Rivendell

Rivendell (Sindarin for 'Imladris') is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth. It is also referred to as 'The Last Homely House East of the Sea,' a reference to Valinor, which is west of the sea. It is established by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth (four or five thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings). He resides there until his journey across the sea, for some of the time with the company of his wife Celebrian and their two sons, and mostly eternally with his daughter, Arwen. Besides Elrond himself, notable Elves who live there include the aforementioned Arwen, future Queen of Gondor, and Glorfindel.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins stops off at Rivendell with the dwarves on the way to the Lonely Mountain and on the way back to the Shire with Gandalf. He describes it as "a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all."

In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins and his Hobbit companions journey to Rivendell, where they meet with Bilbo, who had retired there after his "Long-Expected Party". Several other Elves, Dwarves and Men also arrive at Rivendell on separate errands; at the Council of Elrond they learn that all of their errands are related to the fate of the One Ring, and they must decide what to do about it. In the end, it is the Hobbits who influence the decision.

There is a large hall with a dais and several tables for feasting. Another hall, the Hall of Fire, has a fire in it all year round with carven pillars on either side of the hearth; it is used for singing and story telling on high days but stands empty the rest of the time so people can go there for quiet and thinking. The eastern side of the house has a porch where Frodo Baggins finds his friends once he awakens and where the Council of Elrond is held.

Rivendell is located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Bruinen (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from the nearby Ford of Bruinen), but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Hithaeglir or the Misty Mountains.

Rivendell was protected from attack (mainly by the River Bruinen, Elrond, and Elven magic), but Elrond himself says that Rivendell is a place of peace and learning, not a stronghold of battle. There were a few assaults on Rivendell in various video games, and they were either failures or successes depending on whether Sauron found the Ring (Obviously, if Rivendell was indeed attacked, then the assaults inevitably failed).

The valley of Imladris (within which Rivendell is situated) was based upon the landscape of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Tolkien was said to have journey to this region, his original painting of Rivendell significantly similar to the Lauterbrunnen itself.

Etymology
The Sindarin name for Rivendell (which is a translation thereof) is Imladris, meaning "deep valley of the cleft".

External link

 * Rivendell at Tolkien Gateway