Of the Dwellings of the Eldar
by Morfindel
Noldor: The
Noldor in Valinor "abode in the Calacirya, and in the hills and valleys
within sound of the western sea." [Sil, pg. 62]
"They delighted in the building of high
towers." [Sil, pg. 60]
"Behind the guard of their armies in the north
the Noldor built their dwellings and their towers, and many fair things they
made in those days." [Sil, pg. 117]
"The Noldor...built with stone, and loved the
hill-slopes and open lands." [Ibid.]
"Now there are none such delvers of earth or rock
as the Noldoli..." [LT II, pg. 168]
Vanyar:
"As the ages passed the Vanyar grew to love the land of the Valar and the
full light of the Trees, and they forsook the city of Tirion upon Túna, and
dwelt thereafter upon the mountain of Manwë, or about the plains and woods of
Valinor." [Sil, pg. 61-62]
Teleri: Those
who did not pass to Valinor "dwelt by the sea, or wandered in the woods
and mountains of the world." [Sil. pg. 53. See 58]
"Others of the Eldar there were who crossed the
mountains of Ered Luin in that age [the Second] and passed into the inner
lands. Many of these were Teleri, survivors of Doriath and Ossiriand; and they
established realms among the Silvan Elves in woods and mountains far from
the sea, for which nonetheless they ever yearned in their hearts." [Sil,
pg. 286]
Nandor: "...they
dwelt most beside falls and running streams." [Sil, pg. 54]
"Some, it is said, dwelt age-long in the woods of
the Vale of the Great River [Anduin], some came at last to its mouths and there
dwelt by the Sea," and some passed into Eriador. Some finally entered
Beleriand under the leadership of Denethor, and these dwelt in Ossiriand, or
mingled with Thingol's folk. [Sil, pg. 94, 96]
"These Elves dwelt for the most part in
Arthórien, between Aros and Celon in the east of Doriath, wandering at times
over Celon into the wild lands beyond." [UT, pg. 77]
Wood-elves (Silvan): "In
the Wide World the Wood-elves lingered in the twilight of our Sun and Moon, but
loved best the stars; and they wandered in the great forests that grew tall in
lands that are now lost. They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods, from
which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run over the open
lands by moonlight or starlight; and after the coming of men they took ever
more and more to the gloaming and the dusk." [H, ch. 8 pg. 152]
Sindar: "[They]
loved the woods and the riversides; and some of the Grey-elves still wandered
far and wide without settled abode." [Sil, pg. 117]
Grey Elves (Sindar): "There
was a dwelling [of the Grey Elves] in the mountains westward of Lake
Mithrim." [UT, pg.17]
"Annael led his small people to the caves of Androth
[in Hithlum] and there they lived a hard and wary life." [UT, pg. 18] [See
also Sil, pg. 238]
Avari: It is said of
Eöl: "For the Dark Elves were his kindred that wander without home."
[Lays, pg. 146]
"Many Elves dwelt there (in the wild lands of Middle-earth)
indeed, as they had dwelt through the countless years, wandering free in the
wide lands far from the Sea; but they were Avari..." [Sil, pg. 286]
Famous
Dwellings
1) Cuiviénen
'Water of Awakening', the lake in Middle-earth where the first Elves
awoke, and where they were found by Oromë.
[Silmarillion Index]
"Cuiviénen ... was a bay in the Inland Sea of
Helcar ... many waters flowed down thither from the heights in the east ... [Sil,
pg. 49]
"Long they (the Quendi) dwelt in their first home
by the water under stars, and they walked the earth in wonder." [Ibid.]
"A long time [the Avari] dwelt in the pine-woods
of Palisor, or sat in silence gazing at the mirrored stars in the pale still
Waters of Awakening." [LT I, pg. 231]
"Now the places about [Cuiviénen] the Waters of
Awakening are rugged and full of mighty rocks, and the stream that feeds that
water falls therein down a deep cleft [...] a pale and slender thread, but the
issue of the dark lake was beneath the earth into many endless caverns falling
ever more deeply into the bosom of the world." [LT I, pg. 232] It is said
by Tolkien that many of the Avari dwelt in these caverns, with one "Tű the
wizard", who is not mentioned again.
*
2) Tol Eressëa
'The Lonely Isle' (also simply Eressëa), on which the Vanyar and the
Noldor and afterwards the Teleri were drawn across the ocean by Ulmo, and which
was at last rooted in the Bay of Eldamar near to the coasts of Aman. On Eressëa
the Teleri long remained before they went to Alqualondë; and there dwelt many
of the Noldor and the Sindar after the ending of the First Age. [Silmarillion Index]
"There too were many caverns, and there was a
stretching shoreland of white sand about the feet of black and purple cliffs,
and here was the dwelling even in those deepest days of the Solosimpi
(Teleri)." [LT I, pg. 121]
"By reason of that labour of Ossë there are no
strands so strewn with marvellous shells as were the white beaches and the
sheltered coves of Tol Eressëa, and the Solosimpi dwelt much in caves, and
adorned them with those sea-treasures [...]" [ibid.]
After the Overthrow of Morgoth
"Those that hearkened to the summons [of the
Valar] dwelt in the Isle of Eressëa; and there is in that land a haven that is
named Avallónë, for it is of all cities the nearest to Valinor, and the tower
of Avallónë is the first sight that the mariner beholds when at last he draws
nigh to the Undying Lands over the leagues of the Sea." [Sil, pg. 260]
"Far off in the west [was built] a city
white-shining on a distant shore, and a great harbour and tower...Avallónë, the
haven of the Eldar upon Eressëa." [Sil, pg. 262, 263]
Kortirion
"Now on a time the [Elves] dwelt in the Lonely
Isle after the great wars with Melko and the ruin of Gondolin; and they builded
a fair city amidmost of that island, and it was girt with trees. Now this city
they called Kortirion, both in memory of their ancient dwelling of Kôr in
Valinor, and because this city stood also upon a hill and had a great tower
tall and grey that Ingil son of Inwë their lord let raise." [LT II, pg.
289; see also LT I, pg. 25-6]
" In Tol Eressëa they built many towns and
villages, and in Alalminóre *, the central region of the island, Ingil son of
Inwë built the town of Koromas, 'the Resting of the Exiles of Kôr' ('Exiles,'
because they could not return to Valinor); and the great tower of Ingil gave
the town its name Kortirion. (See LT I. 16, The
Cottage of Lost Play)" [Christopher';s
note, LT II, pg. 292, The History of Eriol or Ćlfwine]
*'Land of Elms'
*
3) Tirion
'Great Watch-tower', the city of the Elves on the hill of Túna in Aman. [Silmarillion Index]
Tirion was built by the Noldor and Vanyar, and was
inhabited by both tribes until the Vanyar forsook it for the plains and woods
of Valinor. [Sil, pg. 59, 61-2]
"...A gap was made in the great walls of the
Pelóri, and there in a deep valley that ran down to the sea the Eldar raised a
high green hill: Túna it was called... Upon the crown of Túna the city of the
Elves was built, the white walls and terraces of Tirion; and the highest of the
towers of that city was the Tower of Ingwë, Mindon Eldaliéva, whose silver lamp
shone far out into the mists of the sea ... [Galathilion, a scion of Telperion]
was planted in the courts of the Mindon." [Sil, pg. 59]
" ... The crystal stairs of Tirion upon Túna..."
[Sil. pg. 61]
"The house of Finwë was in the great square
beneath the Mindon." [Sil, pg. 70]
There was a court, the high court of the king, upon
the summit of Túna. [See Sil. pg. 82]
"[Eärendil] entered into the streets of Tirion ...
and the dust upon his raiment and his shoes was a dust of diamonds, and he
shone and glistened as he climbed the long white stairs." [Sil, pg. 248]
Lost Tales I
"Here was the place that those fair Elves
bethought them to dwell, and the Gods named that hill Kôr by reason of its roundness
and its smoothness. Thither did Aulë bring all the dust of magic metals that
his great works had made and gathered, and he piled it about the foot of that
hill, and most of this dust was of gold, and sand of gold stretched away from
the feet of Kôr out into the distance where the Two Trees blossomed. Upon the
hill-top the Elves built fair abodes of shining white of marbles and stones
quarried from the Mountains of Valinor that glistened wondrously, silver and
gold and a substance of great hardness and white lucency that they had
contrived of shells melted in the dew of Silpion, and white streets there were
bordered with dark trees that wound with graceful turns or climbed with flights
of delicate stairs up from the plain of Valinor to topmost Kôr; and all those
shining houses clomb each shoulder higher than the others till the house of
Inwë was reached that was uppermost, and had a slender silver tower shooting
skyward like a needle, and a white lamp of piercing ray was set therein that
shone upon the shadows of the bay, but every window of the city on the hill of
Kôr looked out toward the sea.
Fountains there were of great beauty and frailty and
roofs and pinnacles of bright glass and amber that was made by Palúrien and
Ulmo, and trees stood thick on the white walls and terraces, and their golden
fruit shone richly." [LT I, pg. 122-123]
"marble flights [of stairs]" [LT I, pg. 123]
The voices of the Noldor were heard about the courts
and chambers. [See LT I, pg. 123]
"With paintings and broidered hangings and
carvings of great delicacy they (the Noldor) filled all their city." [LT
I, pg. 127]
"Now Kôr is lit with this wealth of gems and
sparkles most marvellously." [LT I, pg. 128]
From Christopher's notes: "The dust of gold and 'magic metals'; that Aulë piled about the
feet of Kôr powdered the shoes and clothing of Eärendil when he climbed the
'long white stairs'; of Tirion (Sil. pg. 248)." [LT I, pg. 135]
From a poem on deserted Kôr: "marble temples
white", "dazzling halls", "ivory walls", "marble
towers". [See LT I, pg. 136]
"On the walls of Kôr were many dark tales written
in pictured symbols, and runes of great beauty were drawn there too or carved
upon stone, and Eärendil read many a wondrous tale there long ago..." [LT I,
pg. 141]
"The streets of Kôr [...] shone still with [gems]
and carven marbles..." [LT I, pg. 142]
"Fëanor [stood] in the square about Inwë';s house
in topmost Kôr [...] that place is filled with a lurid light such as has never
before shone on those white walls." [LT I, pg. 162]
"Kôr [became] the fairest and most
delicate-lovely of all the realms of Valinor..." [LT I, pg. 213]
Lays of Beleriand
"the hilltops of Tűn there high and
green
were crowned by Côr, climbing, winding,
town white-walléd where the tower of Ing
with pale pinnacle pierced the twilight" [Lay of the Children
of Húrin, pg. 75, lines 2030-2033]
"[...] the mirth of Côr
in the winding ways of their walled city,
tower crownëd Tűn, whose twinkling lamps
are drowned in darkness" [The Flight of the Noldoli from Valinor; Lays,
pg. 132, lines 18-21]
"[...] The city of the Elves
is thickly thronged. On threadlike stairs
carven of crystal countless torches
stare and twinkle, stain the twilight
and gleaming balusters of green beryl.
A vague rumour of rushing voices,
as myriads mount the marble paths,
there fills and troubles those fair places
wide ways of Tűn and walls of pearl." [Lays, pg. 132, lines
29-37]
The Noldor gathered "in the mighty square / upon
the crown of Côr." [Lays, pg. 33, lines 65-6]
Lord of the Rings
'A wanderer escaped from night
to haven white he came at last,
to Elvenhome the green and fair
where keen the air, where pale as glass
beneath the Hill of Ilmarin
a-glimmer in a valley sheer
the lamplit towers of Tirion
are mirrored on the Shadowmere.' [FOTR Book II, ch.
I, Bilbo';s song of Eärendil, pg. 229]
*
4) Alqualondë
'Haven of the Swans', the chief city and haven of the Teleri on the shores
of Aman. "Their halls were of pearl, and of pearl were the
mansions of Olwë at Alqualondë, the Haven of the Swans, lit with lamps. For
that was their city, and the haven of their ships; ... The gate of that harbour
was an arch of living rock sea-carved; and it lay upon the confines of Eldamar,
north of the Calacirya, where the light of the stars was bright and
clear." [Sil, pg. 61]
" 'In huts on the beaches would you be living
still, had not the Noldor carved out your haven and toiled upon your
walls.'" [Fëanor to Olwë, Sil ch. , pg. 86]
"...lamplit quays and piers..." [Sil, pg. 87]
Lost Tales I
"Now the Solosimpi abode not much in Kôr but had
strange dwellings among the shoreland rocks..." [LT I, pg. 126]
Alqualondë was "lit ever with a ring of lamps of
gold, and lanterns there were too of many colours tokening the wharves and
landings of the different houses." [LT I, pg. 164]
From the cliff-tops that gazed down upon Swanhaven
"the Solosimpi of old cut winding stairs in the rock leading down to the
harbour's edge." [LT I, pg. 164] Probably it was the Noldor that did this
in the later tale.
*
5) Formenos
'Northern Fortress', the stronghold of Fëanor and his sons in the north of
Valinor, built after the banishment of Fëanor from Tirion. [Silmarillion Index]
"[...] northward in Valinor they made a strong
place and treasury in the hills." [Sil, pg. 71]
Of Finwë: "his death he has drunk at the doors of
his hall / and deep fastness, where darkly hidden / the Three were
guarded" [Lays, pg. 133, lines 73-5]
"A little stream [...] ran down from the hills,
northward of the opening to the coast where Kôr was built, and it wandered
thence across the plain no one knew whither. [...] north of the roots of Silpion
it dived into the earth and there was a rugged place and a rock-ringed dale;
and here the Noldoli purposed to abide [...]
Caves they made in the walls of that dale, and thither
they bore their wealth of gems, of gold and silver and fair things [...]"
[LT I, pg. 142]
*
6) Menegroth
'The Thousand Caves', the hidden halls of Thingol and Melian on the River
Esgalduin in Doriath. [Silmarillion Index]
Founded by Elwë Thingol and Melian the Maiar before the First Age.
"[Thingol] took thought therefore how he should
make for himself a kingly dwelling, and a place that should be strong, if evil
were to awaken again in Middle-earth; and he sought the aid and counsel of the
Dwarves of Belegost." [Sil, pg. 92]
"The Naugrim...devised for him (Thingol) mansions
after the fashion of their people, delved deep in the earth. Where the
Esgalduin flowed down, and parted Neldoreth from Region, their rose in the
midst of the forest a rocky hill, and the river ran at its feet. There they
made the gates of the hall of Thingol, and they built a bridge of stone over
the river, by which alone the gates could be entered. Beyond the gates wide
passages ran down to high halls and chambers far below that were hewn in the
living stone, so many and so great that the dwelling was named Menegroth, the
Thousand Caves.
But the Elves also had a part in that labour, and
Elves and Dwarves together, each with their own skill, there wrought out the
visions of Melian, images of the wonder and beauty of Valinor beyond the Sea.
The pillars of Menegroth were hewn in the likeness of the beeches of
Oromë[...]and they were lit with lanterns of gold. ...And there were fountains of
silver, and basins of marble, and floors of many-coloured stones. Carven
figures of beasts and birds there ran upon the walls, or climbed upon the
pillars, or peered among the branches entwined with many flowers. And as the
years passed Melian and her maidens filled the halls with woven hangings... That
was the fairest dwelling of any king that has ever been east of the Sea."
[Sil, pg. 93]
"Then Finrod was filled with wonder at the
strength and majesty of Menegroth, its treasuries and armouries and its
many-pillared halls of stone." [Sil, pg. 114]
"Upon the Southern bank of Esgalduin, where it
turned westward towards Sirion, were the caves of Menegroth." [Sil,
pg.121, 122]
"Beren [was] filled with dread for the splendor
of Menegroth." [Sil, pg.166]
Unfinished Tales
"Thus Túrin came to the great bridge over the
Esgalduin, and passed the gates of Thingol's halls; and as a child he gazed
upon the marvels of Menegroth, which no mortal Man before had seen, save Beren
only." [UT, pg. 74]
"Now Thingol had in Menegroth deep
armouries." [UT, pg. 76]
Doriath Not all lived in the Thousand Caves...
"There was a maiden named Nellas, who lived in
the woods [of Doriath] [...] Nellas did not go to Menegroth, and was unwilling
ever to walk under roofs of stone." [UT, pg. 76]
"...Nellas, who dwelt in the woods, and came never
to Menegroth; and she was afraid [when she came before Thingol to testify on
behalf of Túrin], both for the great pillared hall and the roof of stone."
[UT, pg. 83]
Thranduil's halls verses Thingol's
"His (Thranduil's) halls were not to be compared
with Menegroth. He had not the arts nor the wealth nor the aid of the Dwarves;
and compared with the Elves of Doriath his Silvan folk were rude and
rustic." [UT, pg. 259]
Lost Tales II
"His [Thingol's] halls were builded in a deep
cavern, vaulted immeasurable, that knew no other entrance than a rocky door,
mighty, pillared with stone, and shadowed by the loftiest and most ancient
trees in all the shaggy forests of [Doriath]. A great stream was there that
fared a dark and silent course in the deep woods, and this flowed wide and
swift before that doorway, so that all who would enter that portal must first
cross a bridge [...] and narrow it was and strongly guarded." [LT II, pg.
43]
Tinúviel's House in Hirilorn: "Now [Thingol] let build high up in that strange tree, as high as
men could fashion their longest ladders to reach, a little house of wood, and
it was above the first branches and was sweetly veiled in leaves. Now that
house had three corners and three windows in each wall, and at each corner was
one of the shafts of Hirilorn." [LT II, pg. 18] [See also Lays, pg.
202-203, lines 1348-89]
A bole of the tree was within Lúthien's house she
fastened her rope of hair to it to escape. [See LT II, pg. 20.]
Lays of Beleriand
"To the shadowy shores he showed the
way
where stilly that stream strikes 'fore the gates
of the cavernous court of the King of Doriath.
Over the guarded bridge he gained a passage..." [Lays, pg. 12,
lines 239-242 Lay of the Children of Húrin]
"[Thingol] who deeply delved had
dungeons filled
with Elven armouries... [Lays, pg. 13, lines 308-9]
"[...] those halls that were hewn of
stone" [Lays, pg. 17, line 428]
"[...] in the torchlit halls / of Thingol the
king" [Lays, pg. 34, line 729]
"the frowning portals / of the Thousand
Caves" [Lays, pg. 76, lines 2167-8]
"neath blazing torches / in those high halls
set that were hewn of stone." [Lays, pg. 118, lines 808-9]
Of Thingol: "his power was reared in cavern's
shade" [Lay of Leithian, pg. 154, line 3]
"wealth untold / he wielded from his ivory throne
/ in many pillared halls of stone." [Lays, pg. 154, lines 13-14]
"There Thingol in the Thousand Caves,
whose portals pale that river laves
Esgalduin that fairies call,
in many a tall and torchlit hall
a dark and hidden king did dwell" [Lays, pg. 156, lines 65-9]
"...long slopes fell beside the door,
the guarded gates, the portals stark
of the Thousand echoing Caverns dark." [Lays, pg. 186, lines 875-7]
"...and bridge before her father's door;
and the white light silent looked within
the waiting portals yawning dim.
Downward with gentle hand she led
through corridors of carven dread
whose turns were lit by lanterns hung
or flames from torches [...]
[...]
Then sudden, deep beneath the earth
the silences with silver mirth
were shaken and the rocks were ringing,
the birds of Melian were singing;
and wide the ways of shadow spread
as into archéd halls she led
Beren in wonder. There a light
like day immortal and like night
of stars unclouded, shone and gleamed.
A vault of topless trees it seemed,
whose trunks of carven stone there stood
like towers of an enchanted wood
in magic fast forever bound,
bearing a roof whose branches wound
in endless tracery of green
lit by some leaf-emprisioned sheen
of moon and sun, and wrought of gems,
and each leaf hung on golden stems.
Lo! there amid immortal flowers
the nightingales in shining bowers
sang o'er the head of Melian,
while water for ever dripped and ran
from fountains in the rocky floor." [Lays, pg. 188-189, lines 977-1008]
"Thus Thingol in his dolven hall
amid the Thousand Caverns tall
of Menegroth as king abode..." [Lay of Leithian recommenced, pg. 332, lines
63-5]
*
7) Vinyamar
The house of Turgon in Nevrast under Mount Taras. [Silmarillion Index]
"Turgon dwelt in those halls he named Vinyamar,
under Mount Taras beside the Sea." [Sil, pg. 119] Reference appears to the
"walls of Vinyamar", and the "deserted halls of Vinyamar".
[See Sil, pg. 238, 239]
"Among the tall and sea-hewn cliffs south of
Drengist there were many coves and sheltered inlets, with beaches of white sand
among the black gleaming rocks, and leading down to such places Tuor found
often winding stairs cut in the living stone; and by the water-edge were ruined
quays, built of great blocks hewn from the cliffs, where Elven ships had once
been moored." [UT, pg. 25]
"Beneath [Mount Taras'] long slopes in bygone
days Turgon had dwelt in the halls of Vinyamar, eldest of all the works of
stone that the Noldor built in the lands of their exile. There it still stood,
desolate but enduring, high upon great terraces that looked towards the sea.
The years had not shaken it, and the servants of Morgoth had passed it by; but
wind and rain and frost had graven it, and upon the coping of its walls and the
great shingles of its roof there was a deep growth of grey-green plants that,
living upon the salt air, throve even in the cracks of barren stone.
Now Tuor came to the ruins of a lost road, and he
passed amid green mounds and leaning stones, and so came as the day was waning
to the old hall and its high and windy courts [...] Then Tuor went up the wide
stairs [to the highest terrace, where stood the west-door of the hall], and he
passed under the mighty lintel and entered the shadows of the house of Turgon;
and he came at last to a high-pillared hall. If great it appeared from without,
now vast and wonderful it seemed to Tuor from within [...] Nothing could he see
there, save at the eastern end a high seat upon a dais [...] The sound of his
feet rang upon the paved floor [...] and echoes ran before him along the pillared
aisles.
[...] He stood before the great chair in the gloom, and
saw that it was hewn of a single stone and written with strange signs."
[UT, pg. 26, 27]
*
8) Nargothrond
'The great underground fortress on the River Narog' founded by Finrod
Felagund and destroyed by Glaurung. [Silmarillion
Index]
Thingol showed Finrod "the deep gorge of the
River Narog, and the caves under the High Faroth in its steep western shore ...
that place of which few yet knew... Thus Finrod came to the caverns of Narog, and
began to establish there deep halls and armouries after the fashion of the
mansions of Menegroth; and that stronghold was called Nargothrond. In that
labour Finrod was aided by the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains." [Sil, pg.
144]
"Every hill upon its borders was crowned with
hidden towers..." [Sil, pg.168]
Reference is always made to the "Doors of
Felagund", thus there must have been at least two. Tolkien shows from one
to three in his drawing of Nargothrond. [See Sil, pg. 230]
Unfinished Tales
"The great bridge of Nargothrond..." [UT, pg.
116]
"Then looking out towards the High Faroth, brown
and bare beyond the river, Mablung saw with elven-sight the terraces of
Nargothrond on the steep west bank, and as a small black hole in the hill-wall
the gaping Doors of Felagund." [UT, pg. 116]
A great passage led inward from the Doors. [See UT,
pg. 117]
Lost Tales II
"Now in the mountains there was a place of caves
above a stream, and that stream ran down to feed the river Sirion, but grass
grew before the doors of the caves, and these were cunningly concealed by trees
and such magics as those scattered bands that dwelt therein remembered
still." [LT II, pg. 81]
There were smithies in Nargothrond, where Túrin's
sword was reforged. [See LT II, pg. 81.]
Lays of Beleriand
"and the cavernous halls / of the Gnomes
renowned of Nargothrond" [Lays, pg. 36, lines 820-1]
"the deep halls of Nargothrond" [Lays, pg.
51]
"the realms and caverns / the numbered
hosts of Nargothrond" [Lays, pg. 65, lines 1721-2]
"in his (Orodreth's) darkling halls" [Lays,
pg. 65, line 1725]
"Their treegirt towers on the
tall hilltops
no light betrayed..." [Lays, pg. 66, lines 1746-7]
"Never hall or homestead its high
gables
in the light uplifting in that land they saw
but a pathway plain by passing feet
was broadly beaten." [Lays, pg. 67, lines 1806-1809]
"[...] there of carven stone
with slim and shapely slender archway
a bridge was builded, a bow gleaming
in the froth and flashing foam of Ingwil
that headlong hurried and hissed beneath.
Where it found the flood, far-journeying Narog,
there steeply stood the strong shoulders
of the hills, o'erhanging the hurrying water;
there shrouded in trees a sheer terrace
wide and winding, worn to smoothness,
was fashioned in the face of the falling slope.
Doors there darkly dim gigantic
were hewn in the hillside; huge their timbers,
and their posts and lintels of ponderous stone.
They were shut unshakeable. Then shrilled a trumpet
as a phantom fanfare faintly winding
in the hill from hollow halls far under;
a creaking portal with clangour backward
was flung, and forth there flashed a throng
[...] wordless haled them
through the gaping gateway to the glooms beyond.
Ground and grumbled on its great hinges
the door gigantic; with din ponderous
it clanged and closed like clap of thunder,
and echoes awful in empty corridors
there ran and rumbled under roofs unseen;
the light was lost. Then led them on
down long and winding lanes of darkness
[...]
till faint the flicker of fiery torches
flared before them [...]
[...] High sprang the roof.
Round a sudden turning they swung amazed,
and saw a solemn silent conclave,
where hundreds hushed in huge twilight
neath distant domes darkly vaulted
them wordless waited. There waters flowed
with washing echoes winding swiftly
amid the multitude, and mounting pale
for fifty fathoms a fountain sprang,
and wavering wan, with winking redness
flushed and flickering in the fiery lights,
it fell at the feet in the far shadows
of a king with crown and carven throne. [Lays, pg. 68-69, lines
1817-1863]
Apparently not all the Elves dwelt in the
actual caverns of Narog, just as not all the people of Thingol dwelt
in Menegroth: Gwindor and his father embrace "neath trees entwining
tangled branches / at the dark doorways of those deep mansions / that
[Gwindor's] folk afar builded, / and dwelt in the deep of the dark woodland /
to the west on the slopes of the Wold of Hunters." [Lays, pg. 72, lines
1988-1992]
"deep mansions / thus dark-dolven
dimly vaulted" [Lays, pg. 73, lines 2051-2]
"the secret halls / of Nargothrond by
the Gnomes builded" [Lays, pg. 61, lines 1542-3]
From Christopher's notes: Tolkien's watercolour of the Doors of Nargothrond shows "the hills
[of the hunters] as great rocky heights standing up from thick forest on their
lower slopes. At line 1746 the Wards of Narog look out from their treegirt
towers on the tall hilltops;
these watchtowers were in the north of the Hills of the Hunters and looking
northwards (1743-5) [...]" [Lays, pg. 88]
The people of Nargothrond had farmlands and orchards
in the land round the river Narog, but there were no homesteads there, lest any
foe should thereby find the Doors to Nargothrond. See Lays, page 67, lines
1794-1809; and page 90.
"The great Doors of Nargothrond are here first
described the triple doors of timber as my father imagined them are seen in
his drawing of the entrance [...] and (in a different conception) their posts
and lintels of ponderous stone
(1830) [Pictures, nos 33, 34]." [Lays, pg. 90]
Flinding's (Gwindor's) father's house was "deep
in the woods on the slopes of the Hunter';s Wold (1989-92)." [Lays, pg.
92]
*
9) Gondolin
'The Hidden Rock', secret city of King Turgon surrounded by the Encircling
Mountains (Echoriath). [Silmarillion Index]
"Turgon [...] discovered the hidden vale of
Tumladen; and that [...] lay east of the upper waters of Sirion, in a ring of
mountains tall and sheer. [...] But there was a deep way under the mountains
delved in the darkness of the world by waters that flowed out to join the
streams of Sirion; and this way Turgon found, and so came to the green plain
amid the mountains, and saw the island-hill that stood there of hard smooth
stone; for the vale had been a great lake in ancient days. Then Turgon knew
that he had found the place of his desire, and he resolved to build there a
fair city, a memorial of Tirion upon Túna." [Sil, pg. 125]
"He (Turgon) summoned many of the hardiest and
most skilled of his people, and led them secretly to the hidden vale, and there
they began the building of the city that Turgon had devised [...] It came to pass
at last that the city was full-wrought, after two and fifty years of secret
toil." [Sil, pg.125]
A third part of the Noldor, along with a yet greater
host of Sindar, removed to Gondolin the size of the city must have been very
great. [See Sil, pg. 126]
"Behind the circle of the mountains the people of
Turgon grew and throve, and they put forth their skill in labour unceasing, so
that Gondolin upon Amon Gwareth became fair indeed and fit to compare even with
Elven Tirion beyond the sea. High and white were its walls, and smooth its
stairs, and tall and strong was the Tower of the King. There shining fountains
played, and in the courts of Turgon stood images of the Trees of old." [Sil,
pg.126]
[Maeglin] was amazed by the strength of the city, and
the hosts of its people, and the many things strange and beautiful that he
beheld." [Sil, pg.136]
"...sheer walls of the city..." [Sil, pg.138]
"[Tuor and Voronwë] came to the hidden door of
Gondolin, and passing down the tunnel they reached the inner gate [...] Then they
were led up the mighty ravine of Orfalch Echor, barred by seven gates [...] Then
Tuor looked down upon the fair vale of Tumladen, set as a green jewel amid the
encircling hills; and he saw far off upon the rocky height of Amon Gwareth
Gondolin the great, city of Seven names, whose fame and glory is mightiest in
song of all dwellings of the Elves in the Hither Lands. At the bidding of
Ecthelion trumpets were blown on the towers of the great gate, and they echoed
in the hills; and far off but clear there came a sound of answering trumpets
blown upon the white walls of the city, flushed with the rose of dawn upon the
plain." [Sil, pg. 239]
"Passing up the wide stairways of the city he (Tuor)
was brought at last to the Tower of the King." [Sil, pg. 204]
"Gondolin [was become] as beautiful as a memory
of Elven Tirion." [Sil, pg. 240]
Gondolin had seven gates to guard the pass beneath the
mountains. [See Sil, pg. 136]
The Seven Gates
First Gate: "Their
captain led them (Tuor and Voronwë) from the cavern of the Outer Guard, and
they passed [...] into a straight passage, and there walked long upon a level
floor [...] Thus they came at length to a wide arch with tall pillars upon either
hand, hewn in the rock, and between hung a great portcullis of crossed wooden
bars, marvelously carved and studded with nails of iron.
Elemmakil touched it, and it rose silently, and they
passed through; and Tuor saw that they stood at the end of a ravine [...] Lamps [were]
set beside the climbing road [which was] a wide way, laid and paved with stone,
winding upward [...] They went on up the steep way, sometimes by long stairs,
sometimes by winding slopes [...]
Second Gate: The
way was barred by a great wall built across the ravine from side to side, with
stout towers of stone at either hand. In the wall was a great archway above the
road, but it seemed that masons had blocked it with a single mighty stone. As
they drew near its dark and polished face gleamed in the light of a white lamp
that hung above the midst of the arch.
[Elemmakil] thrust lightly upon it. It turned upon an
unseen pivot, until its edge was towards them, and the way open upon either
side; and they passed through, into a court [...] Elemmakil led his charges to a
chamber beneath the northern tower [...]
Third Gate: After
a little space they came to a wall yet higher and stronger than before, and in
it was set the Third Gate, the Gate of Bronze: a great twofold door hung with
shields and plates of bronze, wherein were wrought many figures and strange
signs. Upon the wall above its lintel were three square towers, roofed and clad
with copper that by some device of smith-craft was ever bright and gleamed as
fire in the rays of the red lamps ranged like torches along the wall. [There
was again a court beyond it.]
Fourth Gate: Now
they came to the most toilsome road [...] as they climbed Tuor saw the mightiest
of the walls looming dark above him. Thus at last they drew near the Fourth
Gate, the Gate of Writhen Iron. High and black was the wall, and lit with no
lamps. Four towers of iron stood upon it, and between the two inner towers was
set an image of a great eagle wrought in iron [...] A light came through the
traceries of the gate, which were wrought and hammered into the shapes of trees
with writhing roots and woven branches laden with leaves and flowers. And as he
passed through he saw how this could be; for the wall was of great thickness,
and there was not one grill but three in line, so set that to one who approached
in the middle of the way each formed part of the device [...]
Fifth Gate: The
wall of the Fifth Gate was built of white marble, and was low and broad, and
its parapet was a trellis of silver between five great globes of marble [...] The
gate was in shape as three parts of a circle, and wrought of silver and pearl
of Nevrast in the likeness of the Moon; but above the gate upon the midmost
globe stood an image of the White Tree Telperion, wrought of silver and
malachite, with flowers made of great pearls of Balar. And beyond the Gate
[was] a wide court paved with marble, green and white [...] They entered upon a
long white road, that ran straight towards the Sixth Gate [...]
Sixth Gate: So
they came to the Golden Gate, the last of the ancient gates of Turgon that were
wrought before the Nirnaeth; and it was much like the Gate of Silver, save that
the wall was built of yellow marble, and the globes and parapet were of red
gold; and there were six globes, and in the midst upon a golden pyramid was set
an image of Laurelin, the Tree of the Sun, with flowers wrought of topaz in
long clusters upon chains of gold. And the Gate itself was adorned with disks
of gold, many-rayed, in likenesses of the Sun, set amid devices of garnet and
topaz and yellow diamonds.
Seventh Gate: [...]
The Seventh Gate, named the Great, the Gate of Steel that Maeglin wrought after
the return from the Nirnaeth, across the wide entrance to the Orfalch Echor.
No wall stood there, but on either hand were two round
towers of great height, many-windowed, tapering in seven storeys to a turret of
bright steel, and between the towers there stood a mighty fence of steel that
rusted not, but glittered cold and white. Seven great pillars of steel there
were, tall with the height and girth of strong young trees, but ending in a
bitter spike that rose to the sharpness of a needle; and between the pillars
were seven cross-bars of steel, and in each space seven times seven rods of
steel upright, with heads like the broad blades of spears. But in the centre,
above the midmost pillar and greatest, was raised a mighty image of the
king-helm of Turgon, the Crown of the Hidden Kingdom, set about with diamonds.
No gate or door could Tuor see in this mighty hedge of
steel [...]
The gates opened inward on either side of the pillar
of the Crown [...]" [UT, pg. 46-50]
From Christopher's notes: "A description of Gondolin was to follow, of the stairs up to its
high platform, and its great gate; of the mounds of mallorns, birches, and
evergreen trees; of the Place of the Fountain, the King's tower on a pillared
arcade, the King's house..." [UT, pg. 56]
Lost Tales II
"Then they looked up and could see, and lo! they
were at the foot of steep hills, and these hills made a great circle wherein
lay a wide plain, and set therein, not rightly at the midmost but rather nearer
to that place where they stood, was a great hill with a level top, and upon
that summit rose a city in the new light of the morning.
[...] 'Lo, it stands fair to see and very clear, and its
towers prick the heavens above the Hill of Watch in the midmost plain.' The
Tuor and his companion fared over the plain that was of a marvellous level,
broken but here and there by boulders round and smooth which lay amid a sward,
or by pools in rocky beds. Many fair pathways lay across that plain, and they
came after a day';s light march to the foot of the hill of watch (which is in
the tongue of the Noldoli Amon Gwareth). Then did they begin to ascend the
winding stairways which climbed up to the city gate; nor might any one reach that
city save on foot and espied from the walls. As the westward gate was golden in
the last sunlight did they come to the long stair';s head, and many eyes gazed
upon them from the battlements and towers." [LT II, pg. 158, The Fall
of Gondolin"But Tuor looked upon the walls of stone, and the
uplifted towers, upon the glistering pinnacles of the town, and he looked upon
the stairs of stone and marble, bordered by slender balustrades and cooled by
the leap of threadlike waterfalls seeking the plain from the fountains of Amon
Gwareth..." [LT II, pg. 159]
"Then did the throng return within the gates and
the wanderers with them, and Tuor saw they were of iron and of great height and
strength. Now the streets of Gondolin were paved with stone and wide, kerbed
with marble, and fair houses and courts amid gardens of bright flowers were set
about the ways, and many towers of great slenderness and beauty builded of
white marble and carved most marvellously rose to the heaven. Squares there
were lit with fountains and the home of birds that sang amid the branches of
their aged trees, but of all these the greatest was that place where stood the
king';s palace, and the tower thereof was the loftiest in the city, and the
fountains that played before the doors shot twenty fathoms and seven in the air
and fell in a singing rain of crystal..." [LT II, ch. 3, pg. 160]
White stairs led to Turgon's doors. [See LT II, pg.
160]
Watchers dwelt on the highest peaks of the Echoriath
beside beacons ready for fire. [See LT II, pg. 163]
"There learnt Tuor of building with stone, of
masonry and the hewing of rock and marble..." [LT II, pg. 163]
There was "a profusion of murmuring founts and
springs" in the southern part of the city. [See ibid.]
"A house was built for him (Tuor) upon the
southern walls, for he loved the free airs and liked not the close neighborhood
of other dwellings. There it was his delight often to stand on the battlements
at dawn..." [pg. 164]
The northern gate had great towers and bastions about
it, and the walls were of such great strength that most of their length stood
firm even when the creatures of Morgoth brought down the gate and the towers
upon either hand. [See LT II, pg. 176]
There were many squares in the city of Gondolin, some
containing oak and poplar trees and many wells and fountains. There was a Great
and a Lesser market square, the former holding "stores...and goodly thing of
fine workmanship." [See LT II, pg.182]
All roads led to the Great Square, the Square of the
King that stood in the centre of the city. [See LT II, pg. 183 ff.]
The King's halls must have been very great, as all the
women and children that were saved from the sack of the city were stowed there.
[See LT II, pg.183]
During the battle, Turgon "climbed to the topmost
pinnacle of that white tower that stood nigh his palace." [See LT II,
pg.185]
Gar Ainion, the Place of the Gods, "was very open
and at its middle the highest ground of all the city." [See LT II, pg.
186]
There was a tower beside the southern gate which cast
its shadow over Tuor's house. [See LT II, pg.191]
Lays of Beleriand
"Lo! The flame of fire and fierce
hatred
engulfed Gondolin and its glory fell,
its tapering towers and its tall rooftops
were laid all low, and its leaping fountains
made no music more on the mount of Gwareth,
and its whitehewn walls were whispering ash." [Fragment of the
Lay of Gondolin, Lays, pg. 142, lines 1-5]
Gondolin is called "the city hewn of stone",
and "the fortress of the Gnome-folk who dwell in Halls of Stone".
[Fragment, Lays, pg. 145]
"Turgon devised the city to be 'as a memorial of
Tirion upon Túna,' and it became 'as beautiful as a memory of Elven
Tirion.'" [Lays, pg. 149, Commentary]
"[...] the tower of the king, the fountains and
stairs, the white marbles of Gondolin embody a recollection of Kôr
(Tirion)." [Lays, pg. 149]
Shaping of Middle-earth
"Of steel were its gates and of marble were its
walls." [SM; Quenta II, §15, pg. 139]
"The sides of the hill the Gnomes polished to the
smoothness of dark glass, and its top they levelled for the building of their
town, save amidmost where stood the tower and palace of the king." [SM;
Quenta II, §15, pg. 139]
The Refugees of Gondolin
The remnant of Gondolin "dwelt there (in
Arvernien) by the mouths of Sirion, and joined their people to the company of
Elwing." [Sil, pg. 244]
"By Sirion there grew up an Elven-folk, the
gleanings of Doriath and Gondolin; and from Balar the mariners of Círdan came
among them, and they took to the waves and the building of ships, dwelling ever
nigh to the coasts of Arvernien." [Sil, pg. 244]
The Eldar established upon the Isle of Balar
"lonely dwellings, [...] far from the reach of Morgoth." [UT, pg. 34]
Tuor, Idril and Eärendil dwelt "in the Isle of
Sirion in a house of snow-white stone." [LT II, pg. 262, outline for the Tale
of Eärendil"These (the people of Gondolin and Elwing) become
a seafaring folk, building many boats and living far out on the delta, whither
the Orcs dare not come." [SM; The Earliest 'Silmarillion', §17, pg. 37] [See also Annals of Beleriand year 208, SM pg. 308]
Tower of Elwing in Aman: "Therefore there was built for her a white tower northward upon the
borders of the Sundering Seas..." [LT II, pg. 264]
*
'Of Beleriand
and Its Realms'
[All references
are to the Sil, ch. 14, unless otherwise noted]
Beleriand before the Coming of the Noldor: "Now in his (Thingol's) wide realm many Elves wandered free in the
wild, or dwelt at peace in small kindreds far sundered; and only about
Menegroth in the midst of the land, and along the Falas in the country of the
mariners, were there numerous peoples." [Sil, pg. 96]
Hithlum: "Fingolfin's
folk dwelt in Mithrim about the shores of the great lake." [119]
Eithel Sirion: "But
their (Fingolfin and Fingon's) chief fortress was at Eithel Sirion in the east
of Ered Wethrin, whence they kept watch upon Ard Galen." [119]
Taur-nu-Fuin: Angrod
and Aegnor and their few people dwelt on the northern slopes of Dorthonion.
[See pg. 119]
Tol Sirion: "Finrod
held the pass of Sirion, and upon the isle of Tol Sirion in the midst of the
river he built a mighty watchtower, Minas Tirith." [120]
Lays of Beleriand
"An isléd hill there stood alone
amid the valley, like a stone
rolled from the distant mountains vast
when giants in tumult hurtled past.
Around its feet the river looped
a stream divided, that had scooped
the hanging edges into caves.
There briefly shuddered Sirion's waves
and ran to other shores more clean.
An elven watchtower had it been,
and strong it was, and still was fair." [Lays, pg. 227, lines 2032-42]
The plain of Anfauglith and the "brooding
clouds" above the peaks of Thangorodrim could be seen from the top of the
tower, thus it must have been quite tall. [See Lays, pg. 227, lines 2047-51]
There was a bridge of stone from the west bank of
Sirion to the isle. When Lúthien broke the tower, the bridge fell and blocked
the river on one side. [See Lays, pg. 251 ff.]
"The hill trembled; the citadel
crumbled, and all its towers fell;
the rocks yawned and the bridge broke." [Lays, pg. 254, lines, 2800-3]
Brithombar and Eglarest: "[In the Falas] dwelt those of the Sindar who still loved ships,
and Círdan the shipbuilder was their lord; but between Círdan and Finrod there
was friendship and alliance, and with the aid of the Noldor the havens of
Brithombar and Eglarest were built anew. Behind their great walls they became
fair towns and harbours with quays and piers of stone." [120]
"With his (Finrod's) aid Brithombar and Eglarest
were rebuilt and became fair towns, recalling somewhat the havens of the Elves
upon the shores of Valinor." [LR, pg. 291]
The Elves of Brithombar and Eglarest, after the sack
of their havens, established dwellings on the Isle of Balar under the
leadership of Círdan and Gil-galad. [See Sil, pg. 246]
Barad Nimras:
"Upon the cape west of Eglarest Finrod raised the tower of Barad Nimras to
watch the western sea." [120]
Ossiriand/Lindon: "In
Ossiriand dwelt the Green-elves, in the protection of their rivers." [123]
A traveler passing through their land from end to end
might see none of them, thus their dwellings must have been hidden. [See 123]
The Sons of Fëanor: "The
chief citadel of Maedhros was upon the Hill of Himring, the Ever-cold; and that
was wide-shouldered, bare of trees, and flat upon its summit, surrounded by
many lesser hills." [123]
"Celegorm and Curufin fortified [the Pass of]
Aglon and held it with great strength." [124]
"The people of Caranthir fortified the mountains
to the east of Maglor's gap. There Mount Rerir, and about it many lesser
heights, stood out from the main range of Ered Lindon westward; and in the
angle between Rerir and Ered Lindon there was a lake, shadowed by mountains on
all sides save the south. That was Lake Helevorn, deep and dark, and beside it
Caranthir had his abode." [124]
*
Second/Third
Ages
10) Mithlond
'The Grey Havens', harbours of the Elves on the Gulf of Lűne. [Silmarillion Index] Built after the drowning of Beleriand.
"Upon the shores of the Gulf of Lűne the Elves
built their havens, and named them Mithlond; and there they had many ships, for
the harbourage was good." [Sil, pg. 286]
"At the Grey Havens of Lindon there abode also a
remnant of the people of Gil-galad the Elvenking. At times they would wander
into the lands of Eriador, but for the most part they dwelt near the shores of
the sea, building and tending the elven-ships wherein those of the Firstborn
who grew weary of the world set sail into the uttermost West. Círdan the
Shipwright was lord of the Havens and mighty among the Wise." [Sil, pg.
298]
Gil-galad built the towers of Emyn Beriad upon the
western shore of Middle-earth. [See Sil, pg. 292]
*
11) Eregion 'Land
of Holly', Noldorin realm in the Second Age at the western feet of the Misty
Mountains, where the Elven Rings were made.
[Silmarillion Index]
"Only in Eregion, which Men called Hollin, did
Elves of Noldorin race establish a lasting realm beyond the Ered Luin. Eregion
was nigh to the great mansions of the Dwarves that were named Kazad-dűm [...]
From Ost-in-Edhil, the city of the Elves, the highroad ran to the west gate of
Kazad-dűm." [Sil, pg. 286]
Begun about the year 750 SA, "Eregion became far
stronger" because of the aid of the Dwarves of Kazad-dűm. [See UT, pg.
236]
"[...] the House of the Mírdain, where were their
smithies and their treasuries [...]" [UT, pg. 238]
Celebrimbor and Sauron fought "on the steps of
the great door of the Mírdain". [UT, pg. 238]
Lord of the Rings
" 'Much evil must befall a country before it
wholly forgets the Elves, if once they dwelt there.';
'That is true,' said Legolas. 'But the Elves of this
land were of a race strange to us of the Silvan folk, and the trees and grass
do not now remember them. Only I hear the stones lament them: deep they
delved us, fair they wrought us, high they builded us; but they are gone.'" [FOTR, Book II ch. III pg. 276]
"Guided by Aragorn they struck a good path. It
looked to Frodo like the remains of an ancient road, that had once been broad
and well planned, from Hollin to the mountain-pass. [...] Many [of the stones]
looked to have been worked by hands..." [Ibid. pg. 278-279]
"...on the near side there was a path, much broken
and decayed, that wound its way among the ruined walls and paving-stones of an
ancient highroad." [Ibid. pg. 292]
*
12) Imladris
'Rivendell' (literally, 'Deep Dale of the Cleft';), Elrond's dwelling in a
valley of the Misty Mountains. [Silmarillion
Index] Founded in SA 1697. [UT, pg. 239, 243]
"In that time [after the destruction of Eregion]
the stronghold and refuge of Imladris, that Men called Rivendell, was founded
by Elrond Half-elven; and long it endured." [Sil, pg. 288]
"In Eriador Imladris was the chief dwelling of
the High Elves." [Sil, pg. 298]
The Hobbit
"They came to the edge of a steep fall in the
ground so suddenly that Gandalf's horse nearly slipped down the slope. [...] They
saw a valley far below. They could hear the voice of hurrying water in a rocky
bed at the bottom; the scent of trees was in the air; and there was a light on
the valley-side across the water.
Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped
in the dusk down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell.
The air grew warmer as they got lower, and [...] the trees changed to beech and
oak..." [H, ch. 3 pg. 45]
There was only one path across the water and to the
House beyond. [See ibid. pg. 47]
For crossing the river "there was only a narrow bridge
of stone without a parapet, as narrow as a pony could well walk on."
[Ibid.]
Lord of the Rings
"The ceiling [...] was flat, and it had dark beams richly
carved." There was a window also, by which Gandalf sat. [FOTR, Book II ch.
1, pg. 213]
" 'It's a big house this, and very peculiar.
Always a bit more to discover, and no knowing what you'll find round a
corner.'" [Sam to Frodo, ibid. pg. 219]
"Sam led him (Frodo) along several passages and
down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river.
He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking
east." [Ibid. pg. 220]
There must have been a bell tower, as dinner was
announced "by the ringing of many bells", and the Council by "a
single clear bell". [See FOTR, pg. 220, 233]
"The hall of Elrond's house was filled with
folk..." [FOTR, pg. 220]
The Hall of Fire
"Elrond and Arwen rose and went down the [feast]
hall [...] The doors were thrown open, and they went across a wide passage and
through other doors, and came into a further hall. In it were no tables, but a
bright fire was burning in a great hearth between the carven pillars upon
either side. [...]
" 'This is the Hall of Fire,' said the wizard.
'[...] except on high days it usually stands empty and quiet, and people come
here who wish for peace, and thought. There is always a fire here, all the year
round, but there is little other light.'" [FOTR, Book II ch. I pg. 223-4]
Bilbo's Room
"He led Frodo back to his own little room. It
opened on to the gardens and looked south across the ravine of the
Bruinen." [FOTR, pg. 232]
There was a forge in Rivendell, where Narsil was
reforged, and probably a stable where Bill, and Asfaloth, were kept.
*
13) Mirkwood and the Halls of Thranduil
"In a great cave some miles within the edge of
Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king.
Before his huge doors of stone a river ran out of the heights of the forest and
flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands. This great
cave, from which countless smaller one opened out on every side, wound far
underground and had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter and more
wholesome than any goblin-dwelling, and neither so deep nor so dangerous. In
fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and hunted in the open woods, and
had houses or huts on the ground and in the branches. The beeches were their
favorite trees. The king's cave was his palace, and the strong place of his
treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.
It was also the dungeon of his prisoners." [H,
ch. 8 pg. 152]
"Then the elves [...] shut him (Thorin) in one of
the inmost caves with strong wooden doors..." [Ibid. pg. 153]
"This was the bridge that led across the river to
the king';s doors. The water flowed dark and swift and strong beneath; and at
the far end were gates before the mouth of a huge cave that ran into the side
of a steep slope covered with trees. There the great beeches came right down to
the bank, till their feet were in the stream.
[...] Inside the passages were lit with read torchlight,
and the elf-guards sang as they marched along the twisting, crossing, and
echoing paths. These were not like those of the goblin-cities; they were
smaller, less deep underground, and filled with a cleaner air. In a great hall
with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of
carven wood." [H, ch. 9 pg. 155]
" 'There is no escape from my magic doors for
those who are once brought inside.'" [Ibid.]
Magic shut the gates. See H, pg. 157
"The great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the
lowest regions of the palace, and joined the Forest River some way further to
the east, beyond the steep slope out of which the main mouth opened. Where this
underground watercourse came forth from the hillside there was a water-gate.
There the rocky roof came down close to the surface of the stream, and from it
a portcullis could be dropped right to the bed of the river to prevent anyone
coming in or out that way. But the portcullis was often open, for a good deal
of traffic went out and in by the water-gate. If anyone had come in that way,
he would have found himself in a dark rough tunnel leading deep into the heart
of the hill; but at one point where it passed under the caves the roof had been
cut away and covered with great oaken trapdoors. These opened upwards into the
king's cellars." [H, ch. 9 pg. 159-160]
It is said in The Lord of the Rings that the Dwarves helped in the making of the halls of King Thranduil
under the hill in Mirkwood. [See TTT Book III ch. VIII, pg. 534] But in Unfinished
Tales"[...] Thranduil established his realm in the
north-east of the forest and delved there a fortress and great halls
underground. Oropher was of Sindarin origin, and no doubt Thranduil his son was
following the example of King Thingol long before, in Doriath; though his halls
were not to be compared with Menegroth. He had not the arts nor the wealth nor
the aid of the Dwarves [...]" [UT, pg. 259]
*
14) Lothlórien
The land ruled by Celeborn and Galadriel between the rivers Celebrant and
Anduin."[Lórien was] peopled by those Elves who forsook
the Great Journey [...] and settled in the woods of the Vales of Anduin." [UT
236; See Sil pg. 94] It was a Nandorin realm of Silvan Elves.
Of the Galadhrim: " 'Indeed deep in the woods
they dwell,' said Aragorn." [FOTR, Book II ch. VI, pg. 329]
" 'It is told that she (Nimrodel) had a house
built in the branches of a tree that grew near the falls; for that was the
custom of the Elves of Lórien, to dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so
still. Therefore they were called the Galadhrim, the Tree-people. Deep in their
forest the trees are very great. The people of the woods did not delve in the
ground like Dwarves, nor build strong places of stone before the Shadow
came.'" [Ibid. pg. 332]
"Out of the shadows a ladder was let down: it was
made of rope, silver-grey and glimmering in the dark, and though it looked
slender it proved strong enough to bear many men. [...] The branches of the
mallorn-tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept upward;
but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs, and among
these they found that there had been built a wooden platform, or flet as such things were called in those days: the Elves called it a talan. It was reached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder
passed." [Ibid. pg. 333-334]
"[The flet] had no walls, not even a rail; only
on one side was there a light plaited screen, which could be moved and fixed in
different places according to the wind." [Ibid. pg. 335]
Caras Galadhon:
"Upon the further side [of a deep fosse] there
rose to a great height a green wall encircling a green hill thronged with mallorn-trees
taller than any they had yet seen in all the land. Their height could not be
guessed, but they stood up in the twilight like living towers. In their
many-tiered branches and amid their ever-moving leaves countless lights were
gleaming, green and gold and silver. [...]
'Welcome to Caras Galadhon!' he (Haldir) said. 'Here
is the city of the Galadhrim where dwell the Lord Celeborn and Galadriel the
Lady of Lórien. But we cannot enter here, for the gates do not look northward.
We must go round to the southern side, and the way is not short, for the city
is great.'
There was a road paved with white stone running on the
outer brink of the fosse. Along this they went westward, with the city ever
climbing up like a green cloud upon their left; [...] They came at last to a
white bridge, and crossing found the great gates of the city: they faced
south-west, set between the ends of the encircling wall that here overlapped,
and they were tall and strong, and hung with many lamps.
Haldir knocked and spoke, and the gates opened
soundlessly [...]. The travellers passed within, and the gates shut behind them.
They were in a deep lane between the ends of the wall, and passing quickly
through it they entered the City of the Trees. [...]
They went along many paths and climbed many stairs,
until they came to the high places and saw before them amid a wide lawn a
fountain shimmering. It was lit by silver lamps that swung from the boughs of
trees, and fell into a basin of silver, from which a white stream spilled. Upon
the south side of the lawn there stood the mightiest of all the trees; [...]
beside it a broad white ladder stood. [...]
As he climbed slowly up Frodo passed many flets: some
on one side, some on another, and some set about the bole of the tree, so that
the ladder passed through them. At a great height above the ground he came to a
wide talan, like the deck of a great ship. On
it was built a house, so large that almost it would have served for a hall of
Men upon the earth. He entered behind Haldir, and found that he was in a
chamber of oval shape, in the midst of which grew the trunk of the great
mallorn, now tapering towards its crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide
girth.
The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls
were green and silver and its roof of gold." [FOTR Book II ch. VII, pg.
344-345]
Telain/Flets
"[...] a high talan
or fletor
fletsSuch an outlook post, used by the wardens of the north
marches, was the flet in which Frodo spent
the night. The abode of Celeborn in Caras Galadhon was also of the same origin:
its highest flet, which the Fellowship
of the Ring did not see, was the highest point in the land. Earlier the flet of Amroth at the top of the great mound or hill of Cerin Amroth, piled
by the labour of many hands, had been the highest, and was principally designed
to watch Dol Guldur across the Anduin. The conversion of these telain into permanent dwellings was a later development, and only in Caras
Galadhon were such dwellings numerous. But Caras Galadhon was itself a
fortress, and only a small part of the Galadhrim dwelt within its walls. Living
in such lofty houses was no doubt at first thought remarkable, and Amroth was
probably the first to do so, unless it was Nimrodel. Maybe it was from her that
Amroth took the idea of living in a high flet."
[UT, pg. 245-246]
It is said by Legolas in the FOTR
(quote given above) that it was the custom of the Elves of Lórien to dwell in
trees, and thus Nimrodel did so also. Here in UT, however, the opposite is
asserted: it is said that Nimrodel was the first to dwell on a flet,
and from her Amroth, and after him his people, adopted the idea.
***
Reference Key:
Sil = The Silmarillion; Houghton Mifflin
Company paperback, 1983.
UT = Unfinished Tales; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980.
LT I = The Book of Lost Tales, Volume I; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.
LT II = The Book of Lost Tales, Volume II; Houghton Mifflin Company,
1984.
Lays = The Lays of Beleriand; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985.
SM = The Shaping of Middle-earth; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1986.
LR = The Lost Road; DelRay, Ballantine
H = The Hobbit; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.
FOTR = The Fellowship of the Ring
TTT = The Two Towers
ROTK = The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings; Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1994.
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