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| image = Rivendell illustration.jpg
| image = Rivendell illustration.jpg
| caption = J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 painting of Rivendell
| caption = J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 painting of Rivendell
| image2 = File:Location Rivendel 3019 TA.svg
| caption2 = Location of Rivendell in Middle-earth
| alt_name = ''Imladris''<br/>''Karningul''<br/>''Last Homely House East of [[Belegaer|the Sea]]''
| alt_name = ''Imladris''<br/>''Karningul''<br/>''Last Homely House East of [[Belegaer|the Sea]]''
| type = Refuge of the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]<br/>Hidden Refuge
| type = Refuge of the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]<br/>Hidden Refuge
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| first = ''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937)
| first = ''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937)
}}
}}
'''Rivendell''' (''{{lang-sjn|Imladris}}'') is a valley in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[fictional world]] of [[Middle-earth]], representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elvish]] otherworld. It is an important location in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the place where the quest to destroy the [[One Ring]] began.
'''Rivendell''' (''{{langx|sjn|Imladris}}'') is a valley in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[fictional world]] of [[Middle-earth]], representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elvish]] otherworld. It is an important location in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', being the place where the quest to destroy the [[One Ring]] began.


Rivendell's feeling of peace may have contributed to the popularity of ''The Lord of the Rings'' during the war-troubled 1960s. Scholars have noted that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, from the [[hymn]] to [[Elbereth]], recalling [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Tolkien's Catholicism]], to the complex [[Song of Eärendil]] with its [[Poetry in The Lord of the Rings|multiple poetic devices]]. Others have written that it resembles the [[Celtic Otherworld]] of [[Tír na nÓg]]; and that it physically recalls the valley of [[Lauterbrunnen]] in Switzerland where Tolkien had gone hiking in 1911.
Rivendell's feeling of peace may have contributed to the popularity of ''The Lord of the Rings'' during the war-troubled 1960s. Scholars have noted that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, from the [[hymn]] to [[Elbereth]], recalling [[Christianity in Middle-earth|Tolkien's Catholicism]], to the complex [[Song of Eärendil]] with its [[Poetry in The Lord of the Rings|multiple poetic devices]]. Others have written that it resembles the [[Celtic Otherworld]] of [[Tír na nÓg]]; and that it physically recalls the valley of [[Lauterbrunnen]] in Switzerland where Tolkien had gone hiking in 1911.


==Etymology==
== Etymology ==

''Rivendell'' is a direct translation or [[calque]] into English of the [[Sindarin]] '''Imladris''', both meaning "deep valley". The name Rivendell is formed by two English elements: "riven" (split, cloven) and "dell" (valley). Imladris was also rendered "''Karningul''" in [[Westron]], the "Common Tongue" of Middle-earth represented as English in the text of ''The Lord of the Rings.'' The house of Elrond in Rivendell is also called ''The Last Homely House East of the Sea,'' alluding to the wilderness ([[Rhovanion]]) that lies east of the [[Misty Mountains]].<ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix F, "On Translation"}}</ref>
''Rivendell'' is a direct translation or [[calque]] into English of the [[Sindarin]] '''Imladris''', both meaning "deep valley". The name Rivendell is formed by two English elements: "riven" (split, cloven) and "dell" (valley). Imladris was rendered "''Karningul''" in [[Westron]], the "Common Tongue" of Middle-earth [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|represented as English in the text of ''The Lord of the Rings.'']] The house of Elrond in Rivendell is also called ''The Last Homely House East of the Sea,'' alluding to the wilderness ([[Rhovanion]]) that lies east of the [[Misty Mountains]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix F, "On Translation"}}</ref>


== Fiction ==
== Fiction ==

{{Sketch Map of Middle-earth|upright=2.6|center|caption=[[Image map]] with clickable links of the north-west of [[Middle-earth]] at the end of the [[Third Age]], showing Rivendell just West of the Misty Mountains (top centre) by the River Bruinen. The Great West Road leads westwards from there to [[Bree, Middle-earth|Bree]] and [[the Shire]].}}

=== Geography ===
=== Geography ===
{{further|Geography of Middle-earth}}
{{further|Geography of Middle-earth}}


Rivendell lay in eastern [[Eriador]] at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river '''Bruinen'''<!--redirects here--> (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from the nearby '''Ford of Bruinen'''<!--FoB redirects here-->), well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the ''Hithaeglir'' or [[Misty Mountains]]. Contrary to the map of western Middle-earth published in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the Great East Road did not, in Tolkien's view, lead through Rivendell: Rivendell was maintained as a hidden valley away from the road to the High Pass.<ref name="A Short Rest" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch 3 "A Short Rest"}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 18 "The Return Journey"}}</ref><ref name="The Last Stage" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 19 "The Last Stage"}}</ref> Like [[Hobbiton]], it is at about the same latitude as Tolkien's workplace, [[Oxford]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#294 to Charlotte and Denis Plimmer of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 8 February 1967 }}</ref>
{{#tag:imagemap|
File:Sketch Map of Middle-earth.svg{{!}}thumb{{!}}upright={{{upright|2}}}{{!}}right{{!}}{{{caption|Imagemap with clickable links of the north-west of [[Middle-earth]] at the end of the [[Third Age]]. Rivendell (top centre) is in the east of Eriador near the [[Misty Mountains]]. }}}

rect 150 75 250 150 [[The Shire]]
<!--rect 300 100 375 150 [[Rivendell]]-->
rect 425 50 500 250 [[Mirkwood]]
rect 475 50 525 75 [[Erebor]]
rect 475 75 550 100 [[Esgaroth]]
rect 300 150 375 250 [[Moria, Middle-earth]]
rect 350 200 450 250 [[Lothlórien]]
rect 350 250 400 275 [[Fangorn]]
rect 300 275 350 300 [[Isengard]]
rect 300 275 450 350 [[Rohan, Middle-earth]]
rect 300 350 500 475 [[Gondor]]
rect 500 350 700 475 [[Mordor]]
rect 500 500 730 580 [[Harad]]
rect 10 10 738 583 [[commons:File:Sketch Map of Middle-earth.svg]]
}}

Rivendell lay in eastern [[Eriador]] at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river '''Bruinen'''<!--redirects here--> (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from the nearby '''Ford of Bruinen'''<!--FoB redirects here-->), well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the ''Hithaeglir'' or [[Misty Mountains]]. Contrary to the map of western Middle-earth published in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the Great East Road did not, in Tolkien's view, lead through Rivendell: Rivendell was maintained as a hidden valley away from the road to the High Pass.<ref name="A Short Rest" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch 3 "A Short Rest"}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 18 "The Return Journey"}}</ref><ref name="The Last Stage" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 19 "The Last Stage"}}</ref> Like [[Hobbiton]], it is at about the same latitude as Tolkien's workplace, [[Oxford]].<ref group=T>{{harvp|Carpenter|1981|loc=#294 to Charlotte and Denis Plimmer of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 8 February 1967}}</ref>


=== History ===
=== History ===


Rivendell was founded in the [[Second Age]] after the dark lord [[Sauron]]'s destruction of the Elvish land of [[Eregion]]. Rivendell remained as the only Elven settlement in eastern Eriador; [[Gil-galad]] gave Elrond the Ring [[Vilya (Middle-earth)|Vilya]], providing him with the power to protect Rivendell and slow the passage of time in its hidden valley: indeed, Rivendell kept its own calendar.<ref name="Calendars" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix D, "The Calendars"}}</ref><ref name="Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1980|loc=part 2, "The Second Age" ch. 4 "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"}}</ref><ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/> Rivendell survived repeated attacks in the [[Third Age]] by the armies of the [[Witch-king of Angmar]].{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=573–574}}<ref name="Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/> Rivendell held the heirlooms of the [[Rangers of the North]] from the lost kingdom of [[Arnor (Middle-earth)|Arnor]], including the shards of [[Elendil]]'s sword [[Narsil]], the Sceptre of Annúminas, and the Star of Elendil. Elrond fostered the children of the heirs to Arnor's throne, the last being [[Aragorn]]. While in Rivendell, Aragorn met and fell in love with Elrond's daughter, [[Arwen]]. They were married after he was crowned king of both [[Gondor]] and Arnor.<ref name="Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen}}</ref> Sauron's enemies including Elrond formed the [[White Council]], which met in Rivendell, as when the Council decided to eject the Necromancer from his fortress in [[Dol Guldur]].<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/> The [[List of The Hobbit characters#Thorin's company|protagonists of ''The Hobbit'']] take advice from Elrond in Rivendell.<ref name="A Short Rest" group=T/> The [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|protagonists of ''The Lord of the Rings'']] meet in Rivendell, attend the [[Council of Elrond]], and decide on the quest to destroy the [[One Ring]]. The hero [[Aragorn]]'s sword is reforged as [[Andúril]] by Rivendell's smiths.<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"}}</ref><ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}}</ref><ref name="Ring Goes South" group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South"}}</ref> When the One Ring is destroyed, Elrond's ring loses its power, and he leaves to sail for [[Valinor]].<ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix B, "The Great Years"}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvp|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A, "The Númenórean Kings", "[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]"}}</ref>
Rivendell was founded in the [[Second Age]] after the dark lord [[Sauron]]'s destruction of the Elvish land of [[Eregion]]. Rivendell remained as the only Elven settlement in eastern Eriador; [[Gil-galad]] gave Elrond the Ring [[Vilya (Middle-earth)|Vilya]], providing him with the power to protect Rivendell and slow the passage of time in its hidden valley: indeed, Rivendell kept its own calendar.<ref name="Calendars" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix D, "The Calendars"}}</ref><ref name="Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc=part 2, "The Second Age" ch. 4 "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"}}</ref><ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/> Rivendell survived repeated attacks in the [[Third Age]] by the armies of the [[Witch-king of Angmar]].{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=573–574}}<ref name="Galadriel and Celeborn" group=T/> Rivendell held the heirlooms of the [[Rangers of the North]] from the lost kingdom of [[Arnor (Middle-earth)|Arnor]], including the shards of [[Elendil]]'s sword [[Narsil]], the Sceptre of Annúminas, and the Star of Elendil. Elrond fostered the children of the heirs to Arnor's throne, the last being [[Aragorn]]. While in Rivendell, Aragorn met and fell in love with Elrond's daughter, [[Arwen]]. They were married after he was crowned king of both [[Gondor]] and Arnor.<ref name="Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A: [[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]}}</ref> Sauron's enemies including Elrond formed the [[White Council]], which met in Rivendell, as when the Council decided to eject the Necromancer from his fortress in [[Dol Guldur]].<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/> The [[List of The Hobbit characters#Thorin's company|protagonists of ''The Hobbit'']] take advice from Elrond in Rivendell.<ref name="A Short Rest" group=T/> The [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|protagonists of ''The Lord of the Rings'']] meet in Rivendell, attend the [[Council of Elrond]], and decide on the quest to destroy the [[One Ring]]. The hero [[Aragorn]]'s sword is reforged as [[Andúril]] by Rivendell's smiths.<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"}}</ref><ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}}</ref><ref name="Ring Goes South" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South"}}</ref> When the One Ring is destroyed, Elrond's ring loses its power, and he leaves to sail for [[Valinor]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix B, "The Great Years"}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix A, "The Númenórean Kings", "[[The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen]]"}}</ref>


==Analysis==
==Analysis==


=== Physical origins ===
=== Physical origins ===
[[File:1 lauterbrunnen valley 2012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.22|Tolkien based Rivendell on his 1911 visit to the [[Lauterbrunnen]]tal in Switzerland.<ref name="MacEacharan 2014"/>]]
[[File:1 lauterbrunnen valley 2012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tolkien based Rivendell on his 1911 visit to the [[Lauterbrunnen]]tal in Switzerland.<ref name="MacEacharan 2014"/>]]


The Rivendell valley is based upon the valley of [[Lauterbrunnen]] in Switzerland, where Tolkien had gone hiking. Tolkien stated directly that "From Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, the journey ... including the [[Glissade (climbing)|glissade]] [of Bilbo and the Dwarves] down the [[scree|slithering stones]] into the pine woods ... is based on my adventures in Switzerland in 1911".<ref group=T>{{harvp|Carpenter|1981|loc=#306 to [[Michael Tolkien]], 1967-8}}</ref><ref name="MacEacharan 2014">{{cite web |last=MacEacheran |first=Mike |title=In Alpine villages, Hobbits lurk |date=24 May 2014 |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140523-in-alpine-villages-hobbits-lurk |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref>
The Rivendell valley is based upon the valley of [[Lauterbrunnen]] in Switzerland, where Tolkien had gone hiking. Tolkien stated directly that "From Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, the journey ... including the [[Glissade (climbing)|glissade]] [of Bilbo and the Dwarves] down the [[scree|slithering stones]] into the pine woods ... is based on my adventures in Switzerland in 1911".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#306 to [[Michael Tolkien]], 1967-8 }}</ref><ref name="MacEacharan 2014">{{cite web |last=MacEacheran |first=Mike |title=In Alpine villages, Hobbits lurk |date=24 May 2014 |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140523-in-alpine-villages-hobbits-lurk |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref>


The medievalist [[Marjorie Burns]] writes that Bilbo's approach to Rivendell parallels the early fantasy writer and translator of Norse legend [[William Morris]]'s approach through the wilds of Iceland to a place he called "Water-dale" (''Vatnsdale''); both ride across uplands dotted with patches of green, becoming extremely tired; both then cross narrow ravines, and bogs; and both arrive at a hidden valley that offers shelter and comfort. In another place, Morris crosses a "narrow, bridge-like rock", just as Bilbo faces a "narrow bridge of stone without a parapet" on entering Rivendell.{{sfn|Burns|2005|pp=81–84}}
The medievalist [[Marjorie Burns]] writes that Bilbo's approach to Rivendell parallels the early fantasy writer and translator of Norse legend [[William Morris]]'s approach through the wilds of Iceland to a place he called "Water-dale" (''Vatnsdale''); both ride across uplands dotted with patches of green, becoming extremely tired; both then cross narrow ravines, and bogs; and both arrive at a hidden valley that offers shelter and comfort. In another place, Morris crosses a "narrow, bridge-like rock", just as Bilbo faces a "narrow bridge of stone without a parapet" on entering Rivendell.{{sfn|Burns|2005|pp=81–84}}


=== A place of sanctuary ===
=== A place of sanctuary ===
{{further|Tolkien and the Celtic|Lothlórien#Analysis}}


{{see also|Lothlórien#Analysis}}
[[File:15 They rode up to a stately palace.jpg|thumb|upright|Rivendell has been compared to the [[Celtic Otherworld]],{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=54}} here in a 1910 illustration by [[Stephen Reid (artist)|Stephen Reid]]]]
[[File:15 They rode up to a stately palace.jpg|thumb|upright|Rivendell has been compared to the [[Celtic Otherworld]],{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=54}} here in a 1910 illustration by [[Stephen Reid (artist)|Stephen Reid]]]]


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{{blockquote|To enter Rivendell is to leave, for a time, the uplands' bleak, mountainous, northerly terrain. First comes the steep descent ...; pines are replaced by beech and oak; the air grows warmer; the first of the elves greet them with laughter and song, and then comes the inevitable water crossing that divides the rest of Middle-earth from the inner core of every Elven realm.{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=61}}}}
{{blockquote|To enter Rivendell is to leave, for a time, the uplands' bleak, mountainous, northerly terrain. First comes the steep descent ...; pines are replaced by beech and oak; the air grows warmer; the first of the elves greet them with laughter and song, and then comes the inevitable water crossing that divides the rest of Middle-earth from the inner core of every Elven realm.{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=61}}}}


Burns notes that both "Riven" and "dell" suggest a low place into which one must descend; and that a descent is characteristic of Celtic tales of entry into the underground realm of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], whose chiefs each rule a burial mound.{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=66}}
Burns notes that both "Riven" and "dell" suggest a low place into which one must descend; and that a descent is characteristic of Celtic tales of entry into [[Otherworld|the underground realm]] of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], whose chiefs each rule a burial mound.{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=66}}


=== Heroic quest's starting-point ===
=== Heroic quest's starting-point ===

{{further|Christianity in Middle-earth}}


The philologist and Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] remarks that Tolkien, a [[Christianity|Christian]], was extremely careful with dates and timelines, but that hardly any readers notice that the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell on its [[quest]] on 25 December, the date of [[Christmas]], and succeeds, destroying the Ring and causing the fall of Sauron, on 25 March, the date in Anglo-Saxon tradition for the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=227}}
The philologist and Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] remarks that Tolkien, a [[Christianity|Christian]], was extremely careful with dates and timelines, but that hardly any readers notice that the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell on its [[quest]] on 25 December, the date of [[Christmas]], and succeeds, destroying the Ring and causing the fall of Sauron, on 25 March, the date in Anglo-Saxon tradition for the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=227}}


The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes that both Frodo and Aragorn receive their renewed [[Named weapons in Middle-earth|magic swords]] in Rivendell, [[Heroism in The Lord of the Rings#Magic sword|marking them out as heroes]] in the epic tradition of [[Sigurd]] and [[King Arthur|Arthur]], at the start of their quest.{{sfn|Flieger|2004|pp=122–145}}
The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes that both Frodo and Aragorn receive their renewed [[Naming of weapons in Middle-earth|magic swords]] in Rivendell, [[Heroism in The Lord of the Rings#Magic sword|marking them out as heroes]] in the epic tradition of [[Sigurd]] and [[King Arthur|Arthur]], at the start of [[Quests in Middle-earth|their quest]].{{sfn|Flieger|2004|pp=122–145}}


=== Cultural allusions ===
=== Cultural allusions ===
{{further|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings#Glimpses of another world}}
{{further|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings#Glimpses of another world}}


Shippey contrasts the versions of the ''[[The Old Walking Song|Old Walking Song]]'' sung by Bilbo and Frodo. Bilbo follows the "Road ... with eager feet", hoping to reach the peace of Rivendell, to retire and take his ease; whereas Frodo sings "with weary feet", hoping somehow to reach Mordor bearing the Ring, and to try to destroy it in the [[Cracks of Doom]]: diametrically opposed destinations and errands.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=213}} He notes that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, and cites Tolkien's statement that the song that the Hobbits hear in Rivendell, ''[[A Elbereth Gilthoniel]]'' invoking the semi-divine [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]], was a [[hymn]] [[Christianity in Middle-earth|suggestive of his own devout Catholicism]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=230}} Shippey writes, too, that Tolkien had Bilbo write and sing the Song of [[Earendil]] in Rivendell, making use of [[Poetry in The Lord of the Rings#Song of Eärendil|multiple poetic devices]] – rhyme, internal half-rhyme, alliteration, alliterative assonance, and "a frequent if irregular variation of syntax" – to create a mysterious Elvish effect of "rich and continuous uncertainty, a pattern forever being glimpsed but never quite grasped."{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=218–219}} Rebecca Ankeny comments that Tolkien uses verse, too, to signal the horror of the Elves when Gandalf speaks the dark lord's [[rhyme of the Rings]] aloud, in the [[Black Speech]], threatening the end of Rivendell.<ref name="Ankeny 2005">{{cite journal |last=Ankeny |first=Rebecca |title=Poem as Sign in 'The Lord of the Rings' |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |volume=16 |issue=2 (62) |year=2005 |pages=86–95 |jstor=43308763}}</ref>
Shippey contrasts the versions of the ''[[The Old Walking Song|Old Walking Song]]'' sung by Bilbo and Frodo. Bilbo follows the "Road ... with eager feet", hoping to reach the peace of Rivendell, to retire and take his ease; whereas Frodo sings "with weary feet", hoping somehow to reach Mordor bearing the Ring, and to try to destroy it in the [[Cracks of Doom]]: diametrically opposed destinations and errands.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=213}} He notes that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, and cites Tolkien's statement that the song that the Hobbits hear in Rivendell, ''[[A Elbereth Gilthoniel]]'' invoking the semi-divine [[Varda (Middle-earth)|Varda]], was a [[hymn]] [[Christianity in Middle-earth|suggestive of his own devout Catholicism]].{{sfn|Shippey|2005|p=230}} Shippey writes, too, that Tolkien had Bilbo write and sing the Song of [[Earendil]] in Rivendell, making use of [[Poetry in The Lord of the Rings#Song of Eärendil|multiple poetic devices]] – rhyme, internal half-rhyme, alliteration, alliterative assonance, and "a frequent if irregular variation of syntax" – to create a mysterious Elvish effect of "rich and continuous uncertainty, a pattern forever being glimpsed but never quite grasped."{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=218–219}} Rebecca Ankeny comments that Tolkien uses verse, too, to signal the horror of the Elves when Gandalf speaks the dark lord's [[rhyme of the Rings]] aloud, in the [[Black Speech]], threatening the end of Rivendell.<ref name="Ankeny 2005">{{cite journal |last=Ankeny |first=Rebecca |title=Poem as Sign in 'The Lord of the Rings' |journal=[[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]] |volume=16 |issue=2 (62) |year=2005 |pages=86–95 |jstor=43308763}}</ref>


The Tolkien scholar [[Gergely Nagy (scholar)|Gergely Nagy]] notes that Tolkien wanted to present the complex set of writings of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as a seemingly-genuine collection of tales and myths within the frame of his fictional Middle-earth; he modified ''The Lord of the Rings'' to ascribe the documents to Bilbo, supposedly written in the years he spent in Rivendell, and preserved in the fictitious ''[[Red Book of Westmarch]]'', its name alluding to the ''[[Red Book of Hergest]]''.{{sfn|Nagy|2020|pp=107–118}}
The Tolkien scholar [[Gergely Nagy (scholar)|Gergely Nagy]] notes that Tolkien wanted to present the complex set of writings of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as a seemingly-genuine collection of tales and myths within the frame of his fictional Middle-earth; he modified ''The Lord of the Rings'' to ascribe the documents to Bilbo, supposedly written in the years he spent in Rivendell, and preserved in the fictitious ''[[Red Book of Westmarch]]'', its name alluding to the ''[[Red Book of Hergest]]''.{{sfn|Nagy|2020|pp=107–118}}
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==Adaptations==
==Adaptations==

[[File:Frodo_in_Rivendell_in_Peter_Jackson's_FOTR.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|In [[Peter Jackson]]'s 2001 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Rivendell is romantically conceived, with sophisticated culture. The "[[John Ruskin|post-Ruskinian]]" style does not match Tolkien's own illustrations, and some have claimed it represented his dislike of industrialised manufacture.{{sfn|Rosebury|2003|pp=212–213}}]]
[[File:Frodo_in_Rivendell_in_Peter_Jackson's_FOTR.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|In [[Peter Jackson]]'s 2001 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Rivendell is romantically conceived, with sophisticated culture. The "[[John Ruskin|post-Ruskinian]]" style does not match Tolkien's own illustrations. Some have claimed it represented his dislike of industrialised manufacture.{{sfn|Rosebury|2003|pp=212–213}}]]


In [[Peter Jackson]]'s 2001 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Rivendell was represented by [[Kaitoke Regional Park]], [[New Zealand]], though the waterfalls were added with [[computer-generated imagery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kaitoke Regional Park, Wellington, New Zealand |url=https://www.newzealand.com/my/feature/kaitoke-regional-park/ |website=Newzealand.com |access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> [[Brian Rosebury]] comments that Jackson presents the Elves as sophisticated, where Tolkien made them close to nature. All the same, he writes, the film Rivendell's "architecture and ornaments are dominated by natural motifs", suggesting "integration with nature, but at one remove", something that works well for the "[[Portmeirion]]-like idyll" of the portrayed Rivendell. Rosebury describes the design as "[[John Ruskin|post-Ruskinian]]", as in [[pre-Raphaelite]] paintings, [[William Morris]]'s [[Arts and Crafts]] designs, and [[Art Nouveau]] architectural details. These differ from [[Tolkien's artwork|Tolkien's own illustrations]], but in a way, Rosebury suggests, that Tolkien would have liked as it matches his dislike of industrialised manufacture.{{sfn|Rosebury|2003|pp=212–213}}
In [[Peter Jackson]]'s 2001 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Rivendell was represented by [[Kaitoke Regional Park]], [[New Zealand]], though the waterfalls were added with [[computer-generated imagery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kaitoke Regional Park, Wellington, New Zealand |url=https://www.newzealand.com/my/feature/kaitoke-regional-park/ |website=Newzealand.com |access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> [[Brian Rosebury]] comments that Jackson presents the Elves as sophisticated, where Tolkien made them close to nature. All the same, he writes, the film Rivendell's "architecture and ornaments are dominated by natural motifs", suggesting "integration with nature, but at one remove", something that works well for the "[[Portmeirion]]-like idyll" of the portrayed Rivendell. Rosebury describes the design as "[[John Ruskin|post-Ruskinian]]", as in [[pre-Raphaelite]] paintings, [[William Morris]]'s [[Arts and Crafts]] designs, and [[Art Nouveau]] architectural details. These differ from [[Tolkien's artwork|Tolkien's own illustrations]], but in a way, Rosebury suggests, that Tolkien would have liked as it matches his dislike of industrialised manufacture.{{sfn|Rosebury|2003|pp=212–213}}
Line 102: Line 88:


In the period of [[counterculture]] in the [[Western world]] of the 1960s and 1970s, a [[Intentional community|commune]] called ''Maos Lyst'' ([[Mao Zedong|Mao]]'s Delight) was founded on the island of [[Zealand]], [[Denmark]], in 1968, its inhabitants replacing their surnames with ''Kløvedal'', the Danish for Rivendell. Several of them later became well-known cultural personalities in the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=1960'erne: Ungdomsliv: Eksperimenterne |url=http://www.dr.dk/skole/Historie/1960erne/Ungdomsliv/Kollektiverne/Eksperimenterne.htm |publisher=DR (Danish Radio) |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=da |date=26 October 2010 |quote=Kollektivet bestod blandt andre af forfatteren Ebbe Reich og udmærkede sig ved, at medlemmerne tog det fælles efternavn Kløvedal fra bogen ''Ringenes Herre''. [The collective consisted, among others, of the author Ebbe Reich and was distinguished by the fact that the members took the common surname Kløvedal from the book "The Lord of the Rings". ]}}</ref><ref name="Ciabattari 2014">{{cite web |last=Ciabattari |first=Jane |title=Hobbits and hippies: Tolkien and the counterculture |website=[[BBC]] Culture |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies |date=20 November 2014}}</ref>
In the period of [[counterculture]] in the [[Western world]] of the 1960s and 1970s, a [[Intentional community|commune]] called ''Maos Lyst'' ([[Mao Zedong|Mao]]'s Delight) was founded on the island of [[Zealand]], [[Denmark]], in 1968, its inhabitants replacing their surnames with ''Kløvedal'', the Danish for Rivendell. Several of them later became well-known cultural personalities in the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=1960'erne: Ungdomsliv: Eksperimenterne |url=http://www.dr.dk/skole/Historie/1960erne/Ungdomsliv/Kollektiverne/Eksperimenterne.htm |publisher=DR (Danish Radio) |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=da |date=26 October 2010 |quote=Kollektivet bestod blandt andre af forfatteren Ebbe Reich og udmærkede sig ved, at medlemmerne tog det fælles efternavn Kløvedal fra bogen ''Ringenes Herre''. [The collective consisted, among others, of the author Ebbe Reich and was distinguished by the fact that the members took the common surname Kløvedal from the book "The Lord of the Rings". ]}}</ref><ref name="Ciabattari 2014">{{cite web |last=Ciabattari |first=Jane |title=Hobbits and hippies: Tolkien and the counterculture |website=[[BBC]] Culture |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141120-the-hobbits-and-the-hippies |date=20 November 2014}}</ref>
The Rivendell Winery operated from 1987 to 2008 in New York's [[Hudson River Valley]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Lenn |title=Rivendell Winery Location for Sale in the Hudson Valley |url=http://newyorkcorkreport.com/blog/tag/rivendell-winery/ |website=New York Cork Report |access-date=29 June 2020 |date=26 October 2007}}</ref>
The Rivendell Winery operated from 1987 to 2008 in New York's [[Hudson River Valley]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Lenn |title=Rivendell Winery Location for Sale in the Hudson Valley |url=http://newyorkcorkreport.com/blog/tag/rivendell-winery/ |website=New York Cork Report |access-date=29 June 2020 |date=26 October 2007 |archive-date=30 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630190202/http://newyorkcorkreport.com/blog/tag/rivendell-winery/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[The Tolkien Ensemble]] set all the songs in ''The Lord of the Rings'' to music on four CDs between 1997 and 2005, each with "Rivendell" in its title.<ref name="Bratman 2010">{{cite book |last=Bratman |first=David |author-link=David Bratman |editor-last=Eden |editor-first=Bradford Lee |title=Liquid Tolkien: Music, Tolkien, Middle-earth, and More Music |work=Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786456604 |pages=158–159 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Middle_earth_Minstrel/AOS74uZTasYC&pg=PA158}}</ref> The Swedish classical composer [[Anna-Lena Laurin]] has written a work for two guitars entitled "Rivendell".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Laurin |first1=Anna-Lena |author1-link=Anna-Lena Laurin |title=Rivendell |url=http://www.vanguardmusicboulevard.com/product/rivendell/ |publisher=Vanguard Music Boulevard |access-date=27 March 2021 |date=2018}}</ref>
[[The Tolkien Ensemble]] set all the songs in ''The Lord of the Rings'' to music on four CDs between 1997 and 2005, each with "Rivendell" in its title.<ref name="Bratman 2010">{{cite book |last=Bratman |first=David |author-link=David Bratman |editor-last=Eden |editor-first=Bradford Lee |editor-link=Bradford Lee Eden |chapter=Liquid Tolkien: Music, Tolkien, Middle-earth, and More Music |title=Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien |date=2010 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-0786456604 |pages=158–159 |chapter-url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Middle_earth_Minstrel/AOS74uZTasYC&pg=PA158}}</ref> The Swedish classical composer [[Anna-Lena Laurin]] has written a work for two guitars entitled "Rivendell".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Laurin |first1=Anna-Lena |author1-link=Anna-Lena Laurin |title=Rivendell |url=http://www.vanguardmusicboulevard.com/product/rivendell/ |publisher=Vanguard Music Boulevard |access-date=27 March 2021 |date=2018 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
The Canadian progressive rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] memorialised the Elvish sanctuary in the song "Rivendell" on their 1975 studio album ''[[Fly by Night (album)|Fly by Night]]''. The song focuses on the tranquillity and seemingly endless time a weary traveller could find there, with lyrics such as "Elfin songs and endless nights / Sweet wine and soft relaxing lights / Time will never touch you / Here in this enchanted place".<ref>{{cite web |title=Rivendell by Rush |url=https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/rush/rivendell |website=Songfacts |access-date=27 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ciabattari 2014"/>
The Canadian progressive rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] memorialised the Elvish sanctuary in the song "Rivendell" on their 1975 studio album ''[[Fly by Night (album)|Fly by Night]]''. The song focuses on the tranquillity and seemingly endless time a weary traveller could find there, with lyrics such as "Elfin songs and endless nights / Sweet wine and soft relaxing lights / Time will never touch you / Here in this enchanted place".<ref>{{cite web |title=Rivendell by Rush |url=https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/rush/rivendell |website=Songfacts |access-date=27 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ciabattari 2014"/>


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===Primary===
===Primary===

::''This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.''
{{Reflist|group=T}}
{{Reflist|group=T}}


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==Sources==
==Sources==


* {{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0802038067 |pages=152–154 (Elbereth/Varda in Valinor vs Galadriel in Middle-earth, formerly of Valinor)}}
* {{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie |author-link=Marjorie Burns |title=Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth |title-link=Perilous Realms |year=2005 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=978-0802038067 |pages=152–154 (Elbereth/Varda in Valinor vs Galadriel in Middle-earth, formerly of Valinor)}}
* {{ME-ref|Letters}} <!--Carpenter-->
* {{ME-ref|Letters}} <!--Carpenter-->
* {{cite book |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |chapter=Rivendell |author-link=Matthew T. Dickerson |pages=573–574 |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |editor=Drout, Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 | publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Dickerson |first=Matthew |chapter=Rivendell |author-link=Matthew T. Dickerson |pages=573–574 |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |editor=Drout, Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 | publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |chapter=Frodo and Aragorn: The Concept of the Hero |editor=Rose A. Zimbardo and Neil D. Isaacs |title=Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism |year=2004 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=978-0-618-42251-7 |pages=122–145 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618422517/page/141}}
* {{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |chapter=[[Understanding The Lord of the Rings|Frodo and Aragorn: The Concept of the Hero]] |editor=Rose A. Zimbardo and Neil D. Isaacs |title=Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism |year=2004 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=978-0-618-42251-7 |pages=122–145 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618422517/page/141}}
* {{cite book |last=Nagy |first=Gergely |author-link=Gergely Nagy (scholar) |chapter=The Silmarillion |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien |date=2020 |orig-year=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1119656029 |pages=107–118}}
* {{cite book |last=Nagy |first=Gergely |author-link=Gergely Nagy (scholar) |chapter=The Silmarillion |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]] |date=2020 |orig-year=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1119656029 |pages=107–118}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien : A Cultural Phenomenon |date=2003
* {{cite book |last=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien : A Cultural Phenomenon |date=2003
|orig-year=1992 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-1403-91263-3}}
|orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403-91263-3}}{{ME-ref|ROAD}}
* {{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[The Road to Middle-Earth]] |date=2005 |edition=Third |orig-year=1982 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0261102750}}
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=J. R. R. Tolkien |year=1954 |title=The Fellowship of the Ring |title-link=The Fellowship of the Ring |publisher=Houghton Mifflin (published 1987) |isbn=0-395-08254-4}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}

Latest revision as of 09:59, 19 October 2024

Rivendell
Middle-earth location
J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 painting of Rivendell
First appearanceThe Hobbit (1937)
In-universe information
Other name(s)Imladris
Karningul
Last Homely House East of the Sea
TypeRefuge of the Elves
Hidden Refuge
RulerElrond
Locationeastern Eriador: a western valley of the Misty Mountains
LifespanS.A. 1697 -
Abandoned by F.A. 120
FounderElrond

Rivendell (Sindarin: Imladris) is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, being the place where the quest to destroy the One Ring began.

Rivendell's feeling of peace may have contributed to the popularity of The Lord of the Rings during the war-troubled 1960s. Scholars have noted that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, from the hymn to Elbereth, recalling Tolkien's Catholicism, to the complex Song of Eärendil with its multiple poetic devices. Others have written that it resembles the Celtic Otherworld of Tír na nÓg; and that it physically recalls the valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland where Tolkien had gone hiking in 1911.

Etymology

[edit]

Rivendell is a direct translation or calque into English of the Sindarin Imladris, both meaning "deep valley". The name Rivendell is formed by two English elements: "riven" (split, cloven) and "dell" (valley). Imladris was rendered "Karningul" in Westron, the "Common Tongue" of Middle-earth represented as English in the text of The Lord of the Rings. The house of Elrond in Rivendell is also called The Last Homely House East of the Sea, alluding to the wilderness (Rhovanion) that lies east of the Misty Mountains.[T 1]

Fiction

[edit]
Sketch map of Middle-earth during the Third AgeThe ShireOld ForestBreeRivendellEreborEsgarothMoriaIsengardMirkwoodLothlórienFangornMordorGondorRohanHaradcommons:File:Sketch Map of Middle-earth.svg
Image map with clickable links of the north-west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age, showing Rivendell just West of the Misty Mountains (top centre) by the River Bruinen. The Great West Road leads westwards from there to Bree and the Shire.

Geography

[edit]

Rivendell lay in eastern Eriador 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), well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Hithaeglir or Misty Mountains. Contrary to the map of western Middle-earth published in The Lord of the Rings, the Great East Road did not, in Tolkien's view, lead through Rivendell: Rivendell was maintained as a hidden valley away from the road to the High Pass.[T 2][T 3][T 4] Like Hobbiton, it is at about the same latitude as Tolkien's workplace, Oxford.[T 5]

History

[edit]

Rivendell was founded in the Second Age after the dark lord Sauron's destruction of the Elvish land of Eregion. Rivendell remained as the only Elven settlement in eastern Eriador; Gil-galad gave Elrond the Ring Vilya, providing him with the power to protect Rivendell and slow the passage of time in its hidden valley: indeed, Rivendell kept its own calendar.[T 6][T 7][T 8] Rivendell survived repeated attacks in the Third Age by the armies of the Witch-king of Angmar.[1][T 7] Rivendell held the heirlooms of the Rangers of the North from the lost kingdom of Arnor, including the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil, the Sceptre of Annúminas, and the Star of Elendil. Elrond fostered the children of the heirs to Arnor's throne, the last being Aragorn. While in Rivendell, Aragorn met and fell in love with Elrond's daughter, Arwen. They were married after he was crowned king of both Gondor and Arnor.[T 9] Sauron's enemies including Elrond formed the White Council, which met in Rivendell, as when the Council decided to eject the Necromancer from his fortress in Dol Guldur.[T 10] The protagonists of The Hobbit take advice from Elrond in Rivendell.[T 2] The protagonists of The Lord of the Rings meet in Rivendell, attend the Council of Elrond, and decide on the quest to destroy the One Ring. The hero Aragorn's sword is reforged as Andúril by Rivendell's smiths.[T 8][T 10][T 11] When the One Ring is destroyed, Elrond's ring loses its power, and he leaves to sail for Valinor.[T 12][T 13]

Analysis

[edit]

Physical origins

[edit]
Tolkien based Rivendell on his 1911 visit to the Lauterbrunnental in Switzerland.[2]

The Rivendell valley is based upon the valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, where Tolkien had gone hiking. Tolkien stated directly that "From Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, the journey ... including the glissade [of Bilbo and the Dwarves] down the slithering stones into the pine woods ... is based on my adventures in Switzerland in 1911".[T 14][2]

The medievalist Marjorie Burns writes that Bilbo's approach to Rivendell parallels the early fantasy writer and translator of Norse legend William Morris's approach through the wilds of Iceland to a place he called "Water-dale" (Vatnsdale); both ride across uplands dotted with patches of green, becoming extremely tired; both then cross narrow ravines, and bogs; and both arrive at a hidden valley that offers shelter and comfort. In another place, Morris crosses a "narrow, bridge-like rock", just as Bilbo faces a "narrow bridge of stone without a parapet" on entering Rivendell.[3]

A place of sanctuary

[edit]
Rivendell has been compared to the Celtic Otherworld,[4] here in a 1910 illustration by Stephen Reid

Matthew T. Dickerson, in the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, writes that Rivendell consistently represents a sanctuary, a place that felt like home, throughout the legendarium.[1] The journalist Jane Ciabattari writes that a major reason for the popularity of Lord of the Rings was the desire for escape among the Vietnam War generation. She compares the military-industrial complex with Mordor, and suggests that they yearned for a place of peace, just as Frodo Baggins felt an "overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace… in Rivendell".[5] Burns writes that Rivendell and the other Elvish realm of Lothlórien parallel the Celtic Otherworld (in Irish, Tír na nÓg), being hard to find, but if one is admitted and welcomed, one crosses a river, symbolising the spiritual transition from the ordinary realm, and "the weary adventurer is transported into a haven of Elven hospitality and delight".[4] There are multiple markers of the transition:

To enter Rivendell is to leave, for a time, the uplands' bleak, mountainous, northerly terrain. First comes the steep descent ...; pines are replaced by beech and oak; the air grows warmer; the first of the elves greet them with laughter and song, and then comes the inevitable water crossing that divides the rest of Middle-earth from the inner core of every Elven realm.[6]

Burns notes that both "Riven" and "dell" suggest a low place into which one must descend; and that a descent is characteristic of Celtic tales of entry into the underground realm of the Tuatha Dé Danann, whose chiefs each rule a burial mound.[7]

Heroic quest's starting-point

[edit]

The philologist and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey remarks that Tolkien, a Christian, was extremely careful with dates and timelines, but that hardly any readers notice that the Fellowship sets out from Rivendell on its quest on 25 December, the date of Christmas, and succeeds, destroying the Ring and causing the fall of Sauron, on 25 March, the date in Anglo-Saxon tradition for the Crucifixion.[8]

The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger writes that both Frodo and Aragorn receive their renewed magic swords in Rivendell, marking them out as heroes in the epic tradition of Sigurd and Arthur, at the start of their quest.[9]

Cultural allusions

[edit]

Shippey contrasts the versions of the Old Walking Song sung by Bilbo and Frodo. Bilbo follows the "Road ... with eager feet", hoping to reach the peace of Rivendell, to retire and take his ease; whereas Frodo sings "with weary feet", hoping somehow to reach Mordor bearing the Ring, and to try to destroy it in the Cracks of Doom: diametrically opposed destinations and errands.[10] He notes that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, and cites Tolkien's statement that the song that the Hobbits hear in Rivendell, A Elbereth Gilthoniel invoking the semi-divine Varda, was a hymn suggestive of his own devout Catholicism.[11] Shippey writes, too, that Tolkien had Bilbo write and sing the Song of Earendil in Rivendell, making use of multiple poetic devices – rhyme, internal half-rhyme, alliteration, alliterative assonance, and "a frequent if irregular variation of syntax" – to create a mysterious Elvish effect of "rich and continuous uncertainty, a pattern forever being glimpsed but never quite grasped."[12] Rebecca Ankeny comments that Tolkien uses verse, too, to signal the horror of the Elves when Gandalf speaks the dark lord's rhyme of the Rings aloud, in the Black Speech, threatening the end of Rivendell.[13]

The Tolkien scholar Gergely Nagy notes that Tolkien wanted to present the complex set of writings of The Silmarillion as a seemingly-genuine collection of tales and myths within the frame of his fictional Middle-earth; he modified The Lord of the Rings to ascribe the documents to Bilbo, supposedly written in the years he spent in Rivendell, and preserved in the fictitious Red Book of Westmarch, its name alluding to the Red Book of Hergest.[14]

Burns writes that Rivendell, "the Last Homely House",[T 8] offers a welcoming home, repeating the pattern set in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings of "easy-going but tidy bachelor indulgence" from Bilbo's Bag End hobbit-hole onwards; despite Arwen, there is hardly anything "of the feminine".[15] Shippey states that Frodo has "to be dug out ... of no fewer than five 'Homely Houses'", of which Rivendell is the last.[16]

Adaptations

[edit]
In Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring, Rivendell is romantically conceived, with sophisticated culture. The "post-Ruskinian" style does not match Tolkien's own illustrations. Some have claimed it represented his dislike of industrialised manufacture.[17]

In Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring, Rivendell was represented by Kaitoke Regional Park, New Zealand, though the waterfalls were added with computer-generated imagery.[18] Brian Rosebury comments that Jackson presents the Elves as sophisticated, where Tolkien made them close to nature. All the same, he writes, the film Rivendell's "architecture and ornaments are dominated by natural motifs", suggesting "integration with nature, but at one remove", something that works well for the "Portmeirion-like idyll" of the portrayed Rivendell. Rosebury describes the design as "post-Ruskinian", as in pre-Raphaelite paintings, William Morris's Arts and Crafts designs, and Art Nouveau architectural details. These differ from Tolkien's own illustrations, but in a way, Rosebury suggests, that Tolkien would have liked as it matches his dislike of industrialised manufacture.[17]

Legacy

[edit]

In the period of counterculture in the Western world of the 1960s and 1970s, a commune called Maos Lyst (Mao's Delight) was founded on the island of Zealand, Denmark, in 1968, its inhabitants replacing their surnames with Kløvedal, the Danish for Rivendell. Several of them later became well-known cultural personalities in the country.[19][5] The Rivendell Winery operated from 1987 to 2008 in New York's Hudson River Valley.[20] The Tolkien Ensemble set all the songs in The Lord of the Rings to music on four CDs between 1997 and 2005, each with "Rivendell" in its title.[21] The Swedish classical composer Anna-Lena Laurin has written a work for two guitars entitled "Rivendell".[22] The Canadian progressive rock band Rush memorialised the Elvish sanctuary in the song "Rivendell" on their 1975 studio album Fly by Night. The song focuses on the tranquillity and seemingly endless time a weary traveller could find there, with lyrics such as "Elfin songs and endless nights / Sweet wine and soft relaxing lights / Time will never touch you / Here in this enchanted place".[23][5]

References

[edit]

Primary

[edit]
  1. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix F, "On Translation"
  2. ^ a b Tolkien 1937, ch 3 "A Short Rest"
  3. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 18 "The Return Journey"
  4. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 19 "The Last Stage"
  5. ^ Carpenter 2023, #294 to Charlotte and Denis Plimmer of The Daily Telegraph, 8 February 1967
  6. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix D, "The Calendars"
  7. ^ a b Tolkien 1980, part 2, "The Second Age" ch. 4 "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
  8. ^ a b c Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 1 "Many Meetings"
  9. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix A: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen
  10. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 2 "The Council of Elrond"
  11. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South"
  12. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix B, "The Great Years"
  13. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix A, "The Númenórean Kings", "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"
  14. ^ Carpenter 2023, #306 to Michael Tolkien, 1967-8

Secondary

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Dickerson 2013, pp. 573–574.
  2. ^ a b MacEacheran, Mike (24 May 2014). "In Alpine villages, Hobbits lurk". BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  3. ^ Burns 2005, pp. 81–84.
  4. ^ a b Burns 2005, p. 54.
  5. ^ a b c Ciabattari, Jane (20 November 2014). "Hobbits and hippies: Tolkien and the counterculture". BBC Culture.
  6. ^ Burns 2005, p. 61.
  7. ^ Burns 2005, p. 66.
  8. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 227.
  9. ^ Flieger 2004, pp. 122–145.
  10. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 213.
  11. ^ Shippey 2005, p. 230.
  12. ^ Shippey 2005, pp. 218–219.
  13. ^ Ankeny, Rebecca (2005). "Poem as Sign in 'The Lord of the Rings'". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 16 (2 (62)): 86–95. JSTOR 43308763.
  14. ^ Nagy 2020, pp. 107–118.
  15. ^ Burns 2005, pp. 136–137.
  16. ^ Shippey, Tom (2001). J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. HarperCollins. p. 65. ISBN 978-0261-10401-3.
  17. ^ a b Rosebury 2003, pp. 212–213.
  18. ^ "Kaitoke Regional Park, Wellington, New Zealand". Newzealand.com. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  19. ^ "1960'erne: Ungdomsliv: Eksperimenterne" (in Danish). DR (Danish Radio). 26 October 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2020. Kollektivet bestod blandt andre af forfatteren Ebbe Reich og udmærkede sig ved, at medlemmerne tog det fælles efternavn Kløvedal fra bogen Ringenes Herre. [The collective consisted, among others, of the author Ebbe Reich and was distinguished by the fact that the members took the common surname Kløvedal from the book "The Lord of the Rings". ]
  20. ^ Thompson, Lenn (26 October 2007). "Rivendell Winery Location for Sale in the Hudson Valley". New York Cork Report. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  21. ^ Bratman, David (2010). "Liquid Tolkien: Music, Tolkien, Middle-earth, and More Music". In Eden, Bradford Lee (ed.). Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien. McFarland. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-0786456604.
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  23. ^ "Rivendell by Rush". Songfacts. Retrieved 27 March 2021.

Sources

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