Resurrection of Haudh-En-Ndengin thread "Rivendell or Lothlorien"

[BGreg]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

While I was reviewing this thread about The White Council (digging thru the archives pre-Hobbit-movie) the last post in this thread made me wonder: what WAS the population of Rivendell, anyways? And what WAS the population of Lothlorien? How had they dwindled or grown from age to age? Any quotes or ideas saying why?

Some of the questions about population were already discussed in topics regarding size of armies in the Middle Earth, though not in particular detail:

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=15485
http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=13770

Most estimates in these topics state the army of Lorien is 3.000-4.000 strong, and the army of Imladris being at least a few hundred Elven defenders. Of course, we don't have to agree with the numbers, but they would mean that the population of Lorien is at least ten thousand (possibly more, depending on the share of warriors in the entire population), and of Rivendell 1.500-2.000.

While the woods of Lothlorien are probably large enough to accommodate such a people, assuming not all of them live in Caras Galadhon, it seems to me that the population of Rivendell has to be smaller. I would say it is at least ten times exaggarated, although it most likely was greater before the Elves started departing for Grey Havens.