#cerin amroth

[bluehourskyeli]

When his eyes were in turn uncovered, Frodo looked up and caught his breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Springtime in the Elder Days. Upon it, as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of the trees, and all about the green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden flowers shaped like stars. Among them, nodding on slender stalks, were other flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered as a mist amid the rich hue of the grass. Over all the sky was blue, and the sun of afternoon glowed upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees.

'Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. 'For this is the heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago, and here is the mound of Amroth, where in happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the winter flowers in the unfading grass: the yellow elanor, and the pale niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and come to the city of the Galadhrim at dusk.'

I didn't appreciate enough how beautiful this place is the first time reading lotr

[ebaeschnbliah]

Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth .....

The Company filed slowly along the paths in the wood, led by Haldir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground beneath their feet smooth and soft, and after a while they walked more freely, without fear of hurt or fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo found his hearing and other senses sharpened. He could smell the trees and the trodden grass. He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade.

As soon as he set foot upon the far bank of Silverlode a strange feeling had come upon him, and it deepened as he walked on into the Naith: it seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of the Elder Days, and was -now walking in a world that was no more. In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lórien the ancient things still lived on in the waking world. Evil had been seen and heard there, sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside: wolves were howling on the wood's borders: but on the land of Lórien no shadow lay.

All that day the Company marched on, until they felt the cool evening come and heard the early night-wind whispering among many leaves. Then they rested and slept without fear upon the ground; for their guides would not permit them to unbind their eyes, and they could not climb. In the morning they went on again, walking without haste. At noon they halted, and Frodo was aware that they had passed out under the shining Sun. Suddenly he heard the sound of many voices all around him.

A marching host of Elves had come up silently: they were hastening toward the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; and they brought news, some of which Haldir reported. The marauding orcs had been waylaid and almost all destroyed; the remnant had fled westward towards the mountains, and were being pursued. A strange creature also had been seen, running with bent back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet not of beast-shape. It had eluded capture, and they had not shot it, not knowing whether it was good or ill, and it had vanished down the Silverlode southward.

`Also,' said Haldir, `they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim. You are all to walk free, even the dwarf Gimli. It seems that the Lady knows who and what is each member of your Company. New messages have come from Rivendell perhaps.'

He removed the bandage first from Gimli's eyes. 'Your pardon! ' he said, bowing low. `Look on us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lórien since Durin's Day! '

When his eyes were in turn uncovered, Frodo looked up and caught his breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Spring-time in the Elder Days. Upon it, as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of the trees, and all about the green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden flowers shaped like stars. Among them, nodding on slender stalks, were other flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered as a mist amid the rich hue of the grass. Over all the sky was blue, and the sun of afternoon glowed upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees.

'Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,' said Haldir. `For this is the heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago, and here is the mound of Amroth, where in happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the winter flowers in the unfading grass: the yellow elanor, and the pale niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and come to the city of the Galadhrim at dusk.'

The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lórien there was no stain.

JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Lothlórien

[the-spirit-of-yore]

Cerin Amroth par Alan Lee

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@amalthea9

Cerin Amroth. Aragorn and Arwen (2022)

The left wing of the diptych about love of Aragorn and Arwen (“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien). On midsummer’s day, Aragorn and Arwen swore to love each other on the hill Cerin Amroth. The right wing: on the same hill  Arwen’s days are over.

[mightnotfeelrealbutitsok]

all of Aragorn and Arwen's love story in the ROTK appendices is so beautiful... first meeting in the woods of Rivendell at sunset?? Aragorn singing the Lay of Luthien and Arwen looking just like Luthien and him crying Tinuviel just as Beren did???? meeting years later in Lothlorien and Aragorn dressing up nice enough to make Arwen fall in love this time?? (Galadriel the wingwoman. she so set that up.) walking together barefoot in the elanor and niphredil?????? Arwen making the standard as a symbol of her faith that Aragorn will become king???? (and having this sent to him as a gift/message during the course of LOTR) Once Aragorn dies Arwen going to live alone in the waning Lothlorien (where they fell in love, remember) until she dies on the hill where she chose their love over immortality?????

[askrossiel]

[Local cryptid needs a bath, a nap, fifty bowls of stew, and two bottles of wine but won't stop growling at anyone who approaches one specific tree; news at 11]

[brother-genitivi]

There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had yet not come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.

part 2 of my mucha inspired lotr series!

[solymerworld-blog]

When Sauron really said: I'll build my house in Galadriel's front yard.

I'm rereading The Fellowship of the Ring at the moment, and I just came across this part in the chapter Lothlórien, where Haldir is talking about the light facing the dark in Cerin Amroth, a hill halfway between Lorien and Dol Guldur, where Sauron lived for a long time. One can see Dol Guldur from Lorien and Lorien from Dol Guldur. This means that Sauron deliberately built his home in a place where he could literally see Galadriel's Golden Realm, where he could feel her presence and she his, where he could be close to her and she would be forced to be close to him. He did so in a state of great vulnerability and weakness, building a fortress on her doorstep. You cannot tell me that this was a logical choice. The logical choice would have been to hide as far away from her and her wrath as possible. But he could not resist, he had to stay close to her, even if it would mean his downfall. And if what Haldir says to Frodo in this passage is not a Saurondriel Canon allegory, I don't know what is!

[remusjohnslupin]

But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Then she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and Celeborn had also gone, and the land was silent. There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had not yet come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by the men that come after, and elanor and nimphredil bloom no more east of the sea.

[mellar1l]

Arwen Vanimelda, Namarië!

"Then for a season they wandered together in the glades of Lothlórien, until it was time for him to depart. And on the evening of Midsummer Aragorn, Arathorn’s son, and Arwen daughter of Elrond went to the fair hill, Cerin Amroth, in the midst of the land, and they walked unshod on the undying grass with elanor and niphredil about their feet. And there upon that hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and they plighted their troth and were glad. "

Tolkien, J. R. R.. The Lord of the Rings Illustrated (Tolkien Illustrated Editions) (pp. 1546-1547). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Here we are, rereading the Lord of the Rings again.

Watercolor, acrylic

[fictionadventurer]

I opened up The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first passage I saw was this beautiful description of Frodo looking upon the Cerin Amroth in Lothlorien.

A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and as ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain.

And then Sam, who's also looking around in amazement, says:

"I feel as if I was inside a song, if you take my meaning. "

And then (because this happened to spark a memory from a podcast) I'm immediately like

Oh?

Inside a song you say?

As in the original meaning of the word "enchantment"?

Tolkien, you beautiful nerd.

[theworldsoftolkein]

The Lament of the Evening Star - by Breath Art2004

As told in "The Tale of Aragorn & Arwen", Aragorn in his 20th year met Arwen for the 1st time in Rivendell, where he lived under Elrond's protection. Arwen, then over 2,700 years old, had recently returned to her father's home after living for a while with her grandmother Lady Galadriel in Lórien. Aragorn fell in love with Arwen at 1st sight. Some 30 years later, the 2 were reunited in Lórien. Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love, and on the mound of Cerin Amroth they committed themselves to marry one another.

After the War of the Ring, Aragorn became king of Arnor & Gondor. Arwen arrived at Minas Tirith, and they were married.

Her few appearances in the book suggest that she is a minor character in The Lord of the Rings; but she serves as inspiration & motivation for Aragorn, who, as Elrond stipulated, must become King of both Arnor & Gondor before he could wed her.

The Tale of Aragorn & Arwen relates that Arwen had a son, Eldarion, and at least 2 unnamed daughters by Aragorn. In F.A. 121, one year after Aragorn's death, at the age of 2901 she gave up her life at Cerin Amroth.

[mfelewzi]

By the Facebook page "Arda - The world of Tolkien"

Aragorn and Arwen (Artwork by Elena Kukanova)

(for those people that has never read the books: Aragorn haven't beard, like all Dunedain. Yes, It's a bit strange, especially for me, but It's interesting and more faithful to the books)

"And on the evening of Midsummer Aragorn, Arathorn's son, and Arwen daughter of Elrond went to the fair hill, Cerin Amroth, in the midst of the land, and they walked unshod on the undying grass with elanor and niphredil about their feet. And there upon that hill they looked east to the Shadow and west to the Twilight, and they plighted their troth and were glad.

And Arwen said: "Dark is the Shadow, and yet my heart rejoices; for you, Estel, shall be among the great whose valour will destroy it."

But Aragorn answered: "Alas! I cannot foresee it, and how it may come to pass is hidden from me. Yet with your hope I will hope. And the Shadow I utterly reject. But neither, lady, is the Twilight for me; for I am mortal, and if you will cleave to me, Evenstar, then the Twilight you must also renounce."

'And she stood then as still as a white tree, looking into the West, and at last she said: "I will cleave to you, Dúnadan, and turn from the Twilight. Yet there lies the land of my people and the long home of all my kin." She loved her father dearly."

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen

[lifblogs]

“And taking Frodo's hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man.”

This is always so haunting is a quietly sad and devastating way. Yet it is the way some things just are and we don’t yet know it. It is only as readers that we can know this.

[nocompromise-noregrets]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love 💜

aaaa, thank you so much! Thank you also, and apologies for how long it's taken me to do this, to @mirkwood-hr-department, @scary-grace, @erathene and @verecunda who have also sent me this one over the last couple of months. I'm afraid I took fright because I currently have uh 415 works on AO3 and I kind of don't know where to start. I am also terrible at picking favourites, and particularly terrible at picking a short list thereof. So I am going to cheat and give you some links to series instead, and I am not going to limit myself to five because that way lies far too much stress and anxiety XD

My Heart Is An Empty Vessel - well, obviously that had to be on the list, it's the fic that got me into the Barduil fandom and the longest I've ever finished, not to mention it's sparked a whole 'verse spanning at least three Ages of Middle-earth. :D Almost all of my canon-'verse fics take place in this 'verse, as it happens, and one of these days I will collect them into a series but it is not this day, mainly because it's an enormous task. Maybe when I retire... XDDDDD

All I Want Is You - the one that got me through the third and fourth (I think) lockdowns, the daft Christmas-movie modern AU that morphed into something rather bigger and gave me a chance to exorcise some of my work-related demons.

the hardest choice to make - because it's me finally tackling my favourite characters making their Choice between mortality and immortality. I love the Twins inordinately, more than any other character, and I think I have more very fixed headcanons for them than for any other - I've been putting this one off, or rather they have, but they've finally started talking and I'm hoping to piece the rest of it together gradually sooner or later.

a kiss in the cold and dark (I should have kissed you that summer) and its associated series - because it took on a life of its own and is also letting me channel a lot of my teenage memories :D

paint the sky and burn the stars - because, again, it took on a life of its own and pretty much wrote itself, and unlike a lot of my other stuff, it's self-contained. I don't think there will ever be a sequel, but that's all right; the story is complete as it is.

stained glass heart - another one that pretty much wrote itself, I loved the imagery in @piyo-13's art so much and it just all fell into place.

dancing in the dark - because I'm having so much fun with my old rocker bi widower dads :D another place to channel memories of my younger days, this.

A Little Piece of the Sea - one of my longest-running series, I started writing this 20-odd years ago, and then picked it back up when I came back into the fandom. Legolas/Imrahil my beloved underappreciated rare pair canoe!

I Will Be With You Always - last year's TRSB piece written for @seagull-energy's beautiful art, I finally managed to pin down my Arwen feelings in this rather reflective piece about her last moments on Cerin Amroth, where her life has come full circle at last.

breathe freely - the utterly out of character hanahaki twincest fic the premise for which came to me in a dream XD look I have problematic OTPs, I am old and have been here a very long time it is pretty much a given :D (the twincest is not the bit that's out of character)

Do You Remember The First Time? - the Twins/Rúmil two-parter that got rather out of hand and also gave me the headcanon about the Twins standing in alphabetical order as you look at them XD

It's Always Been You - the other problematic pairings one, featuring the Rúmil/Orophin story that had been sitting in my notes for nearly 20 years until I got back into the fandom with a vengeance in the summer of 2020, and the foundations of the Rivendell and Lothlórien bits of my canon-'verse set stories...

death is certain, life is not - the TRSB fic that ate me alive this summer, inspired by @erathene's glorious art, in which Tilda finally strides into centre stage and refuses to stop talking (I am already working on the sequel because I ran out of time to include most of what I wanted to squeeze in). Technically part of Empty Vessel-'verse but deserves an honourable mention here!

A Quiet Understanding - and finally, because if I don't wrap it up here I'll be going all day, the first longfic/chaptered fic I ever wrote, in the King Arthur (2004) fandom, about Gawain and Galahad and how their lives unfold both before and after the Battle of Badon Hill.

(and that's not mentioning the rare fandom stuff like A Knight's Tale, That Thing You Do!, Fisherman's Friends, Call The Midwife, The Alienist and The Palace, all of which I adore unreasonably, but I think I've rambled on quite enough here XD )

Thank you so much to everyone who asked me for this one, and I'm so sorry it took me so long to work out an answer! I haven't the spoons for askboxes, and I have to admit that the choose-x-people-to-ask games always feel a bit exclusive to me because what about the people who never quite make it onto that finite list, the people who nobody ever remembers to ask - and my memory is terrible and I will always inadvertently forget people. So, instead, I would like to invite anyone who sees this and wants to do it - don't wait to be asked, just rec yourselves! Let us know the works of yours you love the most! <3333333

[polutrope]

Daemags + 12

Thank you! From the kiss asks. On AO3.

12. ... in grief.

Lórien was not altogether silent, nor altogether empty, when Queen Arwen strayed there after the passing of King Elessar. She was not alone, wandering through the woods, though whether she heard the melody that drifted through falling golden leaves, Daeron did not know. For bowed with the burden of old age, she never lifted her head to hearken to his music.

“Go to her,” said a familiar voice, and Daeron turned. “Do you think it only chance that has brought you to her, or her to you, in this moment?”

“And you?” asked Daeron, his grief displaced by surprise to see this wanderer again, here and now.

“I have cause to love her also,” said Maglor. “But I do not think it is I who should sit by her when she breathes her last.”

So Daeron padded silently over the gold-flecked ground, and lowered himself beside the mound of Cerin Amroth. Arwen smiled, not opening her eyes, but whispering, “Thank you, for seeing that I do not die alone.”

Daeron would never know if Arwen had known who it was bowed over her and wept when at last she left the world, but he was comforted that she had died with a smile on her careworn features. 

A long while passed before Maglor came to grieve beside him. Then Daeron turned to him, and when Maglor lifted a hand to his face, Daeron accepted the touch. He was moved anew to tears to feel its gentle pulse against his skin, and the warm breath against his lips was a soothing balm. 

He accepted the kiss from this erstwhile lover, this ancient enemy, and was filled only with relief that here was one who had endured as long as he and knew the immeasurable pain of what it was to lose and lose and, always, to live on.

For live on they must, who hold in themselves the tales of all those who have passed away. 

I should note that this is a concept I've wanted to explore for a while, since seeing this gorgeous art of Arwen and Maglor by @silmaspens. I love the idea of Maglor being with her when she dies, but being me I love even more the idea that it's Daeron. Or why not both!