Place in Arda Rivendell as depicted in Peter Jackson's trilogy.
Name	Rivendell
Other Names	The Last Homely House East of the Sea
Description	The House of Elrond
Constructed By	Elrond
Realm	Eriador  Rivendell
Lord	Lord of Rivendell
Type	City, home
Lifespan	Second Age – Fourth Age

Rivendell, also known as Imladris, was an 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 Great Sea in Aman.

Contents 1 History 2 Behind the Scenes 3 Etymology 4 External link

HistoryEdit

Rivendell was established by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth in SA 1697 (four or five thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings). He resided there until his journey across the sea, for some of the time with the company of his wife Celebrian and their two sons, and mostly eternally with his daughter, Arwen. Besides Elrond himself, notable Elves who lived there include the aforementioned Arwen, future Queen of Gondor, and Glorfindel.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins stopped off at Rivendell with the dwarves on the way to the Lonely Mountain and on the way back to the Shire with Gandalf. He described it as "a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all."

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and his Hobbit companions journeyed to Rivendell, where they met with Bilbo, who had retired there after his "Long-Expected Party". Several other Elves, Dwarves and Men also arrived at Rivendell on separate errands; at the Council of Elrond they learnt 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 was the Hobbits who influenced the decision.

There was a large hall with a dais and several tables for feasting. Another hall, the Hall of Fire, had a fire in it all year round with carven pillars on either side of the hearth; it was used for singing and story telling on high days but stood empty the rest of the time so people could go there to quietly think. The eastern side of the

house had a porch where Frodo Baggins found his friends once he awakened and where the Council of Elrond was held.

Rivendell was located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Bruinen (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from the nearby Ford of Bruinen), but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Hithaeglir or the Misty Mountains.

Rivendell was protected from attack (mainly by the River Bruinen, Elrond, and Elven magic), but Elrond himself said that Rivendell is a place of peace and learning, not a stronghold of battle. There were a few assaults on Rivendell in various video games, and they were either failures or successes depending on whether Sauron found the Ring (Obviously, if Rivendell was indeed attacked, then the assaults inevitably failed).

Behind the ScenesEdit

The valley of Imladris (within which Rivendell is situated) was based upon the landscape of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Tolkien was said to have journeyed to this region; his original painting of Rivendell is significantly similar to the Lauterbrunnen itself.

EtymologyEdit

The Sindarin name for Rivendell (which is a translation thereof) is Imladris, meaning "deep valley of the cleft".

Elven Realms of Middle-earth throughout the Ages
Years of the Trees:	Cuiviénen | Eglador | Havens of the Falas
First Age:	Doriath | Dorthonion | Gondolin | Havens of Sirion | Havens of the Falas | Himlad & Pass of Aglon | Hithlum | Maglor's Gap | March of Maedhros | Nargothrond | Nevrast | Ossiriand | Pass of Sirion | Thargelion
Second Age:	Eregion | Greenwood the Great | Lindon | Rivendell
Third Age:	Lindon | Lothlórien | Northern Mirkwood | Rivendell
Fourth Age:	Lindon | Lothlórien & East Lórien | Rivendell | Wood of Greenleaves

External linkEdit

• Rivendell at Tolkien Gateway