Tolfalas

Tolfalas (the 'Coastal Island') is a large island that stands beyond the Ethir Anduin in the Bay of Belfalas. Its sharp southern headland marks the southernmost point of Gondor.

Summary

Prior to the Fall of Númenor, Tolfalas was a larger island, with a wide and low coastline and hilly centre. It is unknown if it was settled during the colonial period, though the Drowning of Numenor undoubtedly destroyed any existing structures:

[The shores of Middle-earth] were much changed in the tumult of the winds and seas that followed the Downfall; for in some places the sea rode in upon the land, and in others it piled up new coasts… But the Isle of Tolfalas was almost destroyed, and was left at last like a barren and lonely mountain in the water not far from the issue of the River.

Presumably vegetation did eventually grow back after the island’s destruction, but its barren nature would not be conducive to crop farming – anyone living there would most likely be poor fishermen or goatherds.

The Kinstrife and split with Umbar left Tolfalas open to raids from the Corsairs. From this period onwards, it is theorised that the populace moved away from the coast and relied on subsistence farming and herding, rather than fishing. They would also build defences, and possibly maintain a couple of watchtowers. They certainly would not be able to rely on Gondor's navy to save them from raids, especially in the late Third Age.

Tolfalas includes the following settlements:

• Capital town (200)
• Village 1 (100)
• Village 2 (50)
• 4 homesteads
• Central keep (25 permanent residents)
• Lighthouse on the southern cape
• Manned watchtowers along the coast

Climate and ecology

As a small and rocky island, Tolfalas might best be compared to Malta or Crete in terms of climate. It includes the following vegetation zones:

• G43 - Corsican-Sardinian (supra-Mediterranean) downy oak forests (Quercus pubescens) with Ilex aquifolium, Ostrya carpinifolia, Fraxinus ornus, Lathyrus venetus, Oenanthe pimpinelloides
• J17 - Ligurian-Tyrrhenian meso-Mediterranean holm oak forests (Quercus ilex) with Fraxinus ornus, Ostrya carpinifolia, Viburnum tinus
• J48 - Middle Mediterranean wild olive-locust tree forests(Ceratonia siliqua, Olea europaea subsp. oleaster, Pistacia lentiscus), partly with Chamaerops humilis

Economy

At this point in Gondor's history, Tolfalas is commercially isolated due to the threat of pirates from Umbar. Its main export is fish, and its main import is grain.