Almaren (Q."Blessedness; Av."Alambâra") was the first abode of the Valar in Arda, before the second onslaught of Melkor: an isle in a great lake in the midst of Middle-earth. In later times the heart of the area was known to the Haradrim as the Mirror of Fire. The central or main spur of the Tûr Betark also was sometimes believed to have been a remnant of the highlands of Almaren as were some of the isles of the Southern Archipelago.
Notes[]
There are conflicting accounts on the exact position of the great lake and Almaren. While in the published Silmarillion Almaren and the great lake seem to be put in the center of the “Great Lands”, the Ambarkanta seems to place Almaren in the Western Ocean, where later Tol Eressea and the Magic Isles were found.