Rivendell

2008-11-02T20:02:26Z

68.210.195.19: /* Inspiration */

{{location
| image=[[Image:J.R.R. Tolkien - Rivendell.jpg|300px]]
| name=Rivendell
| othernames=[[Imladris]], the [[Last Homely House]]
| etymology=Riven (cloven) + dell
| type=Valley/City
| location=West of [[Hithaeglir]]
| inhabitants=[[Elves]]
| realms=[[Elrond]]'s dominion
| description=Hidden valley with permanent elven settlement
| events=[[Quest of Erebor]], [[Council of Elrond]]
| references=''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[The Hobbit]]'', ''[[Unfinished Tales]]''
|}}

'''Rivendell''' is an [[Elves|Elven]] outpost in [[Middle-earth]]. It is also referred to as "The Last Homely House East of the Sea", a reference to [[Valinor]], which is west of the sea. It is established by [[Elrond]] in the [[Second Age]] of Middle-earth (four or five thousand years before the events of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''). Besides Elrond himself, notable Elves who lived there include [[Arwen]] and [[Glorfindel of Rivendell|Glorfindel]].

During the [[War of the Elves and Sauron]] in the [[Second Age]], Rivendell was under siege by the forces of [[Sauron]].

In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', [[Bilbo Baggins]] stopped off at Rivendell with the Dwarves on the way to the [[Lonely Mountain]] and also on the way back to the [[Shire]] with [[Gandalf]].

In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', [[Frodo Baggins]] and his [[Hobbit]] companions journey to Rivendell, where they meet with Bilbo, who had retired there after his 111th birthday, spending his time on his memoir, ''[[The Hobbit|There and Back Again]]''. Several other Elves, [[Dwarves]] and [[Men]] also arrive at Rivendell on separate errands; at the Council of Elrond they learn that all of their errands are related to the fate of the [[One Ring]], and they must decide what to do about it. In the end it is the Hobbits who influence the decision.

Rivendell is located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the [[Bruinen|Bruinen River]] (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from a nearby ford of Bruinen), but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the [[Hithaeglir]] or the [[Misty Mountains]].

The [[Sindarin]] translation of Rivendell is '''''Imladris''''', meaning "Deep Valley of the Cleft".

==Inspiration==
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

From The Letters of JRR Tolkien.
P. 391 Letter 306- To his son
"I am….delighted that you have made the acquaintance of Switzerland, and of the very part that I once knew best and which had the deepest effect on me. The hobbit’s journey from Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, including the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods, is based on my adventures in 1911 (he was 19 and traveled to Lauterbrunnen)……Our wanderings mainly on foot in a party of 12 are not now clear in sequence, but leave many vivid pictures as clear as yesterday." (He talks of similar conditions of the travel of Bilbo camping out, walking mountain paths, carrying packs).

==See also==
* [[:Category:Images of Rivendell|Images of Rivendell]]

[[Category:Eriador]]
[[Category:Elven Cities]]
[[Category:Elven Realms]]
[[Category:Sieges]]

[[de:Bruchtal]]
[[fi:Rivendell]]

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Rivendell