Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron
Men, like those of Rohan, treated Lothlorien superstitiously or even with fear. One might be aware that the Elves inhabited Lorien, but it's another thing altogether to visit such a perilous realm.
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Quite. The feelings of Men in the Third Age when they passed near Lórien are illustrated quite nicely by a passage from
Cirion and Eorl..., (ii) The Ride of Eorl in UT:
Quote:
For when at last the host drew near to Dol Guldur, Eorl turned away westward for fear of the dark shadow and cloud that flowed out from it, and then rode in within sight of Anduin. Many of the riders turned their eyes thither, half in fear and half in hope to glimpse from afar the shimmer of the Dwimordene, the perilous land that in legends of their people was said to shine like gold in the springtime. But now it seemed shrouded in a gleaming mist; and to their dismay the mist passed over the river and flowed over the land before them.
Eorl did not halt. 'Ride on!' he commanded. 'There is no other way to take. After so long a road shall we be held back from battle by a river-mist?'
As they drew nearer they saw that the white mist was driving bck the glooms of Dol Guldur, and soon they passed into it, riding slowly at first and warily; but under its canopy all things were lit with a clear and shadowless light, while to left and right they were guarded as it were by white walls of secrecy.
'The Lady of the Golden Wood is on our side, it seems,' said Borondir.
'Maybe,' said Eorl. 'But at leastI will trust the wisdom of Felaróf. He scents no evil. [...]'
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(emphasis mine)
As we see here they had some folklore about Lórien and were probably aware that it was Elvish land, but their yearning to catch a glimpse of its beauty was mingled with fear, and their first reaction to the spreading mist was dismay at being touched by Elven magic. Even when the mist proved beneficial to them only his horse's instinct convinced Eorl that it was indeed harmless. (Borondir, on the other hand, seems to have known a little better, as is to be expected from an Gondorian.)
I suppose any Men of Rohan or the North travelling on the Anduin by boat would have felt much the same: they would marvel at the Golden Wood and whisper some old tales to each other, maybe tell their children and grandchildren about it with some pride, but landing on the western shore and making contact with the Elves was a wholly different matter and restricted to few individuals.