Day 96: Rivendell at Last!

The time has finally come. At 465.64 miles (749.37 km), I have made it to Rivendell! The journey took me a little over three months to complete, a much greater time than it took the hobbits. But I live in a very different world from that of Middle Earth. For the hobbits, reaching Rivendell, and the Last Homely House, was a big turning point in the story. It was a respite from the horrors already experienced and a transition to the struggle for good they would be thrust into shortly. For me, reaching Rivendell was but one goal on a journey that will take me a year and which promises to be interesting, but not perilous.

To get back to the story at hand, reaching Rivendell was the end of a fortnight flight from the Black Riders for Aragorn and the hobbits. There is little written about most of that fortnight outside of a few pages detailing the overall journey, the encounter with Bilbo’s stone trolls, and the flight to the ford of Bruinen in the end. The flight to the ford is something I have always paid special attention to, especially since the movie adaptions greatly changed the significance of the scenes. The most noted absence in the movie adaption of that scene which was fairly important in the books was the appearance of Glorfindel, one of the high elves. Glorfindel is an important character to Middle Earth who is often overlooked, even though he had a long history with the conflict in Tolkien’s story.

Many years before the occurrences in Lord of the Rings, Glorfindel was present at the Fall of Gondolin during the First Age. Though Gondolin was conquered by the Dark Lord Morgoth, Glorfindel and some others managed to escape into the surrounding mountain. Here they were ambushed by a Balrog whom Glorfindel managed to kill single-handedly. His name became a byword in elvish society for strength and courage. Later on, during the beginning of the Third Age, Glorfindel led the elvish forces against the forces of Angmar in the Battle of Fornost. He fought alongside Eärnur who would later become king of Gondor. Though they are confronted by Sauron, a servant of Morgoth whom Glorfindel had fought thousands of years prior, the dark lord manages to escape. It is in this battle that Glorfindel foretells Sauron’s fall in the future (the one in which Eowyn will come to fulfill).

The long story of Glorfindel is long, but an important one to Lord of the Rings. For in Frodo’s flight to the Ford and his brief defiance against the Black Riders even as he fades, Glorfindel reveals himself in full wrath of an Elf Lord. Later when Frodo feasted in the Hall of Fire with the other guests of Elrond he would note about the elf, “Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength.” (The Fellowship of the Ring). Glorfindel was one of the few who were able to stand against the Ringwraiths. Though his character isn’t significant to the overall storyline of Lord of the Rings he is an important character in the history of Middle Earth and one I have always been enthralled with. But the time has come for me to move on from Glorfindel and focus back on the hobbits as they are the main characters in this adventure.

For the hobbits it appeared that they had finally reached the end of their journey. They had made it to Rivendell with great peril and the ring was safe with Elrond and the elves. Frodo noted how differently his adventure was from Bilbo’s but he looked forward to returning home to the Shire. It is this desire that greatly stood out to me. This desire would come into play when Frodo attended the Council of Elrond. During the council, we learn much more about the perilous history of the ring and the horrors facing Middle Earth. In light of this horror, many important figures from across Middle Earth, representing many different races, had converged on Rivendell. Here Frodo is faced with the decision whether or not to return home to the Shire or to bear the rind hence to its destruction and the salvation of Middle Earth. Frodo was but a hobbit cast into the wars and struggles of an entire world, which crossed racial lines and affected every nook and cranny of Middle Earth. His desire to return to the Shire was great, but he put it on the backburner for a while in order to be part of something much greater than himself, but still something that could not have been accomplished without him.

It is in Rivendell that I really became aware of how remarkable a character Frodo is. He has his ups, downs, strengths, and flaws. He is trying to make his way in a world that he little understands. But these all work together to make him the hobbit he is and to highlight the sacrifices he makes and trials he endures over the course of the story. As Gandalf once told Frodo, “Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch.” (The Fellowship of the Ring)

The Road Goes Ever On and On,
~ Daisy Buttons