Jump to content

Caras Galadhon: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Aeortiz (talk | contribs)
113 edits
m Changed "put them" to "suggests they were". When I read this, I thought the word "them" had something to do with "control". But by changing the wording slightly, the sentence refers to Celeborn and Galadriel more clearly.
→top: Add Rcat and shell
 
(14 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
#redirect [[Lothlórien#Caras_Galadhon]]
{{Infobox fictional location
| name = ''Caras Galadhon''

| source = [[J. R. R. Tolkien|<span class="vcard"><span class="fn">J. R. R. Tolkien</span></span>'s]] [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]]
| image =
| image_size = 240px
| caption =

| alt_name = City of the Trees
| type = Chief city of [[Lothlórien]] <br/>Residence of Galadriel and Celeborn<br />City sustained by Trees

| blank_label = Location
| blank_data = [[Lothlórien]]
| blank_label1 = Lifespan
| blank_data1 =

| blank_label2 = Founder
| blank_data2 = [[Amroth (Middle-earth)|Amroth]]
| ruler = [[Amroth (Middle-earth)|Amroth]]<br/>later [[Galadriel]] and [[Celeborn]]
| first = ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]<br />[[Unfinished Tales]]''


{{Redirect category shell|
{{R from fictional location|Middle-earth}}
{{R ME to section}}
{{R with history}}
}}
}}
In [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]] [[legendarium]], '''Caras Galadhon''' (pronounced {{IPA-art|ˈkaras ˈɡalaðon|}}) is a [[fictional place|fictional city]] in his work ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. It appears mostly in ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', but it is also mentioned in the Appendices of ''[[The Return of the King]]''.

Built deep in the Forest Realm of [[Lothlórien]], the city was created in the middle of, on top of, and out of ''[[mallorn]]'', a type of tree originally brought to that land by [[Galadriel]].

After the city was built by [[Amroth (Middle-earth)|Amroth]] in the [[Third Age]], it quickly became the most populated place of Lothlórien and by the end of that age also became the most important settlement of the [[Galadhrim]] in Middle-earth.

In the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''Caras Galadhon'' was spelt as ''Caras Galadon'', but the "h" was later added to distinguish two roots in [[Sindarin]] (one of the [[languages invented by Tolkien]]): ''galad'' ("[[light]]") and ''galadh'' ("[[tree]]").

==Names==
As with the case of the forest surrounding it, Tolkien also gave the city several names:
{| class="wikitable"
! Name
! Meaning
! Origin
|-
! Caras Galadhon
| Fortress<ref name="Fortress">The [[Sindarin]] noun ''Caras'' was used by [[Silvan Elves]] to indicate a fortress, most precisely one surrounded by a watercourse.</ref> of Trees <ref name="Arda_Caras">[http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA Encyclopedia of Arda] Article on [http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/c/carasgaladhon.html Caras Galadhon]</ref>
| Sindarin name used during the Third Age
|-
! Caras
| Fortress<ref name="Fortress"/><ref name= "Arda_Caras"/>
| Shortened form of Caras Galadhon
|-
! Nelennas
| The Gore<ref>This name is also used concerning the whole portion of Lórien near the junction of the rivers Celebrant and Anduin.</ref>
| Ancient name of the City
|}

Outside of Lothlórien or any other [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elven]] settlement, the [[Westron]] (Common Speech used by most [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] and [[Hobbit]]s during the Third Age) variant of Caras Galadhon, '''City of Trees''', was also widely used amongst Men to talk about the city.

==Geography==

The city was built amidst the forest of [[Lothlórien]], "some ten miles" from the point where the rivers [[Silverlode|Celebrant]] and [[Anduin]] met,<ref>J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', 2nd edition (1966) George Allen & Unwin, book 1 ch. VIII p.387; {{ISBN|0 04 823045 6}}</ref> close to the eastern border of the realm.
Although its position near the end of Egladil ("the Angle", the name given to the lands between the two rivers and location of the forest), and consequently near the Anduin, favoured communication through Middle-earth, it made the city more vulnerable to attacks from [[Dol Guldur]], a fortress of [[Sauron]] to the east of Caras Galadhon, something which eventually happened during the [[War of the Ring]]. It is thought that the city was constructed to prevent such an event,<ref name="Arda_Caras"/> but Tolkien never included an explanation for it in his books or appendices. The city was also called "the City of Light and Song".

==Architecture==

The city of Caras Galadhon was constructed in and around its massive trees, which gave it its common name (see [[Caras Galadhon#Names|above]]). In the trees there were many ''telain'',<ref>''Talan'' (plural ''telain'') is the [[Sindarin]] noun for the structures [J. R. R. Tolkien (1980), ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'', George Allen & Unwin, part 2 ch. IV p.245; {{ISBN|9780048231796}}]. In [[Westron]], they were called ''flets''.</ref> [[Tree house|tree-platforms]] which could be elaborate dwellings or simple guard-posts.

To help navigation in the city, stairways of ladders were built around the main trees, and at night the city was lit by "many lamps" - "green and gold and silver".<ref>J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', 2nd edition (1966) George Allen & Unwin, book 2 ch. VII p.368; {{ISBN|0 04 823045 6}}</ref>

The city had no entrance on the north,<ref name="The Mirror of Galadriel">Tolkien, J. R. R.(April 1, 1987), ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', vol. 1, '''The Lord of the Rings''', Boston: [[Houghton Mifflin]], "The Mirror of Galadriel", {{ISBN|0-395-08254-4}}</ref> so when [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|the Fellowship]] arrived from that direction, they were guided along the white road which surrounded the city and its moat, and thus came to the southern part of Caras Galadhon, where the city's gate was found.

Other interesting places inside the city were Caras Galadhon's fountain, the palace of [[Galadriel]] and [[Celeborn]], and the [[Mirror of Galadriel]]. [[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Samwise Gamgee]] visited all these places during their one-month stay in Caras Galadhon.

== History ==
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[File:Galadriel.jpg|thumb|200px| Galadriel, Lady of the [[Galadhrim]], as portrayed by [[Cate Blanchett]] in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.]] -->

=== Third Age ===

{{Quote|It is long indeed since we saw one of [[Durin's folk]] in Caras Galadhon.|Celeborn, Lord of the Galadhrim<ref name="The Mirror of Galadriel"/>}}

Although there is no substantial information regarding Caras Galadhon's chronological origin, Celeborn's statement seems to indicate that the city had already been built when [[Dwarves (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] fled from [[Khazad-dûm]] after unleashing the [[Balrog]] known as [[Durin's Bane]], in the year 1981 of the [[Third Age]].

In that same year, Amroth, the former Lord of Lothlórien, went to the south of Middle-earth with his beloved [[List of Middle-earth Elves#Nimrodel|Nimrodel]], but drowned in the [[Bay of Belfalas]] after she went missing in the ''[[White Mountains (Middle-earth)|Ered Nimrais]]'' and never returned home. After this loss, the control of Lothlórien passed to Galadriel and Celeborn, which suggests they were in Caras Galadhon at the time these two events happened.

==== War of the Ring ====

As the [[War of the Ring]] loomed, the [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|Fellowship of the Ring]] was brought through Lothlórien to Caras Galadhon, and there met the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim.<ref name="The Mirror of Galadriel"/> The Fellowship spent roughly a month at Caras Galadhon (between 17th 'January' 3019 and 16th 'February' of the same year).

When the War broke out in earnest, [[Sauron]] besieged [[Minas Tirith]], and around the same time his forces from [[Dol Guldur]] also besieged Lothlórien too. Lothlórien was attacked three times:<ref name="The Tale of the Years">Tolkien, J. R. R. (April 1, 1987), ''[[The Return of the King]]'', vol. 3, '''The Lord of the Rings''', Boston: [[Houghton Mifflin]], "Appendix B - The Tale of the Years (Chronology of the Westlands)", {{ISBN|0-395-08256-0}}</ref>

* The first, during 11th 'March' 3019 (this was the day before Frodo entered [[Shelob]]'s lair);
* The second battle happened four days later, on the same day of the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]];
* The last occurred on 22nd 'March', three days before the destruction of the [[One Ring]].

These three attacks were able to ruin several parts of the forest, mostly the borders to the north and east (which were more exposed to Dol Guldur's strength), but also the west border was hindered, because the main force was helped by [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]] from [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]]. However there is no record that Caras Galadhon itself was affected.

After the fall of Sauron, Galadriel and Celeborn marched to Dol Guldur and managed to rid it from Sauron's past influence. By the beginning of the [[Fourth Age]], the place which was previously Sauron's stronghold was renamed Amon Lanc and became part of Celeborn's East Lórien realm.

===Fourth Age and Beyond===

When the War of the Ring ended and Dol Guldur was destroyed, Caras Galadhon became the capital of a much wider realm, which now extended to east of the river Anduin and included southern [[Mirkwood]].<ref>J. R. R. Tolkien (1955), ''[[The Return of the King]], 2nd edition (1966) George Allen & Unwin, Appendix B 'The Great Years' p.375; {{ISBN|0 04 823047 2}}</ref> After Galadriel left for Valinor at the end of the Third Age, the extended realm was ruled solely by Celeborn. Its new province was called East Lórien by the Galadhrim who lived there.

However, the city slowly became depopulated after Galadriel's absence, and Celeborn left the city for [[Rivendell]] after a while and supposedly to Valinor later. At the time of the War of Ring, Caras Galadhon had been described as a "great city" where thousands of Silvan Elves lived, but by the time of [[Aragorn|Aragorn Elessar]]'s death (the year 120 of the Fourth Age), the land of Lórien was reported as being "silent"<ref name="The Tale of the Years"/> and Caras Galadhon was wholly abandoned. This means that the Silvan Elves deserted it, either for Mirkwood or Valinor, although the latter seems to be a vague option, because the ships that were prepared by [[Círdan]] and the last of the elves of [[Lindon (Middle-earth)|Lindon]], were the last known instances of elves crossing to [[Valinor]] (barring [[Legolas]] and possibly [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]]'s journey to Valinor).

==See also==
{{Portal|Middle-earth}}
* [[Battle of Lórien|Battle of Lothlórien]]
* [[Cerin Amroth]]
* [[Fate of the Elves of Middle-earth]]
* [[Haldir of Lórien]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{ME-ref|Atlas|Lothlórien}}
* Tolkien, J. R. R. (April 1, 1987), ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', vol. 1, '''The Lord of the Rings''', Boston: [[Houghton Mifflin]], {{ISBN|0-395-08254-4}}
* Tolkien, J. R. R. (April 1, 1987), ''[[The Return of the King]]'', vol. 3, '''The Lord of the Rings''', Boston: [[Houghton Mifflin]], {{ISBN|0-395-08256-0}}

==External links==
* [http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/c/carasgaladhon.html Caras Galadhon] at the [http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/ Encyclopedia of Arda]
* [http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Caras_Galadhon Caras Galadhon] at the [http://tolkiengateway.net/ Tolkien Gateway]

{{Lotr}}


[[Category:Middle-earth cities and towns]]
[[Category:Middle-earth populated places]]

Latest revision as of 15:58, 7 February 2020

Redirect to:

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Caras_Galadhon&oldid=939613861"