(Somewhat conjectural)
(Somewhat conjectural)
The lands of the Elves in Aman, more commonly known by their Elvish name Eldamar, a word variously translated as 'Elvenhome', 'Elvenland' or 'Elvenesse'. The name 'Faerie' belongs to an early period of Tolkien's writings, and is never seen in The Lord of the Rings, but it does survive in a single usage in the earlier book The Hobbit.
The idea of Faerie actually encapsulates a much more profound notion explored by Tolkien in his lecture and essay On Fairy-stories, where it represents a realm on the edge of human experience in which fantastical creatures dwell. In its use in The Hobbit, though, this high idea takes on a more concrete form, and there it relates specifically to the realms occupied by the Elves beyond the Great Sea.
Notes
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Faerie entered English from Old French, where it carried the meaning 'land of the fays (or fairies)'. It was popularised some centuries later when Edmund Spenser deliberately used it as a more archaic-sounding version of the word 'fairy', and in common use it can mean either 'fairyland' or simply 'fairy'. In the context of Tolkien's tales, however, it specifically refers to the lands of the Elves within Aman, in the Uttermost West beyond the Great Sea.
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- Updated 9 July 2017
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