So, where did the name RIVENDELL SCHOOL come from? When Cindy and I were considering home schooling our children, we wanted a name for our school that reflected our desire for our children and our faith in God. This section from Tolkein's writings came to mind:
They asked him where he was making for, and he answered:"You are come to the very edge of the Wild, as some of you may know. Hidden somewhere ahead of us is the fair valley of RIVENDELL where Elrond lives in the Last Homely House. I sent a message by my friends, and we are expected."
"...Here it is at last!" he called, and the others gathered round him and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below. They could hear the voice of hurrying water in a rocky bed at the bottom; the scent of trees was in the air; and there was light on the valley-side across the water.
Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped in the dusk down the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell. The air grew warmer as they got lower, and the smell of the pine-trees made him drowsy, so that every now and again he nodded and hearly fell off, or bumped his nose on the pony's neck. Their spirits rose as they went down and down. The trees changed to beech and oak, and there was a comfortable feeling in the twilight. The last green had almost faded out of the grass, when they came at length to an open glade not far above the banks of the stream.
"...Welcome to the valley!"[Gandalf] said.
...Tired as he was, Bilbo would have liked to stay awhile. Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things. Also he would have liked to have a few private words with these people that seemed to know his name and all about him, although he had never seen them before. He thought their opinon of is adventure might be interesting. Elves know alot and are wonderous folk for news, and know what is going on among the peoples of the land, as quick as water flows, or quicker.
...And so at last they all came to the Last Homely House, and found its doors flung wide.
...Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave...
...The master of the house was an elf-friend--one of those people whose fathers came into strange stories before the beginning of History...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. Evil things did not come into that valley.
I wish I had time to tell you even a few of the tales of one or two of the songs that they heard in that house. All of them, the ponies as well, grew refreshed and strong in a few days there. Their clothes were mended as well as their bruises, their tempers and their hopes. Their bags were filled with food and provisions light to carry but strong to bring them over the mountain passes. Their plans were improved with the best advice. So the time came to midsummer eve, and they were to go on again with the early sun on midsumer morning.
The next morning was a midsummer's morning as fair and fresh as could be dreamed: blue sky and never a cloud, and the sun danced on the water. Now they rode away amid songs of farewell and good speed, with their hearts ready for more adventure, and with a knowledge of the road they must follow over the Misty Mountains to the land beyond. {From THE HOBBIT by J.R.R.Tolkein--Chapter three, pages 55-63}
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