Places in Middle Earth

"There lie the woods of Lothlórien! That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land." - Legolas in 'Lothlórien', LR II, 6.

Lothlórien is the woodland realm between the rivers Celebrant and Anduin. It has for ages been inhabited by the Galadhrim, the Silvan Elves, and in the Second Age Galadriel and Celeborn settled there with their retinue of Noldor and Sindar.

The name Lórien was picked by Galadriel as a reminescence of the Gardens of Irmo in Valinor; the older name the silvan elves used was Lórinand; among the Noldor the wood was called Laurelindórenan, 'valley of the singing gold', later also Lothlórien, 'blossoming dream-garden'. All of these names are inspired by the golden-yellow blossoms of the Mallorn trees, which Galadriel is said to have planted there, and which always remained the joy of all who saw them.

Near the area where the Celebrant joined the Anduin lay Caras Galadhon, the city of the Galadhrim, on a hill which was clad with tall Mallorn trees. The elves did not live on the ground, but rather on flets high among the tree-tops.

The city was guarded by a trench, and a green wall which had gates to the south-west. Placed in the top of the highest tree was the flet where Galadriel and Celeborn met their guests in hall with a high roof, richly adorned and as wide as a hall of Kings.

Lothlórien was guarded against all evil by Galadriel and the power of the elven ring Nenya she possessed. However, Lórien was also cut off from the outside, and soon people in Gondor and Rohan saw it as a strange place, which the Rohirrim called the Golden Wood as well as Dwimordene, 'valley of ghosts'. They accused the Lady of the Golden Wood of witch-craft (not without reason, of course), and avoided to come near her land.

-Written by Sharkû, Taken from The Barrow-Downs

The Elven realm founded by Elrond in the year 1697 of the Second Age as a refuge against the forces of Sauron. Together with the remnant of the Noldor that remained in Middle-earth, Elrond constructed the Last Homely Home as a refuge for the enemies of the Dark Lord.

In 3431 of the Second Age, Gil-galad and Elendil formed the Last Alliance against Sauron, sheltering their forces in Rivendell before taking them east for an assault on Mordor. In the battle of Dagorlad, Sauron was overcome and his great Ring was taken by Isildur. But Isildur’s victory was short-lived when he was waylaid by orcs and slain.

One man survived the attack, Ohtar, Isildur’s esquire. He managed to return to Rivendell with the shards of his lord’s broken sword. He delivered them to Isildur’s infant son, Valandil, who had been left there in safety by his father. Thus Rivendell became the shelter of the line of Isildur and served as such successfully for more than 3000 years.

At the time of the War of the Ring, Rivendell served as one of the last remaining centers of Elven power and lore in Middle-Earth. Because of that, the various people’s came together there for the great Council of Elrond that determined what would be done with the One Ring lost by Sauron and found by Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. The Company of the Ring set out from Rivendell on the 25th of December 3018 Third Age.

After the defeat of Sauron and the passing of Elrond and most other Elves from Middle-Earth, Rivendell was mostly abandoned with Celeborn of Lothlórien and the sons of Elrond leading the few folk that remained.

-Taken from Barrow-Downs

As it’s name implies, Hobbiton was a town solely inhabited by Hobbits. Found in the Westfarthing of the Shire, north-west of Bywater Pool and due north of the East Road, the village was built on or around a low but wide-girthed hill (refereed to as 'The Hill’).

Hobbiton was not a particularly important town in the government of the Shire, although it was rather larger than most, and in close communication with nearby Bywater. Pipe-Weed was not generally grown there because of the northerly latitudes. Mostly a quiet, agricultural and typical Shire village, in fact; although it was the home of two outstanding people. Bilbo Baggins, the oldest Hobbit anywhere and one of the thirteen companions of Thorin Oakenshield, and Frodo Baggins, the Ringbearer on the Quest of Mount Doom. Bilbo kept the One Ring in Hobbiton, hidden and unknown, for sixty years; Frodo for twenty. Therefore Hobbiton was a very important village for the peoples of Middle-Earth, as it safely hid the most deadly weapon of Sauron from him for a long time.

Hobbiton had the three main regions. Overhill, the section built north of The Hill, The Hill itself, and Hobbiton or the southern portion of the town. It was probably settled at around Third Age 1630 or so, when Stoors joined the Harfoots and Fallohides (three types of Hobbits) that had been granted land beyond Baranduin by Argeleb II. This area later became the Shire. Hobbiton was undoubtedly settled by Harfoots, the typical and most numerous type of Hobbit. Such were the Baggins, the Boffins, the Sackvilles, the Cottons, and of course the Proudfoots; all of which were much more common in Hobbiton than Stoors or Fallohides.

- Written by Gwaihir Windlord. Taken from Barrow-Downs

Luxurious hobbit hole in Hobbiton, built circa S.R. 1290 by Bungo Baggins for his wife Primula, mostly with her father’s financing. He and his wife lived there until their deaths, leaving it to their only son, Bilbo Baggins.

Bilbo departed the Shire in T.A. 3001, leaving Bag End and all its belongings to Frodo Baggins. Frodo left the Shire in T.A. 3018 and, to the surprise of everyone, sold the beloved hobbit-hole to Lotho Sackville-Bagginses and his wife Lobelia. After the War of the Ring, Frodo returned to Hobbiton to find that Bag End had been occupied by Saruman and his pack of Ruffians. The hobbits soon cleaned the trouble-makers out, but they found that Otho Sackville-Baggins dead inside. Lobelia was so sad at the loss of her son that she gave Bag End back to Frodo, who found it in terrible shape and well-looted but was happy to have it back.

In T.A 3020, a year after his return, Frodo asked Sam and his new wife, Rosie, to come live at Bag End. The next year he left for the Grey Havens, leaving the estate to Sam and his family.

Bree was the chief village of the Bree-land; a small inhabited country amid the wilderness of Cardolan. It's four villages, Bree, set under a hill, Archet nigh to the Chetwood, Combe in a valley between the two and Staddle on the other side of the hill were built very closely together; and it was peculiar in the fact that Hobbits and Men dwelt there in perfect unison. Nowhere else was this arrangement to be found.

The largest of these settlements, Bree was an important metting place between two roads. The East Road passed from the Shire, through Bree and on to Rivendell, and the North Road to Fornost and Dunland. Men seldom used the North Road after the end of the North-Kingdom; it became covered in grass, and it's name was changed to Greenway.

Also, after the end of the North-Kingdom, no other Men had settled dwellings so far west as the Bree-landers. They were akin to the Rohirrim and the Men of Dale; descendants of the clans of Edain who battled their way westward into Beleriand during the First Age (although they had never done this themselves). The Bree-land had been settled by Men long before the Sea-Kings departed over the ocean; and when the Sea-Kings returned they had found the Bree-Men still there, despite the turmoils of the First and Second Ages. They were short, brown-haired and broad shouldered, cheerful, and comfortable. They lived in all of Bree-land's villages except Staddle.

Staddle was the main village of the Hobbit population of Bree-land; although there were some families living on the upper slopes of Bree. They claimed to be the oldest population of Hobbits in the world, as there had been Hobbits in Bree long before the Shire was colonised. In fact it was from Bree that the Shire was first colonised. Hobbits had first arrived in Bree-land at around T.A. 1300, from the south, and before that from the eastern reaches of Wilderland. The Hobbits and Men of Bree were friendly with each other, and frequented the same inns, but kept their own affairs to themselves. They were both decent folk. After long years of sundering the Bree-hobbits became entranged from those of the Shire, and visits from either place became rare; until Arnor was reestablished and the roads were made fairer and less dangerous to travellers again. But it was never forgotten that there had once been much coming and going between the Shire and Bree.

-Written by Gwaihir Windlord. Taken from Barrow-Downs