Finding the Cottage of Lost Play

[Huinesoron]

Wandering further from BoLT, but so much the same process that I can't justify making a separate thread for it, I've been trying to pin down some of the other real-world locations that Tolkien dropped intact into the Legendarium.

The hemlock-glade, where Edith danced for Tolkien and Luthien for Beren, is in Roos, specifically Dents Garth. In the comments of this post, someone raises the next-best alternate, and has the issues with it nicely pointed out. There's also confirmation from a local that the missing elm-trees in the first link were indeed there until the '70s! Not much else to say about this, except to note that the church is CofE rather than Catholic, so not one Tolkien would have attended.

Next up we're off to Sarehole/Hobbiton. It's well-known that Sarehole Mill became the Old Mill of Hobbiton, with the "White Ogre" of the miller's son becoming Sandyman. What I haven't seen suggested before is that the farm shown opposite the mill on Tolkien's painting of The Hill looks to be Sarehole Farm:



Check out the courtyard shape, shown on the map and kind of visible on the photo; there's no other farms in the area with that shape. (Note also that Tolkien's childhood Sarehole house was apparently one of those just at the top-left of the map.)

I haven't been able to find a good candidate for The Hill itself, showing just how careful you need to be when saying somewhere "is" a Legendarium location - Tolkien mixed and matched, of course he did!

Third, and finally (at least for now), apparently David Salo was the one who speculated that the Lauterbrunnen valley in Switzerland - visited by Tolkien in 1911 - was the inspiration for the hidden valley of Rivendell. I've looked into it, comparing Lauterbrunnental to Tolkien's drawings & paintings of Rivendell, and I'm convinced. In fact, I've gone further: I believe I've identified the exact place Bilbo and Tolkien reached the valley floor.

(Futureproofing/search note: it's Sandweidli at the north end of the valley.)

What I haven't done, but would love to, is identified the source of the Last Homely House. Tolkien drew it so consistently that it must be based on something. My guess is probably somewhere Edith lived, because the guy had a type and she was married to him. But I'm not sure she ever lived in a country house like Elrond's seems to be.

hS