Rivendell

Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is an important location in Tolkien's legendarium, and is featured in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales. It was established and ruled by Elrond Half-elven in the Second Age of Middle-earth (four or five thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings), and was protected by the powers of its lord and his elven ring Vilya.

Elrond lived in Rivendell with his family — his wife Celebrían (until she departed for Valinor), their sons Elladan and Elrohir, and their daughter Arwen — as well as a sizeable number of other Elves, both Noldor and Sindar. In addition to the family of Elrond, notable Elves who lived in Rivendell included Glorfindel, Gildor, and Erestor. In some writings, featured in Unfinished Tales, Galadriel and Celeborn also lived in Rivendell for a time before they became rulers of Lothlórien.

Etymology

Rivendell is a direct translation or calque into English of the Sindarin name Imladris, both meaning "deep valley of the cleft". The name Rivendell is formed by two English elements: "riven" (split, cloven) and "dell" (valley), making the whole word purport "deeply cloven valley". Imladris was also rendered "Karningul" in Westron, the "Common Tongue" of Middle-Earth represented as English in the text of The Lord of the Rings. It is also referred to as The Last Homely House West of the Mountains, alluding to the wilderland that lies beyond the Misty Mountains.

Science fiction and fantasy in Poland

Science fiction and fantasy in Poland dates to the late 18th century. During the later years of the People's Republic of Poland, social science fiction was a very popular genre of science fiction. Afterwards, many others gained prominence. Currently there are many science fiction writers in Poland. Internationally, the best known Polish science fiction writer is Stanisław Lem. As elsewhere, Polish science fiction is closely related to the genres of fantasy, horror and others. Although many English language writers have been translated into Polish, relatively little Polish language science fiction (or fantasy) has been translated into English.

History

Science fiction in Poland started in the late 18th century during the Polish Enlightenment, when Michał Dymitr Krajewski wrote a novel about the adventures of a Pole on the Moon. In the mid-19th century, during the age of romanticism in Poland, Adam Mickiewicz, reckoned by many to be Poland's top poet, also worked on a Verne-like science fiction novel A History of the Future, but never published it (only a few fragments remain). Later in the same century, the period of positivism in Poland saw several writers explore themes similar to Verne and H.G. Wells, among them Władysław Umiński, Włodzimierz Zagórski and Sygurd Wiśniowski. However, perhaps the most famous Polish writer of the time, Bolesław Prus, used science fiction elements in his mainstream fiction. For example, his novel Lalka includes a "mad scientist" as well as a "lighter-than-air" metal. Similar themes are seen in the works of Prus's colleague, Stefan Żeromski, with his 'houses of glass' in Przedwiośnie, and his death rays in Róża.