Crossword Dictionary
RIVENDELL
Rivendell is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, being the place where the quest to destroy the One Ring began.
Rivendell's feeling of peace may have contributed to the popularity of The Lord of the Rings during the war-troubled 1960s. Scholars have noted that Rivendell was the home of Elvish song, from the hymn to Elbereth, recalling Tolkien's Catholicism, to the complex Song of Eärendil with its multiple poetic devices. Others have written that it resembles the Celtic Otherworld of TÃr na nÓg; and that it physically recalls the valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland where Tolkien had gone hiking in 1911.
Rivendell was founded in the Second Age after the dark lord Sauron's destruction of the Elvish land of Eregion. Rivendell remained as the only Elven settlement in eastern Eriador; Gil-galad gave Elrond the Ring Vilya, providing him with the power to protect Rivendell and slow the passage of time in its hidden valley: indeed, Rivendell kept its own calendar. Rivendell survived repeated attacks in the Third Age by the armies of the Witch-king of Angmar. Rivendell held the heirlooms of the Rangers of the North from the lost kingdom of Arnor, including the shards of Elendil's sword Narsil, the Sceptre of Annúminas, and the Star of Elendil. Elrond fostered the children of the heirs to Arnor's throne, the last being Aragorn. While in Rivendell, Aragorn met and fell in love with Elrond's daughter, Arwen.