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{{short description|Fictional valley of Elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth}}
{{About|a place in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox fictional location
| name         = ''Rivendell''
| source       = [[Middle-earth]]
| image        = Rivendell illustration.jpg
| caption      = J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 painting of Rivendell
| 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
| blank_label  = Location
| blank_data   = eastern [[Eriador]]: a western valley of the [[Misty Mountains]]
| blank_label1 = Lifespan
| blank_data1  = {{ME-date|SA|1697}} - <br/>Abandoned by [[Fourth Age|F.A.]] 120
| blank_label2 = Founder
| blank_data2  = [[Elrond]]
| ruler        = Elrond
| first        = ''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937)
}}
'''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]] begins.

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 is 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 went hiking in 1911.

== 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 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 ==

{{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 ===
{{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>

=== 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>{{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==

=== Physical origins ===
[[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>{{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}}

=== A place of sanctuary ===
{{further|Tolkien and the Celtic|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]]]]

[[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.{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=573–574}} 
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".<ref name="Ciabattari 2014"/>
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".{{sfn|Burns|2005|p=54}} There are multiple markers of the transition:

{{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 [[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 ===

{{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 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 ===
{{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>

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}}

Burns writes that Rivendell, "the Last Homely House",<ref name="Many Meetings" group=T/> 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".{{sfn|Burns|2005|pp=136–137}} Shippey states that Frodo has "to be dug out ... of no fewer than [[Frodo's five Homely Houses|five 'Homely Houses']]", of which Rivendell is the last.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |page=65}}</ref>

==Adaptations==

[[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.{{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}}

==Legacy==

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 |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 |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"/>

==References==

===Primary===

{{Reflist|group=T}}

===Secondary===
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

* {{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-->
* {{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=[[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=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien : A Cultural Phenomenon |date=2003 
|orig-year=1992 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave]] |isbn=978-1403-91263-3}}{{ME-ref|ROAD}}
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}

{{Hobbit}}
{{The Lord of the Rings}}
{{Middle-earth}}

[[Category:Middle-earth populated places]]
[[Category:Fictional valleys]]
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[[de:Regionen und Orte in Tolkiens Welt#Bruchtal]]
[[lb:Länner a Stied aus Middle-earth#Rivendell]]