[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by skip spence

I'm not completely convinced that the Elven Rings' had the power to defend Rivendell and Lothlórien, similar to how Melian Girdled the Hidden Kingdom. Is there anything written that suggests this is the case? As I understand it, the power of the rings were mainly in preserving, as they could put the abode of the wielder in a stasis, shielded from the corrosive influence of time, and the ageing of the world. If they could be used to keep unwanted visitors out, it is something I never read (or forgot that I read).

For one thing, Orcs were able to enter into Lothlórien unhindered, crossing the stream of Nimrodel, though they never returned. Several attacks were repealed during the war of the ring, and one thinks that that fighting wouldn't be necessary if the ring offered full protection. Caras Caladhon, the city of the Galadhrim, was also a fortified stronghold with high walls and surrounding moats, which indicates that more conventional fighting could be expected.

Rivendell: the somewhat unexpected flood which destroyed the Black Riders might be one example of where the Ring's power, as I believe, was used. Though who knows - the text sounds almost as if the spell was there permanently, more like a "trap" ready to set off, and now the question is only whether it was made by the Ring's power or by some other power. (Personally I have always thought it was the Ring, but I have heard also other opinions.)

Originally Posted by FotR, Many Meetings

"Who made the flood?" asked Frodo.
"Elrond commanded it," answered Gandalf. "The river of this valley is under his power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the flood was released."

And as for Lothlórien, Galadriel, after she revealed her Ring to Frodo, said:

Originally Posted by FotR, Mirror of Galadriel

But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlórien maintained and defended against its Enemy.

So as if you had just asked for it yourself, skip For that matter, there were unusual things at work around Lórien anyway, reported elsewhere, like the strange mist that came out of Lórien when Eorl and his riders were coming south, and it protected them from being spotted by Dol Guldur (see Unfinished Tales).