Lothlórien | |
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J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location | |
Other name(s) |
Lórien Lórinand Laurelindórenan Golden Wood The Hidden Land Dwimordene |
Type | Refuge of the Elves Hidden Refuge |
Ruler | Amdír, Amroth (Second Age), Celeborn and Galadriel (Second and Third Ages) |
Notable locations | Caras Galadhon, Cerin Amroth, Egladil, the Nimrodel, the Silverlode |
Location | western Wilderland |
Lifespan | Founded circa S.A. 1350 Abandoned by F.A. 119 |
Capital | Caras Galadhon |
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Lothlórien or Lórien is the fairest realm of the Elves remaining in Middle-earth during the Third Age.
The realm, a broad woodland valley, plays an important part in The Lord of the Rings as the Elven centre of resistance against Sauron and is a symbol for the Elves' aesthetics of preservation which provides a space 'out of time' for the characters who both live and visit there. With Lothlórien, Tolkien reconciles otherwise conflicting ideas regarding time-distortion in Elfland from various traditional sources such as Thomas the Rhymer (13th/14th century) and the Danish folk-play Elverhøj (1828).
Tolkien gave the same forest many different names:
The form Lórinand was also rendered in Quenya as Laurenandë and in Sindarin as Glornan or Nan Laur, all of the same meaning. Other, later names given to the land included the much later Rohirric name Dwimordene (from dwimor "phantom", an allusion to the perceived magic of the Elves), and the Westron name The Golden Wood.
Early in the First Age some of the Eldar left the Great March and settled in the lands east of the Misty Mountains. These elves became known as the Nandor and later the Silvan Elves. By S.A. 1200 Galadriel had made contact with an existing Nandorin realm, Lindórinand, in the area that would later be known as Lothlórien, and planted there the golden mallorn trees which Gil-galad had received as a gift from Tar-Aldarion.