Postcards from Middle-Earth - Part 2

Continuing our pictorial journey through Middle-Earth…

We left off our journey arriving at the town of Bree.  Here you can see it at nighttime.

More ruins from ages past.

Ah, the swamp with the neeker-breekers.  Which of course in the game are not just an audio component, but big bugs that you have to squash.

More swamp.  I took a ton of shots of the swamp because I found it so oddly beautiful.  The low sun hitting the haze, with all the ruins poking out of the muck… not exactly inviting, but not exactly an eyesore either.

We've worked our way out of the swamp and into the Lone Lands.  Here you can see Weathertop, also known as the ruined tower of Amon Sûl.  In the game you can play out a nighttime defense against a ringwraith raid.

South of Weathertop there's this rundown inn along the main road (which of course Strider avoided as much as possible).

Some ruins in the Lone Lands.  In the background is the fort of Ost Guruth, which isn't covered in the fiction at all but does serve as an important quest hub for players in the game.

We've worked our way out of the rather desolate Lone Lands and into the area known as the Trollshaws.  On account of, well, the trolls.  But when it's not pouring rain and you're not getting bagged by a wandering troll it can be quite lovely.

Speaking of trolls, here are a few famous ones.  Bert, Tom, and William can be found as the stone statues that Bilbo and company left them in.

Here's a river going through part of the Trollshaws.  Not the river, mind you (by which I mean the Bruinen, the river that Elrond used against the Nazgûl).

South of the main road and the great river's ford it all empties into a little lake.

We've crossed the river, climbed up and down, and have now descended into the valley of the elves: Rivendell.

Some of the nice architecture of Rivendell.

Here we've stepped inside the Last Homely House: Elrond's home.  Apparently he doesn't live humbly.

At least Elrond knows how to entertain.  In his decadent dining hall you can find old Bilbo, happy to play the riddle game with anyone who's willing to chat with him.  Nothing like a creepy old hobbit walking around asking you what's in his pocket.