The War of the Ring brought about a whole new and different era of Middle-earth from the previous ones. It marked the end of many things, the closing of many chapters in their history. It ended the evil with which Sauron had tainted the lands for hundreds of years and ushered in a new era of peace for the free peoples of the world, such as had never been known before, even in the fabled days of the Numenorians before their demise.
But besides ridding the world of the evil lord’s wickedness, it also ended the age of the elves, the oldest race of beings that had lived for thousands of years, since Eru created the lands and the Valar first sang songs. started singing from Middle-earth.
The elves’ farewell across the sea, as they journeyed west to their sanctuary in the Undying Lands, was a sad loss to Middle Earth, as they took with them much of the realm’s magic and beauty. The destruction of the one ring also left the three elven rings of power without their enchanting effects, meaning many of the ethereal kingdoms and abodes of the fair race also fell into disrepair.
Iconic places from all over Lord of the Rings and the hobbit trilogies like Mirkwood and Lorien became totally different after the war ended, for Mirkwood it became a greener, healthier place away from the malice of Dol-Guldur and the infection of the giant spiders, for Lorien it became an autumnal place, still beautiful , but devoid of the starlight of Galadriel’s ring Nenya. But perhaps the most famous fairy realm in both films is Rivendell, who was known for his healing and his wisdom. So what happened to Rivendell after the War of the Ring ended? Was it abandoned when the elves sailed to Valinor?
It is important to note that not all elves left Middle Earth right away. Their role in the world came to an end gradually and had already begun before the war even started. It was certainly hastened by the destruction of the one ring, which took the power of the three fairy rings that had brought so much light and magic into the world, but in reality the elves had grown restless to travel back across the sea for most of the time. of the Third Age, even before the Quest for Erebor set the wheels in motion for everything that followed.
So once the ring was destroyed, some immediately left, knowing their part to play was over, some broke up to find a cure, but some broke up more gradually and traveled around to say goodbye before making their final journey. . And there are even some examples of those who never left to sail west, for example Arwen, who stayed to love and rule alongside Aragorn, and later chose to be buried in the land of her youth in Lorien.
Both of Arwen’s brothers, Elrohir and Elladan, also chose to remain in Middle Earth, even after their father Lord Elrond left, and they remained in Rivendell, to ensure that the kingdom was not abandoned and ruined. . They were also joined by Celeborn, Galadriel’s husband who stayed for a few years to walk through Lorien’s trees. Before long, Celeborn began to diminish the forest in Galdriel’s absence, who had already left for the west with Elrond and many of the elven people, and he couldn’t bear to stay in Lorien and rule their once beautiful kingdom. dissolve into a shadow of his former self. So he traveled to live in Rivendell for a long time, before finally leaving the west himself to be with his wife.
It is believed that Elladan and Elrohir left with Celeborn around the time Aragorn died, more than 100 years after the War of the Ring, when the Fourth Age was well established and left in the capable hands of Aragorn’s son to reunite the kingdoms. of Gondor and Rohan. At the end of the story of Arwen and Aragorn in the appendices of the Lord of the Ringsit says that ‘now no one walks in Elrond’s garden anymore’ meaning that the Noldorian elves who had lived there the longest had finally parted ways, leaving Rivendell empty.
Eventually, as the other races trickled out of Middle-earth, and it became the world people live in today, Rivendell’s lore and legends were lost and forgotten, and it passed the memory of those at the end of days.
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