The Lost Road, by Silinde Ar Feinie
The Straight Road (also known as Straight Way, Straight Path, Lost Road, or the Last Road) was an invisible bridge that curved from the earth leading to the realm of the Gods.
History
It was a route that leaves the earth's curvature through sky and space to the ethereal land of Aman. The route could be compared to going on a spaceship or crossing into a parallel universe.
The Straight Road, so called because it followed the old path across Belegaer from before the Akallabêth when the Flat World to the World Made Round, was only kept open to Elves, who were allowed to sail to it on their ships by a special grace of the Valar.
A ship departing on the Straight Road, when observed from the shore, would slowly become smaller to sight until it disappeared in a point, and not drop behind the horizon.
It is noted in earlier writings by Tolkien that some mortals besides those carried on Elven ships like the Fellowship of the Ring and Bilbo Baggins can also find this route in a Bermuda Triangle-like instance (like Ælfwine or Eriol from The Book of Lost Tales).
According to unfinished notes for The Lost Road (and somewhat related to later in The Notion Club Papers), Tolkien saw the location of the Straight Road as possibly somewhere near the Azores in modern times.
The first location reached from the hidden path was Tol Eressëa (to some known as Avallon or Avalon).
As noted at the end of the Akallabêth it mentions of tales and rumours concerning mariners and men lost upon the sea whom, by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar, had entered upon the path until they reached Avallonë. Tolkien main travelers to reach the island included first possibly Tuor, then Eärendil, later Ælfwine, the body of King Arthur, and even hinted at Lancelot making the journey as well.[1] The Notion Club Papers even hints at others who maybe made the journey either physically or by dreams to become known as "Elf-friend" ("Ælfwine") down through the ages. Eriol is notable as he is said to be the only one to have returned from traveling to Tol Eressëa.
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Reguitpad |
| Albanian | Rruga e Drejt |
| Amharic | ቀጥተኛ መንገድ |
| Arabic | الطريق المستقيم |
| Armenian | ուղիղ Ճանապարհային |
| Azerbaijani | Düz yol |
| Basque | Zuzen errepidea |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | прамая дарога |
| Bengali | সরল পথ |
| Bosnian | Ravne ceste |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Направо Път |
| Burmese | ဖြောင့်လမ်းမ |
| Cambodian | ត្រង់ផ្លូវ |
| Catalan | Camí Recte |
| Cebuano | Tul-id nga Dalan |
| Chinese | 筆直航道 |
| Croatian | Ravne ceste |
| Czech | Rovná cesta |
| Danish | Lige Vej |
| Dutch | Rechte Weg |
| Esperanto | Rekta Vojo |
| Estonian | Sirget teed |
| Faroese | Beinur Vegur |
| Finnish | Suora tie |
| French | Route droite |
| Galician | Estrada Recta |
| Georgian | სწორი გზა |
| German | Gerade Straße |
| Greek | Ίσιο δρόμο |
| Gujarati | સીધા રોડ |
| Haitian Creole | Wout Dwat |
| Hausa | Tafarki Madaidaici |
| Hebrew | כביש ישר |
| Hindi | सीधी सड़क |
| Hmong | Txoj kev ncaj |
| Hungarian | Egyenes út |
| Icelandic | Bein Vegur |
| Indonesian | Jalan lurus |
| Irish Gaelic | Bóthar Dhíreach |
| Italian | Strada Diritta |
| Japanese | ストレートロード |
| Javanese | Dalan Lurus |
| Kannada | ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಟ್ ರೋಡ್ |
| Kazakh | Түзу жол (Cyrilic) Tüzw jol (Latin) |
| Korean | 스트레이트도로 |
| Kurdish | Rê Rast (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Түз жол |
| Latin | Recta via |
| Latvian | Taisnā ceļa |
| Lithuanian | Tiesiu keliu |
| Luxembourgish | Riichter Strooss |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Прав патот |
| Malagasy | Lalana mahitsy |
| Malay | Jalan yang lurus |
| Malayalam | സ്ട്രെയിറ്റ് റോഡ് |
| Maltese | Triq dritta |
| Marathi | सरळ रस्ता |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Шулуун зам |
| Nepalese | सीधा रोड |
| Norwegian | Rett Vei |
| Pashto | سپینو سړک |
| Persian | جاده مستقیم |
| Polish | Prosta Droga |
| Portuguese | Estrada Reta |
| Punjabi | ਸਟ੍ਰੇਟ ਰੋਡ |
| Romanian | Drumul drept |
| Romansh | dretg Stra ? |
| Russian | Прямой Путь |
| Scottish Gaelic | Dìreach Rathad |
| Serbian | Страигхт друм (Cyrillic) Ravni put (Latin) |
| Shona | Yakarurama mugwagwa |
| Sindhi | سڌو رستو |
| Sinhalese | කෙළින්ම පාර |
| Slovak | Rovnej ceste |
| Slovenian | Ravne ceste |
| Somalian | Wadada toosan |
| Spanish | Camino Recto |
| Sudanese | Lempeng Jalan |
| Swahili | Barabara ya moja kwa moja |
| Swedish | Rak Väg |
| Tamil | நேரடி சாலை |
| Thai | ตรงถนน |
| Turkish | Düz Yol |
| Turkmen | Dogry ýol ? |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Пряма дорога |
| Urdu | سیدھے راستے |
| Uzbek | Тўғри йўл (Cyrillic) To'g'ri yo'l (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Đường thẳng |
| Welsh | Ffordd Syth |
| Yiddish | גלייַך וועג |