The wind that rose in the south and passed over Middle-earth. To those dwelling in the northwestern regions, that wind blew over the wide Bay of Belfalas before it began its journey across the lands of Middle-earth. To the Elves, then, the South Wind carried an association with the Great Sea and the gulls that rode the wind, whose cries could awaken the Sea-longing. Even as far inland as Cerin Amroth, the South Wind brought the sounds of the Sea1 as it sighed through trees of Lórien. When Legolas made a song for the slain Boromir, he also evoked the South Wind, singing of the distant shores that Boromir's funeral boat would pass as it carried his body out into the Bay of Belfalas.
Notes
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The Sea-sounds carried by the South Wind into Lórien were curious, not only because that forest land lay hundreds of miles inland, but also because they were carried from the distant past. These sounds called to mind 'beaches that had long ago been washed away' and 'sea-birds crying whose race had perished from the earth' (The Fellowship of the Ring II 6, Lothlórien). These sounds from the past must have been due to Galadriel's Ring Nenya, which had the power to hold back the passage of time and preserve things that had long been lost in the world beyond Lórien's borders.
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- Updated 27 January 2024
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