What did boromir do in rivendell?

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

It seems that in contemporary Gondor almost nothing was known of Rivendell; As to Lorien, one gets the impression that it was decidedly unwelcoming to outsiders; in fact, aside from Aragorn when had a Man last been admitted? Even other Elves weren't frequent visitors; Celeborn tells Legolas "Too seldom do my kindred journey hither from the North."

Rivendell wasn't easy to find even if you knew fairly closely its location, no doubt protected by one of those quirks of geography that mean you can't see it for looking. Even Gandalf, in The Hobbit, needs to look for the markers. It may well have been that Boromir and even Legolas were guided in the last stages by Rangers or Elves on watch outside the valley. Certainly a half elf far away and akin might seem less threatening than a full elf woman "on the doorstep" - and there may well be something in jallanite's comment about fays if the story of Beruthiel. Minas Tirith, even by Tolkien's standards is an excessively male environment, by the time the reader gets there the only women present are the likes of Ioreth and until Sauron falls the only one to enter is disguised as a man! Maybe they do feel particularly threatened by a feminine power. And now I find myself thinking of the realms of Middle Earth as Oxford colleges with the ladies' establishments kept safely on the fringes!

That said Middle Earth is sparsely populated and any interraction is limited - even the Shire and Bree less than a day's ride apart have become strangers. Lorien and Thranduil have the menace of Dol Guldur separating them.