A paradise on Middle-Earth

[Aganzir]

We were given a painting assignment: paradise. No need to mix there your personal beliefs, the teacher said, think rather of a place that you could call a paradise.

Lommy and I agreed that our paradises are in Middle-Earth. But where? Valinor is a sure bet but maybe a bit too obvious. There are many wonderful places in the Hither Lands as well; places one could call paradise.

We spent that class discussing and sketching (though more the former). Nevrast where Tuor tarried for a summer? Doriath, with Lúthien dancing in the shadows? Or what about Lothlórien? In the summer or winter? Or the gardens of Lórien in Valinor? It would be a little too ambitious to try to paint Taniquetil, wouldn't it? The Shire? The Old Forest, or even Fangorn?

Eventually we ended up with Melian and Thingol meeting in starlit Nan Elmoth and Eithel Ivrin where Túrin was healed of his madness, but the decisions weren't easy to make. The Middle-Earth itself is a paradise, in a way.

I think my paradise would be the Pools of Ivrin (although I'm not the one of us who's going to paint that). The main reason, I guess, is this association: there's a small lake just next to my summer cottage and that's what I imagine the Pools to look like - the gleam of the sun on the lake is so... Faelivrin. Also, the forests surrounding the place could be straight from Middle-Earth. Even though Ivrin has never been described that accurately, my image of it has thus mixed with the image of a place I love in my subconscious, and that's enough of a reason for me to call it a paradise.

So, if you had to choose a place in Middle-Earth; the most beautiful or perfect place, a place you could spend the rest of your life, what would that be? Some reasons would be nice as well (I haven't started painting yet and am still ready to change the motif if I find a better one ). Also, please define your choice, ie. don't say Gondor if you only mean Dol Amroth.

[Thinlómien]

I'm glad you managed to actually post this thread, Agan.

Eventually we ended up with Melian and Thingol meeting in starlit Nan Elmoth and Eithel Ivrin where Túrin was healed of his madness, but the decisions weren't easy to make. The Middle-Earth itself is a paradise, in a way.

That is true. But I must say I chose Eithel Ivrin more because of artistic reasons than because of reasons that have something to do with my view of paradise in Arda. I just had the vision of the sun on the lake, small figures of Túrin and Gwindor at the front and the mountains and the blue sky at the background and as I was rather pleased with my sketch, I decided to do it.

My initial thought of Tolkienesque paradise painting was that there should be a drowning sailor who has managed to get to the Straight Path and is dying with the light of Valinor in his eyes... but I'm not ambitious enough to try to depict that, so I chose the scene at Eithel Ivrin.

Even though, I'm not sure if I would choose either of them as my real Arda paradise. Undying Lands are a bit too obvious and they have always left me a bit cold in all their perfection. Parts of them, though, could be a paradise. The dreamy woods and gardens of Lórien Agan mentioned get very close to one. Even though, I don't think any place could me my paradise if it was not close to the sea, so...

I actually see the Grey Havens as some sort of paradise. It's a peaceful city near the sea and surrounded by a wilderness, but more importantly, it is the place of leaving and coming to Middle-Earth, some kind of meeting point of joy and sorrow, of new and old and reflects the grief and longing of the Elves of Hither Lands very well. I really can't phrase it in any better way, so I hope you understood...

[Meriadoc1961]

What a tough assignment! When I first started reading, I couldn't help but think of the Shire. However, how can one discount Rivendell or Lothlorien? Lothlorien, the heart of elvendom on Earth, and yet Rivendell is described as having the best of everywhere: the Shire, Minas Tirith, Lorien, etc. Everything, that is, but the sea. So maybe it is the Gray Havens after all, although we are not given quite the mental picture of it as we are other abodes.

Merry

[The Might]

Well, it's not necessarily paradise, but definitely the place where I would want to live...Anórien, specifically on Min-rimmon.
I've grown up next to tall mountains and forests and so I would never give that up.
So it really is nice with a forest left and one right, mountains in the back.
You can get fast to Rohan and also to Minas Tirith.

[zxcvbn]

Rivendell. Because like Bilbo and the Fellowship, the Elves would give me all the food, shelter and creature comforts I want. I can just keep freeloading off them and living comfortably to the end of my days.

[A Little Green]

My first thought was of Lothlórien, but then I realised that there actually is one place in Middle-Earth I love very dearly. Ithilien.

There is something oddly wild and sweet in the land. I especially love it because of its location so close to Mordor. No, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't fancy Sauron as a neighbour or anything. Instead, I think that the presence of the Evil so near makes Ithilien's pride and beauty much more important, much more intriguing and much more, well, fair and sad. Also, I think one of the most beautiful quotes in LotR is one sentence describing it:

Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.

It's almost prettier in Finnish but I won't quote it here since only a few would understand it.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Oh my! I know what Laurinque would say!

But of course I love the Shire... but Doriath would be great, before Melian left of course! But if I lived in the Shire I would want to see the WR and the old Shire and the summer of 1420 SR! You see all of this horrible bad things happen, and then you see a lovely ending!

[Groin Redbeard]

Wow this is a toughy! I like the Shire for it's simplicity and beautiful landscapes, but there's no excitement in that region of Middle Earth. It would have to be somewhere where there is lots of open space.

I was thinking about Moria, but that place is too much like a dwarf cloister. Erebor, would have to be the place! Wonderful place to be!

[Mithalwen]

I always thought that Rivendell would be the most comfortable and cosmopolitan, but I might find the mountains claustrophobic. Lorien is lovely and I would love mallorns I am sure. The havens, would surely be lovely but maybe a little depressing with so many leaving or just passing through. I have lived by the sea for nearly all my life and so Dol Amroth has a lot going for it.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I agree, Mithalwen, about the cosmopolitan aspect of Rivendell, and that's one reason it would be my choice as a Middle-earth paradise. With so many different people of various races coming and going, it would never get boring! I'm not sure I would want to live exclusively among Elves.

Above all, Tolkien himself wrote that Rivendell, with Elrond as its Master, was the ideal place for any activity in which one might desire to engage:

His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.

No boredom there, but no enforced programme either! He then adds an important note:

Evil things did not come into that valley.

(Besides, a widowed host, "as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer" might be interesting to spend some time with... )

[Laurinquë]

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Oh my! I know what Laurinque would say!

But of course I love the Shire... but Doriath would be great, before Melian left of course! But if I lived in the Shire I would want to see the WR and the old Shire and the summer of 1420 SR! You see all of this horrible bad things happen, and then you see a lovely ending!

Do you now? Well I don't, not completely, but off the top of my head I would say Lothlorien. I loved it there....flowers...trees...Elves...it's just wonderful!

But I also loved Ithilien, I totally agree with A Little Green, it's border on Mordor is not a detriment to it.

I'd probably choose Nan-tathren, the Land of Willows. Rivendell sounds like a great place to live, but I don't know that I'd label it "paradise."

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Given my fascination with the Ainur, I would probably choose some part of Valinor. Valmar, most likely (the thought of all the bells appeals to me as a musician), or perhaps Tirion.

[alatar]

I'd say that all of Middle Earth is paradise, with the possible exception of Mordor. Or maybe it is for those we read about in LotR. I like that even when the Fellowship is traveling with tight belts, and when Frodo and Sam are down to their last drop of water, it still doesn't seem too bad as I watch from a well-fed and hydrated distance. No one gets sick, is bugged by bugs (with the exception of the midges) and no one ever goes to the ... ah... facilities. The FotR encounters elves and so sees, smells and tastes life in HD format. They also encounter orcs and heroically dispatch them in droves without so much a peep from a loyer or police officer.

Pre-3018, what exactly did Frodo do all day? Take walks, enjoy inns, hang out with his friends, read books. What's not to like about that?

The world is filled with magic, princesses and princes, elves and orcs, lembas, books, wizards and Balrogs. What more of a paradise could you want?

[Galadriel]

You know, the most charming spot in Middle earth (to me) was The Old Forest. Arching willow trees, babbling stream, house of Bombadil...
However, it is obviously not the place I'd label as a 'paradise'. That would be Aman (the whole of it) or Lothlórien or Rivendell.