the Great Sea from its mountain promontory, and its builder Turgon ruled over a land where the Sindar and Noldor lived together in peace.

Turgon ruled from his city on Taras-ness through the first fifty Years of the Sun, but Ulmo sent him visions that guided him to a hidden vale in the mountains, far from the shores of the Great Sea. There, Turgon set about building the Hidden City that would become known as Gondolin. After more than fifty further years of work, Turgon and his people abandoned the land of Nevrast, leaving the city on Taras-ness empty. Before they departed, however, Ulmo sent a warning to Turgon to leave arms and armour behind in the now-empty halls.

After Turgon's departure, the city of the headland of Taras-ness lay deserted for nearly four centuries until, in the year I 495, Tuor of the Edain was guided to the empty place. Tuor was a descendant of the House of Hador who had escaped the thraldom of the Easterlings. As Ulmo had planned, the armour left behind by Turgon (which had survived through the intervening centuries) fitted the Man exactly. Arrayed in his new armour, Tuor encountered the Vala himself, rising from the waters on the northern shore of Taras-ness. He was sent from there as a messenger to Turgon's new city of Gondolin, and in time he became the father of Eärendil the Mariner.