Middle-Earth (Specialty) Tours

Three Ages of Elvish Homes
At first read, you might find it difficult to put a finger on Elvish "style"; after all, they live so many different places and adapt themselves so completely to each of them. Then again, that is precisely their nature. They are bound to Middle-earth in a way no human can fully understand, and so they do adapt themselves competely to their surroundings.
The first great homes of Elves were in Valinor, before and during the First Age. The Noldor built Tirion atop Mount Túna, while the Teleri chose Alqualondë as their home and constructed the great Swan Ships there.
The Haven of the Swans,
by Roger Garland
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. Few are the ships of mortal Men that have seen its slender beam. --The Silmarillion, "Of Eldamar"
Eärendil Searches Tirion,
by Ted Nasmith
Of pearl were the mansions of of Olwë at Alqualondë, the Haven of the Swans, lit with many lamps. For that was their city, and the haven of their ships; and those were made in the likeness of swans, with beaks of gold and eyes of gold and jet. The gate of that harbor was an arch of living rock sea-carved; and it lay upon the confines of Eldamar, north of the Calcirya, where the light of the stars was bright and clear. --The Silmarillion, "Of Eldamar"

Luthien Escapes the Treehouse,
by Ted Nasmith		 Menegroth, "The Thousand Caves," was home to Thingol, Melian, and Lúthien Tinúviel. Although The Silmarillion calls it "the fairest dwelling of any king that has ever been east of the Sea," we have precious few pictures of the place -- and none that truly do justice to its beauty.

The pillars of Menegroth were hewn in the likeness of the beeches of Oromë, stock, bough, and leaf, and they were lit with lanterns of gold. The nightingales sang there as in the gardens of Lórien; 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 the pillars, or peered among the branches entwined with many flowers. --The Silmarillion, "Of the Sindar"

Nargothrond was built by Galadriel's brother Finrod. Following the advice of Thingol, he settled beside the River Narog and built his home within its rocky western banks. Unfortunately, Finrod perished in the pits of Sauron just a few centuries later. The rule of Nargothrond then passed to his brother Orodreth, who died defending the realm from Glaurung and the hordes of Morgoth.
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 labor Finrod was aided by the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains; and they were rewarded well, for Finrod had brought more treasures out of Tirion than any other of the princes of the Noldor. And in that time was made for him the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, most renowned of their works in the Elder Days. --The Silmarillion, "Of the Return of the Noldor"
The Host of Nargothrond, by
Anke-Katrin Eiszmann
Finduilas is Led Past Turin at the Sack of Nargothrond, by Ted Nasmith
Nargothrond is the one Elvish home to have a marked Dwarvish influence. Perhaps you can see a bit of it in these pictures.
Menegroth may have been the most beautiful of the ancient Elvish cities, but it can't match the mystique of the famous hidden city of Gondolin.

The Battle of Gondolin,
by John Howe

 Turgon went forth, and by the guidance of Ulmo he discovered the hidden vale of Tumladen in the Encircling Mountains, in the midst of which there was a hill of stone. Of this he spoke to none as yet, but returned once more to Nevrast, and there began in his secret counsels to devise the plan of a city after the manner of Tirion upon Túna. --The Sil., "Of the Return of the Noldor"

Tuor Reaches the Hidden City
of Gondolin, by Ted Nasmith

The Fall of Gondolin,
by John Howe		 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 the dwellings of the Elves in the Hither Lands. --The Silmarillion, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
The host of Morgoth came over the northern hills where the height was greatest and the watch least vigilant, and it came at night upon a time of festival, when all the people of Gondolin were upon the walls to await the rising sun....But the red light mounted the hills in the north and not in the east, and there was no stay in the advance of the foe until they were beneath the very walls of Gondolin, and the city was beleaguered without hope. --The Silmarillion, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
Fall of Gondolin,
by Roger Garland
Like Nargothrond and Gondolin, Menegroth lay in ruins by the end of the First Age -- sacked by Dwarves as the other two cities had been sacked by the hordes of Morgoth. Then Beleriand itself was destroyed as the Valar at last overcame their ancient foe, so that nothing of the great ancient cities remained. Still, Middle-earth in the Third Age has its own unique charms. We turn first to King Thranduil's halls in Mirkwood Forest.
Inside the passages were lit with red torch-light, 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. --The Hobbit, "Barrels out of Bond"

Thranduil and his subjects were Wood-Elves, Quendi who declined the Valar's summons to Valinor before the First Age of the World.


Thranduil's Halls, by Alan Lee
Thorin, Prisoner of the Elves,
by Michael Hague
Rivendell was settled somewhere in the middle of the Second Age and endured through all of the Third. Its "King" (if he could be called such) was Elrond Half-elven, whose father was Eärendil the Mariner and whose mother was Elwing, granddaughter of Lúthien. Despite its beauty and seeming fragility, Rivendell was a key stronghold of the Elves during the battles of the Second and Third Ages. Elrond himself was the secret wielder of Vilya, one of the three Elven Rings of Power.

Rivendell, by David Wyatt
Rivendell, by Alan Lee
The Last Homely House,
by Alan Lee
His [Elrond's] house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley. -- The Hobbit, "A Short Rest"

The Council of Elrond, pic courtesy of theonering.net
Elrond and Arwen, pic courtesy of theonering.net
image from a screensaver on the official movie site.
It was Galadriel's strength and vision which turned Lothlórien, a pre-existing settlement of Sindarin and Noldorin Elves, into one of the wonders of Middle-Earth. As Elrond used Vilya to preserve Rivendell, so Galadriel used the Ring Nenya to turn Lórien into the famed "Golden Wood."

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. --FotR, "Lothlórien"
The Mirror of Galdriel,
by Alan Lee

Cerin Amroth, by Alan Lee
Galadriel's Mirror, by David Wyatt

image from Decipher		 Frodo looked up and caught his breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Spring-time in the Elder days. Upon it, as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the centre of all there gleamed a white flet....
    'Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. --FotR, "Lothlórien"
Upon the further side 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. --FotR, "The Mirror of Galadriel"

image from the official movie site
Galadriel and Celeborn, pic
courtesy of the official movie site
The Great Tree at Caras
Galadon, by Ted Nasmith

The Gray Havens, by John Howe

 Last but not least, we come to the Grey Havens, home to the oldest living Elf outside Valinor: Círdan the Shipwright, sometime wielder of the third Elven Ring. Though less awe-inspiring than the other Ring-wrought Elf realms, the Grey Havens played an equally important role in the history of Middle-earth. In fact, it is the same role they will play in our tour of Elvish homes: delivering us back to our starting point in Valinor.

The End of the Age, by
Ted Nasmith
The Gray Havens, by David Wyatt
Upon the shores of the Gulf of Lhûn the Elves built their havens, and named them Mithlond; and there they held many ships, for the harbourage was good. From the Grey Havens the Eldar ever and anon set sail, fleeing from the darkness of the days of Earth; for by the mercy of the Valar the Firstborn could still follow the Straight Road and return, if they would, to their kindred in Eressëa and Valinor beyond the encircling seas. --The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien and the official LotR movie site.