Deep in the Golden woods of Lothlorien stand the majestic city of Caras Galadhon, home of Lady Galadriel. Honestly, no single image can capture the beauty of this place. You really have to ‘’be’’ there to get it. I believe Turbine did a wonderful job recreating this emblematic city of Middle-Earth. There were spot on the magical feel described in the book, and surprisingly, they did it with almost no interior design!
Because of the warm weather and their proximity to nature, the elves of Caras Galadhon seem to live mostly on open platforms in the tree. There are only a few doors in the entire city: one leading to the bank, the other to Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn’s apartments (where player are not allowed). Doors seem to be carved directly into the trees, with golden adornments and delicate swan like handles.
However most of what looks like the houses also seems to lack doors… Of maybe they are well hidden from the non-initiates, hehe.
Here’s what a house looks from the interior. I love how they used the same embellishment from the door on the walls. When you have a door like that, it’s totally worth repeating!
Elves also like to live in simple tents, like this one.
Here is the Company Pavilion, where the famous hobbits slept during their stay in the city.
Noticed the garlands and lanterns in the previous pictures? Lighting fixtures is one of my favourite features of Caras Galadhon. The elves truly have the most amazing lamps of all Middle-Earth, and they have tons of different models. See the Decoration and Furniture Guide to get one of your own!
I’m also quite jealous of their upgraded version of Lorien bench.
Finally, the city presents a few interesting art pieces worth noticing. The most famous of all is of course Galadriel’s mirror in the gardens of the same name.
And the statues of the Lord and Lady!
Also take the time to find the beautiful swan fountain at the center of the city.
And before entering, take two seconds to admire the impressive city gates. These are definitely worth your time!
March 7, 2012 at 8:44 am
Ahhh, gotta love some Caras Galadhon after the halls Moria, which are beautiful in their own way (a little too dark for me though). After Lothlorien there isn’t a place that is very iconic, except Isengard I guess.
We’ll have to wait till RoR to view some majestic halls, and even that is in the air.
March 7, 2012 at 9:44 am
I disagree. There are plenty of iconic places left to visit. Minas Ithil, Minas Morgul, Edoras, Helm’s Deep and the Argonath are the first ones that pop into mind for me. Maybe none will hold the beauty of Caras Galadhon, but still iconic none the less…
March 7, 2012 at 10:18 am
lovely as usual, thanks for these wonderful blogs
March 7, 2012 at 11:37 am
lovely, i see you avoided all the picture of dead bodies of freeps that fell to their doom off the platforms. Can’t remember how many times I flew off the platforms, drunk and sober.
March 7, 2012 at 2:47 pm
That narrow part of that stairway spiraling up the outside of that one tree…
March 7, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Yeah, I hate that part.
March 7, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Ah yes, you make me want to remove the Christmas decorations that are still up at my Elf House in Ered Luin and put it back in order the way is should be with the Lothlorien bench out front and the hammock on the side under the tree! Nice blog.
March 7, 2012 at 11:19 pm
i love these articles. keep it up kia.