LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition - Lothlórien

"That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey."
—Legolas

Lothlórien, also known as Lórien, was the vast woodland realm of the Galadhrim elves located near the lower Misty Mountains in northern Middle-earth. It was first settled by the Nandor, but they were later joined by a small number of Ñoldor and Sindar under Celeborn of Doriath and Galadriel, daughter of Finarfin. It was located on the River Celebrant, southeast of Khazad-dûm, and was the only place in Middle-earth where the golden Mallorn trees grew.

Galadriel's magic, later revealed as the power of her ring Nenya, enriched the land and made it a magic forest into which evil could not enter without difficulty. The only way that Lothlórien could have been conquered by the armies of Mordor is if Sauron had come there himself.

Early history

The first inhabitants of the forested area later known as Lórien were a group of Nandor that refused to cross the Misty Mountains. Lórien was probably one of their scattered settlements in the area. Later, however, as the power of the Longbeards of Khazad-dûm grew, they relocated to the lands around the Nimrodel. The land in which they dwelt (the forest east of the Hithaeglir, above Fangorn and below Mirkwood) became known in the Silvan tongue as Lórinand, or Laurelindórenan.

Second Age

The forest of Lothlórien in Spring, by Tolkien
By the Second Age, Sindarin Elves had enriched its population, and the forest was ruled by a Sindarin king, Amdír. Before the War of the Elves and Sauron, Galadriel and Celeborn travelled over the Misty Mountains to dwell there. Amdír perished in the War of the Last Alliance. His son and the last Sindarin King of Lórien was Amroth.

Third Age

Caras Galadhon
In the middle of the Third Age Amroth went to Edhellond near Dol Amroth in Gondor in search of Nimrodel, and was lost at sea. After his time the Silvan Elves of Lórien long had no kings and were ruled by Celeborn and Galadriel as lord and lady.

On January 15 TA 3019 the Fellowship of the Ring entered Lothlórien seeking to escape Orcs pursuing them from Moria. They rested in the forest until February 16, receiving gifts from the Galadhrim and counsel from Celeborn and Galadriel.

The Golden Wood was relatively close to Mirkwood and Dol Guldur. Around the time Sauron's forces were attacking Minas Tirith, Dol Guldur sent forces to attack Lothlórien. There were three assaults in total, but though the outer woods were ravaged, the lands inhabited by the Elves were protected thanks to both Elven skill and Galadriel's power (Mordor could not have destroyed Lórien unless Sauron himself had arrived). After the three assaults failed, Lórien eventually sent its own forces to attack Dol Guldur. With the fall of the Dark Lord this assault was successful and Galadriel cast the walls down.

Fourth Age

Lórien, as depicted in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
After Galadriel left for Valinor, the Elves of Lórien were ruled by their lord Celeborn alone, and the realm was expanded to include a part of southern Mirkwood, but it appears to have quickly been de-populated during the Fourth Age. Galadriel bore Nenya on a ship from the Grey Havens into the West, accompanied by the other two Elven Rings and their bearers. With the ring gone, the magic and beauty of Lórien also faded, along with the extraordinary Mallorn trees that had lived for centuries, and it was gradually depopulated. Celeborn himself went to dwell in Rivendell, whilst many of the other Elves likely moved to Thranduil's Woodland Realm.

By the time Arwen came there to die in FO 121, Lothlórien was deserted. She was buried on the hill of Cerin Amroth, where she and Aragorn II Elessar had been betrothed.

Etymology
Lothlórien means "Dream-flower", from the Sindarin loth ("blossom, flower") and Quenya lórien ("dream, slumber").

Other names

This forest, originally known by its Silvan names Laurelindórinan (Land of the Valley of Singing Gold) and Lórinand (Golden Valley), was renamed Lothlórien (Lórien of the Blossom) in memory of the Lórien the Ñoldor left behind; but the name was often shortened to Lórien ("Land of Gold", although it carried within it also the meaning of "dream"). Treebeard referred to the word Lothlórien as "Dreamflower". Other names given to the land include the Rohirric name Dwimordene (from dwimor "phantom", an allusion to the perceived magic of the Elves), and the Westron name The Golden Wood.