The Sorrowful Tale of Rivendell After LotR

Following the destruction of the One Ring, the Fourth Age, an age of men, was dawning.

And the time of the Elves in Middle-earth was drawing to a close.

But what became of the fair house of Elrond once the Elves had left?

In the Peter Jackson movies, the Elves of Rivendell had already begun to depart and seek the Grey Havens, whilst the War of the Ring was still being fought in the South.

Therefore, it may surprise you to learn that this was not the case in the books.

In fact, many notable Elves dwelt in Rivendell long into the reign of King Elessar and Queen Arwen.

And there was another noteworthy character who also visited the Elves of Rivendell several times before they faded entirely from the shores of Middle-earth.

Rivendell, which is called Imladris in the Elven tongue of Sindarin, had long stood as a safe haven, perched upon the borders of the wild, a place of profound wisdom, of healing, of counsel, and of hope.

These virtues were protected and strengthened by the grace of Vilya, the most powerful of all the Rings of Power besides the One itself, which was borne by the Lord Elrond.

Now these were the Three that had last been made, and they possessed the greatest powers. Narya, Nenya, and Vilya, they were named, the Rings of Fire, and of Water, and of Air, set with ruby and adamant and sapphire; and of all the Elven-rings Sauron most desired to possess them, for those who had them in their keeping could ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world.

But with the destruction of the One Ring, the Elven Rings lost their powers, for they were tied to the fate of the One.

Therefore, Elrond knew that the Elves must finally begin to depart from Rivendell.

The beauty and grace of which would now begin to fade.

And so, plans were made for the long voyage, and it was decided that Elrond was to be one of the Elves given a place of high honor upon the white ship.

And sail alongside Frodo and Bilbo.

Consequently, in the final year of the Third Age, Elrond made ready to depart.

Having established Rivendell long ago as a sanctuary during the wars of the Second Age.

And having dwelt there as Lord for nearly 5,000 years, he finally said his last goodbye to his long home in Middle-earth.

From Rivendell, he passed west to the Grey Havens, where the ship awaited him.

Aside from Elrond and the two Hobbits, the white ship would also carry Galadriel and Gandalf across the sea.

Thus, all three of the keepers of the Elven Rings set sail together.

And with their departure, on the 29th of September, in the year 3021, the Third Age of Middle-earth came to an end.

Rivendell would have now felt hollow in the absence of its founder and Lord.

However, although Elrond had departed, his two sons, Elladan and Elrohir, remained at Rivendell with some of their household who did not yet wish to depart.

There, though Elrond had departed, his sons long remained, together with some of the High-elven folk.

It is said that Celeborn went to dwell there after the departure of Galadriel; but there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth.

This quote informs us that Celeborn, husband of Galadriel, also relocated to Rivendell after the departure of the white ship.

The Lord of the Galadhrim had remained behind when Galadriel sailed into the West.

Choosing to linger a while longer in Middle-earth and to rule for a time over the southern half of Mirkwood, which had been renamed Greenwood the Great.

Yet before long, he grew weary of East Lorien and began his own westward journey.

First coming to Rivendell and dwelling there for a time.

With him would have likely come a contingent of the Galadhrim.

For the song that had filled that land had faded into silence.

And light no longer glimmered amongst the high flets.

But after the passing of Galadriel in a few years Celeborn grew weary of his realm and went to Imladris to dwell with the sons of Elrond.

In the Greenwood the Silvan Elves remained untroubled, but in Lorien there lingered sadly only a few of its former people, and there was no longer light or song in Caras Galadhon.

And so, Rivendell would have become a haven for those pilgrims who undertook the long journey from Lothlórien to the Grey Havens.

The path was arduous, winding through wild lands and over mountain passes.

And Rivendell offered a central respite before the final leg of that journey.

Yet not all who came to Rivendell during these waning years were Elves bound for the Undying Lands.

We know of at least one other visitor who returned to Imladris on multiple occasions.

Tolkien tells us that Meriadoc Brandybuck likely received considerable aid from those dwelling in Rivendell as he compiled an extensive history of Númenor and of the rise of Sauron.

For learned Elves remained there, and they possessed knowledge that spanned millennia, and their libraries held records of ages long past.

Only here in the Shire were to be found extensive materials for the history of Númenor and the arising of Sauron. It was probably at Great Smials that The Tale of Years was put together, with the assistance of material collected by Meriadoc.

Though the dates given are often conjectural, especially for the Second Age, they deserve attention.

It is probable that Meriadoc obtained assistance and information from Rivendell, which he visited more than once.

Beyond this point, the chronicles of the Fourth Age grow more dim and fragmented.

Therefore, the fate of Elladan and Elrohir is uncertain.

Being children of Elrond, they would have been offered the same choice as their sister Arwen.

To pass into the West, or to remain in Middle-earth and forsake their immortality.

Following instead, the fleeting path of men.

Yet, no record survives to tell us which fate they chose.

It seems more probable, however, that they took their leave of Middle-earth before the time of Aragorn's death in the year 120 of the Fourth Age.

As when the great king passed away, no mention was made of the sons of Elrond.

Who were great friends of Aragorn.

Nor do they appear in the sorrowful account of their sister Arwen's final months.

When she wandered alone to Lorien to lay herself down upon the hill of Cerin Amroth, consumed by grief.

Additionally, as Aragorn was laying upon his deathbed in Rath Dínen, he inadvertently provides us with another clue as to the fate of Rivendell.

For he speaks to Arwen of the North and mentions to her that the house of her father stood utterly abandoned.

Lady Undómiel, said Aragorn, the hour is indeed hard, yet it was made even in that day when we met under the white birches in the garden of Elrond where none now walk.

Aragorn, who ruled and dwelt in the Northern Kingdom, would have certainly possessed accurate knowledge regarding the comings and goings of the folk of Rivendell.

Thus his words are clear evidence that the sons of Elrond had departed from Rivendell by the time of his passing.

Celeborn too then, would have had to have left Rivendell by this point.

Although he had not yet sailed into the West.

For, he is said to have departed upon the very last Elven ship to leave Middle-earth.

Alongside Círdan.

And was therefore likely residing in the coastal lands of Lindon.

And with this in mind, we can determine that at some point before the year 120 of the Fourth Age.

The last Elves had departed from Rivendell.

And thus it would have stood silent beneath the northern sky.

The sanctuary, which had been frozen in time for nearly six millennia by the power of Vilya.

And carefully maintained by skilled Elven hands, would have finally begun to succumb to the slow decay of time.

Rivendell would have begun to return to what it had always been beneath the magic.

A hidden valley in the Misty Mountains, accessible only by secret paths.

Far from the roads that men would travel in ages to come.

This isolation, which had once been its strength, now would have become the seal on its abandonment.

Few would stumble upon it by accident.

For even without the power of Vilya, Rivendell remained remarkably well hidden in a deep mountain valley.

The only path was marked with white stones, some of which were small, and others were half covered with moss or heather.

Altogether it was a very slow business following the track, even guided by Gandalf, who seemed to know his way about pretty well.

His head and beard wagged this way and that as he looked for the stones, Bilbo's pony began to stumble over roots and stones.

They came to the edge of a steep fall in the ground so suddenly that Gandalf's horse nearly slipped down the slope.

Here it is at last!

He called, and the others gathered round him and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below.

They could hear the voice of hurrying water in a rocky bed at the bottom.

The scent of trees was in the air.

And there was a light on the valley-side across the water.

Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped in the dusk down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell.

Rivendell was indeed difficult to locate.

Hidden as it was within the folded valleys at the foot of the mountains.

But it was not impossible to find for those who possessed determination, knowledge, and perhaps a measure of fate guiding their steps.

We know from the events of The Lord of the Rings that both men and dwarves could indeed locate Rivendell.

Without the guidance of an Elf or a wizard.

For Boromir journeyed there alone from distant Gondor, driven by a prophetic dream.

Navigating treacherous lands and uncertain roads until he at last found the hidden valley.

And we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Half-elven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters.

Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.

Gimli too traveled from Erebor with his father, crossing vast stretches of wilderness to arrive at Imladris.

Proving that the last homely house, whilst well concealed, remained accessible to those with sufficient cause to seek it out.

Therefore, it is conceivable that some men and dwarves may have ventured to the abandoned valley.

Whether out of reverence, curiosity, or a desire to salvage what knowledge remained.

But as the generations passed and the immediate memory of the Elves faded.

Fewer and fewer travelers would have made the journey.

The path marked by the white stones would have become overgrown and been utterly forgotten.

What remained of the great library with its countless scrolls and books, containing lore and history stretching back to the Elder Days, would succumb to decay.

And within just a few centuries, much of it would have become illegible.

The buildings themselves would have withstood the years better, yet even stone weathers.

Plants would have found purchase in cracks and crevices, their roots slowly working the stone apart.

The courtyards would have vanished beneath creeping vines and saplings.

And without hands to repair and maintain, entropy will always win.

Century by century, Rivendell would have been slowly returned to nature.

The fate of Rivendell reflects a larger theme in Tolkien's work.

The passing of magic from the world.

The Elves departed, the Ents dwindled, the Dragons were slain.

And the Hobbits hid themselves away from the big folk.

Rivendell's abandonment and decay is part of this great fading.

Which was both necessary and profoundly sad.

Therefore, the question of what happened to Rivendell after the Elves departed is a question of loss and memory.

A question which each new generation must face, and in the story of Rivendell's fading, we find no easy answer.

Only the acknowledgement that in order to make way for the new and wondrous things that are to come, we must sometimes let go and allow the past to pass into myth and legend.

Thank you very much for tuning into Realms Unraveled.

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