Have you seen it yet? The new Amazon TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is finally here!  And while not everyone in the world is a Tolkien fan (for some unknown reason), for those of us who are, this is a big deal.  We are seeing depictions of places in Middle-earth that we never thought we’d see on screen. 

Which got me thinking – of all the varied geography, of all the distinct realms, anywhere on the map of Middle-earth – which is my favorite?  If the impossible was possible and I could live anywhere in Middle-earth, where would it be?

And, like the hobbit Sam, I’m afraid I’m torn in two. There are two places, each quite different from the other, that speak to me, two places I would be equally delighted to dwell in. 

The Shire

I can think of nothing better than spending summer in the Shire.  That’s probably when it’s at its best. Strawberries and cream. The fragrance of flowers filling the air. And all the rich fields and quiet lanes bathed in clean, warm sunlight. From Michel Delving to the Old Forest, from the North Farthing to Longbottom, I would want to see it all. 

When I think of the Shire, I think of Bilbo’s poetic description.  I think “of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been; of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that were.”  I think of fertile fields lined with well-ordered hedgerows.  And I picture a busy night in the Green Dragon, drinks and laughter flowing.  

And I think of hobbits: simple folk, simple in the best sense. The kind you want as neighbors. Friendly folk who are quick to jest. Those who remain generous, steady, and content year after year.  Because, when you’re surrounded by the beauty of the Shire, how can you not be content?  When you know that each summer will be as rich as the last, when each harvest will be as bountiful as before, and winter is just a reminder that spring will come again.

And in the Shire alone, of all the places in Middle-earth, is a glimpse of Lothlorien, my other would-be home.  For in the newly-scoured Shire, on the foundation of the old tree in the Party Field, a new tree took root. And not just any tree – a mallorn, with silver bark and golden flowers.  An Elven gift for the blessed and beloved Shire. 

Lothlorien

I’m not fluent in Elvish, sadly, but I believe the translation of Lothlorien is dream flower.  According to Treebeard (and he would know), the old Elvish name for it was Laurelindorenan, or Land of the Valley of Singing Gold.  I would love to look out of my window and see dream flowers in a valley of singing gold. 

Whatever it’s called, to me, this is the one place in all of Middle-earth most like Aman, the Blessed Realm.  Heaven on earth.

Sure, I’d like to see Gondolin, but I’m too claustrophobic to go through the mountain tunnel to get there. And I’d want to walk in the woods of Doriath and feel the power that protects that realm. But I would choose to live in Lothlorien – a land where elves reside and peace reigns.  “On the land of Lorien no shadow lay.”

Or as Sam so aptly put it, it’s “like being at home and on a holiday at the same time.”  

To look out upon Lorien is like seeing something both new and familiar.  When Frodo first opened his eyes there, he saw colors he knew but they were fresh and alive.  He was seeing what he had seen his whole life, but he was seeing it anew in the light of Lorien.  “A light was upon it for which his language had no name.”  I want to make my home in that light. 

But not just anywhere in this enchanted land: one place in particular – the hill of Cerin Amroth, a place awash with memory and meaning.  For here on a Midsummer’s Eve long ago, an elf maiden and a mortal man stood together, drawn together. And a choice was made, the shadow was rejected, and hope was renewed.     

Hope.  The land of Lothlorien is full of it.  And I would want to bask in its golden glow. To lie down in a bed of elanor and niphredil, to gaze up at the star of Earendil through the mallorn trees, to breathe the mystical air.  To do “little but eat and drink and rest, and walk among the trees.”  And just like it was for the Company when they went there, that would be enough for me, too.   

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I may never be a resident of Middle-earth, but I can be a frequent visitor in the pages of these books I love so much. Works that speak of lost tales and far away places, of deeds of long ago, of a world that doesn’t exist but that you almost wish did. 

And now I can go to Middle-earth onscreen also, thanks to Amazon. Will you tune in as well?

If so, I’ll see you there.  I’ll meet you in Middle-earth, for a little while. 

(All quotations from The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien)