Rivendell 1.20.2/1.20.1/1.20/1.19.2/1.19.1/1.19/1.18/1.17.1/Forge/Fabric projects minecraft

"Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, `a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Ch.1, 'Many Meetings'

Rivendell

Lore

This is ArdaCraft's recreation of Rivendell (also known as Imladris), an elven outpost on the edge of the Misty Mountains hidden in a remote valley. Because of its location, it was called "The Last Homely House East of the Sea" from the point of view of a traveller heading towards the Misty Mountains and Wilderland. By the time of The Lord of the Rings, it had been continuously inhabited for over 4700 years by the Elves, under the lordship of Elrond.

Rivendell had a strong alliance with the Kings of Arnor, and after the fall of Arthedain it became a refuge for the Rangers of the North and the heirs of Isildur. Besides Elrond himself, notable Elves who lived there included Arwen and Glorfindel.

More lore

During the War of the Elves and Sauron, and as Sauron was moving against Eriador, Elrond led an army of Elves of Lindon to the region. Forced northward toward the headwaters of Bruinen by the armies of Sauron, Elrond established a stronghold.

This became a refuge for those seeking shelter from Sauron's onslaught in Eriador, and Elrond's and Celeborn's Elves were soon joined by many fleeing the Sack of Eregion. By S.A. 1700, Sauron had overrun all of Eriador and Imladris was besieged. The siege ended when the forces of Gil-galad (the High King of the Noldor, who lived in the Grey Havens) routed Sauron's armies and drove him out of Eriador.

A Council held at that time made Elrond Gil-galad's vice-regent in Eriador, and Imladris his seat. Gil-galad bestowed Vilya upon Elrond in secret. Aided by the power of the Elven ring, Elrond made Imladris one of the chief seats of Elvish strength in the west in the latter part of the Second Age. Imladris remained an Elvish stronghold in Eriador to the end of the Second Age and into the Third.

At the end of the Second Age, Elendil and Gil-galad formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men to challenge Sauron, and their host halted for a while at Imladris before crossing the Misty Mountains. Isildur's wife and his youngest son, Valandil, were in Imladris at that time, and Isildur was journeying back to them after Sauron's defeat when he was ambushed at the Gladden Fields. After receiving the shards of Narsil, Valandil took up his role as King of Arnor and left Imladris for Annúminas.

After the death of Gil-galad, Elrond remained in Imladris. During the Third Age it was a refuge and sanctuary; many Elves gathered there, and it was the chief dwelling of the High Elves in Eriador. The heirs of Isildur were also harboured there due to their kinship with Elrond, as descendants of his brother Elros. Rivendell maintained this relationship with the North Kingdom throughout the Third Age, and Elrond and his people remained steadfast allies to the heirs of Isildur.

Danger came to Eriador around T.A. 1300 when the witch-kingdom of Angmar was established in the north-east beyond the Ettenmoors. It was late in the reign of Arveleg I that Rivendell was besieged by Angmar. After an incursion by Angmar into Eriador in T.A. 1409, the Elves of Rivendell joined those of Lindon in subduing the power of the Witch-king for many years.

After the end of the North-kingdom in T.A. 1975 Aranarth, the first Chieftain of the Dúnedain, had his son fostered in Rivendell, as were all subsequent sons of the chieftains. The heirlooms and treasures of the house of Isildur, including the shards of Narsil, were also kept there after Arvedui's death. Among these were also some of the few remaining documents containing the history of Númenor.

In the Quest of Erebor, Bilbo Baggins stopped off at Rivendell with the Dwarves on the way to the Lonely Mountain and also on the way back to the Shire with Gandalf. Bilbo retired there after his 111th birthday, writing his memoir 'There and Back Again'.

Years later, Frodo Baggins and his companions journeyed to Rivendell, where they met Bilbo. Several other Elves, Dwarves and Men had also arrived at Rivendell on separate errands; at the Council of Elrond they learned that all of their errands were related to the fate of the One Ring. At that Council, the Fellowship of the Ring was formed.

Construction

Rivendell started as a huge bowl of sand, which was voxeled by the two project leaders. Trees and vegetation were added, and the biomes and blocks carefully edited by hand to acheive the best result possible. The house itself was drafted around 14 times before the final design was settled upon. As always, we paid the utmost attention to the lore, and every aspect of the House is represented - from the rooms Tolkien described to paintings and tapestries on the walls depicting the history of the Elves.

Furthermore, our focus on realism means that there are various workshops in the house's cellars and farmed gardens around the house, meaning that the Elves who lived there could be nearly entirely self-sufficient (excluding shipments of grain from the Dúnedain who farmed lands to the south-west).

A possible inspiration could have been Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, which Tolkien visited in 1911:

"I am... delighted that you have made the acquaintance of Switzerland, and of the very part that I once knew best and which had the deepest effect on me. The hobbit’s journey from Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, including the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods, is based on my adventures in 1911 [he was 19 and travelled to Lauterbrunnen]... Our wanderings mainly on foot in a party of 12 are not now clear in sequence, but leave many vivid pictures as clear as yesterday."

As such, we based many aspects of the valley off Lauterbrunnen. Furthermore, Tolkien painted a watercolour of the valley itself, which is included in the slideshow above. This was our primary source for the valley's layout.

For anyone who is interested in seeing a detailed timeline of the valley's construction, the Rivendell project thread on our forums provides a good overview.

The entire valley is filled with little details which no amount of screenshots could do justice to - we highly recommend you come and see it for yourself!

Rivendell forms part of a larger project which seeks to recreate Middle-earth in its entirety. Credit goes to wheellee and jacenpeter for leading this project, and to the entire community of builders for helping out.

Rivendell can be viewed from above on ArdaCraft's dynmap. There is no download avaliable, but ArdaCraft is a non-whitelisted server which anyone is welcome to come and explore, provided they have installed our modpack first.

All information can be found on our website.