Arda (Middle-earth)

Arda
J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location
Other name(s)	The Realm, Ilu
Ruler	Manwë
First appearance	The Silmarillion
Founder	Eru Ilúvatar

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Arda is the name given to the Earth in an imaginary period of prehistory, wherein the places mentioned in The Lord of the Rings and related material once existed. It included several seas and oceans, and the continents of Middle-earth, the Dark Lands, Aman (the Undying Lands), the island of Númenor, and other unknown lands were left largely unnamed by Tolkien.

Arda was part of Eä, the universe of all which exists. Arda was created, together with the rest of Eä, through the Music of the Ainur for the Children of Ilúvatar (that is, Elves and Men). Arda was considered earth itself.

Because the Sun, Moon, stars, and other objects orbited the planet in the cosmology of Middle-earth they were considered part of Arda, leading to Arda sometimes being called the 'Solar System' of Middle-earth. The term for the Earth itself, excluding these celestial bodies, was Ambar or Imbar.

Originally the Earth (Arda) was flat, the continents were surrounded by a mighty ocean (or perhaps by space), Ekkaia or Vaiya, the Encircling Sea. The central and western continents - respectively Middle-earth and Aman - were separated by Belegaer, also called the Great Sea and the Sundering Seas. In the First Age, the area in the northwest of Middle-earth was occupied by the large region of Beleriand, but this was mostly destroyed and submerged in the War of Wrath at the end of that Age.

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