[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

It seems like, if Middle Earth is supposed to represent an ancient past of real life, that sailors setting out west like Columbus, or Ponce de Leon, may have been "searching for Numenor".

I mean, if Numenor was lost two ages ago ... maybe these explorers found some rumor of it and sought it.

Especially Ponce de Leon, who sought the 'fountain of youth'. Numenoreans had twice the lifespan of a normal man in their decline, in their peak they lived to be around four hundred years old. The El Dorado myth kind of speaks to this too, as Numenor was supposed to be blessed beyond belief, rich, lavish, and chock full of resources.

But as for the Pilgrims ... the elves sailing to Valinor would be like if the Massachusetts Native American tribes set sail from Europe to go reside with the Puritans.

But then, perhaps (and this is sort of shooting into the wind ...) the Puritans headed west for peace, wanting in fact to go to Valinor, but since the world was bent, they found something else.

This is a hard topic to actually think of anything for ... everything I just wrote feels like I came to a conclusion working backwards ...

~Keeper.