Sindarin name for the “Bay of Belfalas”, appearing in a rejected section of Tolkien’s essay on The Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor from 1967-69 (VT42/15). It is a combination of côf “bay” and Belfalas. The section was rejected because Tolkien revised the history of the name Bel (UT/247), so it is possible that the name of the bay remained valid.
Conceptual Development: In draft maps for The Lord of the Rings from the 1940s, this bay was labeled N. Cobas “Haven” (TI/312, WR/434). The bay was unlabeled in the maps for the published version of The Lord of the Rings.
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).