A region on the coast of Gondor ruled by the prince of Dol Amroth, derived from an older, pre-Númenorean name Bel (UT/247, VT42/15). The second element of the name is S. falas “shore” (RC/18, SA/falas), hence: “Shore of Bel”.

Conceptual Development: In Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s, this name first appeared as N. Ramathor >> Ramathir, both rejected and replaced by N. Belfalas (TI/119). In its first appearance, the name was applied to the region that would later be called Anfalas, and Belfalas was only later used for the region around Dol Amroth (WR/393).

In his notes for his “Unfinished Index” of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien indicated that the name was fully Sindarin, and that the element Bel meant “steep, sheer” (RC/18). The idea that the initial element was a pre-Númenorean name emerged in his later essay on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor (UT/247, VT42/15).

See S. Belfalas for further discussion.