[Child of the 7th Age]

There was only a single high mountain on Númenor. The original island had a single, volcanic type peak(Meneltarma) as its center. The top of the peak was blown off and hollowed as vaolcanic peaks are wont to do. This caldera, the original place of worship at the top of the peak was huge, and it is where we all are now. It is like a meadow now and along its sides the trees have grown up and the vegetation.

Pat,

Geologically you're definitely right. But I imagined it differently.

Let me explain. I was envisioning the island in mystical or fantastic terms rather than 'real' ones. To me, Meneltarma is, like Valinor or Tol Eressea, a magical place still part of Arda, but very different than your average piece of real estate in Middle-earth. It is not subject to the normal laws of nature, any more than Tol Eressea would be (which used to cross back and forth across the waters, and of course, like Aman, could not be reached on the straight road). I almost envisioned the mount as a kind of junior Taniquetil which was why I had Idril say the isle reminded her a bit of Elvenhome.

Tolkien states that many mariners searched for Meneltarma but failed to find it. It was apparently hidden under some kind of protective cover. That goes beyond any geology we know or understand.

For the same reason, I felt that, when the isle was reconstructed, Eru's Mount would still have to be there as a mountain. The mountain could not be overcome or fundamentally changed, in the same way that evil could not overcome goodness. No matter what the people of Numenor did, no matter how Sauron tried, they could not destroy the holy place where the Faithful of Numenor came to worship. I saw Angara as its special guardian, appointed by Ulmo, the dragon sitting astride the mountaintop and glaring down on any intruders that might show their noses before the end of time.

The cone with grasslands and trees does conform to nature's laws, but is less visually compelling than the dragon on the mountaintop.

If we decide to go with the scooped out cone with meadows and some trees, I'll need to revise my earlier descriptions. In my original post when the hobbits get their first close look at things from the ships,

...the mountain was so close to the heavens that the hobbits could not even see where its top point lay.

Ancalimon also mentioned the memorial place was in a glade tucked beneath Eru's Mount:

. Ancalimon had found a grassy spot tucked away near the base of the mountain.

What do you think? Does anyone else see Meneltarma in a particular way?

For now, I'll leave the post, until we decide for sure what to do with the island. If we eliminate Mount Eru, I'll probably have Cami take a small skiff out to sea to be by herself and look over things from a distance (which was what I was trying to do with the mountain). As for the isle itself, without the mountain, I'd probably make it a bit more windswept and stark in its beauty, with just a few flowered meadows and shady groves.

sharon

[ November 10, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]