Middle-Earth Tours

Tour 2: The Places of Middle-Earth

Lothlórien

image from the FotR DVD		 There lie the woods of Lothlórien!' said Legolas. 'That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime!' --FotR, "Lothlórien"
As they spoke thus, the Company filed slowly along the paths in the wood, led by Haldir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground beneath their feet smooth and soft, and after a while they walked more freely, without fear of hurt or fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo found his hearing and other senses sharpened. He could smell the trees and the trodden grass. He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade. --FotR, "Lothlórien"
Lorien, by Catherine Karina Chmiel

The Great Tree at Caras
Galadon, by Ted Nasmith

 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 it 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 trees; its great smooth bole gleamed like grey silk, and up it towered, until its first branches, far above, opened their huges limbs under shadowy clouds of leaves. Beside it a broad ladder stood, and at its foot three Elves were seated....
    'Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel,' said Haldir. 'It is their wish that you should ascend and speak with them.' --FotR, "The Mirror of Galadriel"

image from Decipher

 Suddenly they came out into open land again and found themselves under a pale evening sky pricked by a few early stars. There was a wide treeless space before them, running in a great circle and bending away on either hand. Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone. Upon the further side there rose to a great height a green wall encircling a green hill thronged will 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. --FotR, "the Mirror of Galadriel"

set pic from the official movie site
image from a TV commercial


screen capture courtesy of IGN
production art from the official
movie site
The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls were green and silver and its roof of gold. Many Elves were seated there. On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood up to greet their guests, after the manner of Elves, even those who were accounted mighty kings. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory. --FotR, "The Mirror of Galadriel"

image from the Cannes film
booklet on the official movie site
Galadriel and Celeborn, pic
courtesy of the official movie site
image from a Decipher
trading card

The Mirror of Galadriel


Galadriel's Mirror, by David Wyatt

 The Mirror of Galadriel and the banks of the Silverlode (from "Farewell to Lorien") each have their own pages. Click on the images at left or right to explore further. The Banks of the Silverlode


Farewell to Lorien, by Ted Nasmith


For more on Lorien, visit the Galadriel page and the Galadriel's Journey Specialty Tour
Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien.