A paradise on Middle-Earth

[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... )