Mondays In Imladris by awwyeah107

Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, 'a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all'. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness.
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 1 of Book 2, ”Many Meetings”

For years, people had said that Imladris, or Rivendell in the common tongue, was a wonderful place. It was peaceful, it was beautiful, it was welcoming—a perfectly lovely place to be.

What many of them neglected to mention was that despite the hospitality of its residents and the beauty of the valley, Imladris was rather…unnatural.

Now, of course, anyone who said so would hastily assure the listener that its otherworldly nature was not malevolent in any way; in fact, it gave off quite a warm and reassuring feeling, so that even in its strangeness, it was not alarming whatsoever. Still, the sense of mystery remained, all the same.

There had been rumors and whispers that Lord Elrond was behind it: that since he had been the primary designer of the settlement of Imladris, and since he was responsible for the enchantments around the valley, this was his doing. Anyone who had actually been there, however, could tell there was a distinct difference between the power of Elrond and the magic deep in the stones of Imladris. All could sense that Imladris was an entity in and of itself, and that while Elrond may be the sole being who was most connected to it, it had its own capabilities. And those capabilities were rather unique.

There was no other straightforward way to put it: Imladris would move.

Every week or so, usually on a Monday, Imladris would shift a corridor or a room or occasionally even a tower to a different location within the settlement. Or it would add, for instance, a new library. Or it would remove an old guest room. Regardless of what room or structure it would move, the fact remained that it would change something.

It would never remove any rooms that were essential for its residents, nor had any room ever disappeared with anyone in it. In the early days of the settlement, this was something many had feared, but it had never come to pass.

To the relief of all, the two primary entrances to Imladris remained stationary, though there were many paths that one might take into and out of the valley at large. Additionally, the Hall of Fire—the great hall which was used for contemplation and sharing tales and song in turns—could always be found to the east within Imladris, occasionally with a tendency to be situated towards the southern end. (Erestor, the steward, had taken it upon himself to map out all of the rooms and towers in Imladris, so that any habits or patterns of movement could be traced, and he often made note of where any place might reasonably be found within the settlement.) Thankfully, since many of Imladris’ buildings were open to fresh air, or had windows, one could determine which way was east by the position of the sun. If not, you could walk back in the direction you came from, go through the next two doors on the right, and down the next possible split staircase. This would always take you to the staff offices, and someone, usually Erestor, could help direct you where you needed to go. (It took some time to figure out this trick, but it was cause for great excitement and immense relief to the Imladris residents once it was discovered, because it was massively helpful for all of the visitors.)

As for where Imladris’ power came from—well, there had been many theories over the years. Of course, the primary theory amongst those who had never visited the valley was that it was caused by Elrond, but he denied all plausibility. Maia blood ran in his veins, but he was not powerful enough to imbue Imladris with the magic it had. A few theorized that Gandalf, better known as Mithrandir amongst the elves, had had a hand in Imladris’ power, but that theory was largely dismissed: Imladris had been established and moving long before Gandalf arrived in Middle-Earth. The most widely-held belief was that Vilya, the ring of power that Elrond kept, was the cause of Imladris’ magic, because the ring had been present in Imladris nearly from the time the settlement was constructed. The idea was that Vilya would impact whatever city or settlement it was in in a similar way as it did Imladris, but this hypothesis could not safely be tested, since Elrond—who held the ring—largely kept to the valley in order to protect it, and it was not worth the risk of handing off Vilya to someone traveling elsewhere simply to see what happened.

Elrond, along with the rest of the residents, learned to pay attention to Imladris’ movements and changes. Most of the time, it seemed nothing much of consequence: a room shifted or added or removed here or there, the reveal of a new passageway or tower, perhaps some new artifacts or books in one of the libraries. But it was often for a purpose. Imladris, as a magical series of connected buildings that formed the settlement, appeared to have a form of foresight into the future, and it seemed to know more than met the eye about visitors that arrived. Rooms would appear and disappear as guests came and went, always with enough furniture and space for each, and frequently in accordance to a guest’s likes, dislikes, or personality. And if Imladris had an opinion of a visitor, it would make that opinion quite clear.

All of this meant that Elrond took notice of Imladris’ changes. He noticed when the nursery that appeared for his and Celebrían’s first child contained not one, but two cradles—and at the end of her pregnancy, Celebrían gave birth to twins. He noticed when Saruman, who had traveled to Imladris for a meeting of the White Council, complained about having rather small bedchambers that were a distance away from the rest of the visiting Council’s chambers. He noticed when Imladris provided several rooms in the corridor for esteemed guests, all with smaller-than-usual furniture, roughly a month before the company of Thorin Oakenshield arrived in the valley.

And he noticed when the bedroom with the sea-style decor and the banner of the Fëanorian star appeared.

Two weeks later, he welcomed his long-lost foster father, Maglor Fëanorion, into the Last Homely House East of the Sea.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed the fic! I feel the need to say that I did my homework for this by rereading the Castle Glower series AND reading up on Imladris’ founding and surrounding events, in order to make sure I had all the facts down so I could mesh the two together XD Also, while taking notes and writing this fic, I listened to songs from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit soundtracks with the Rivendell theme in them, plus the instrumental song “Welcome Home” by Adrian Von Ziegler, which really fit the vibes. All in all, it was a delightful experience.

For anyone who hasn’t read The Silmarillion and went "Hmm, that wasn't in LOTR or The Hobbit, what's this about?" at one thing or another that was referenced in this fic, feel free to ask in the comments.

All editing done by me. If there are any typos or grammatical errors, don't hesitate to let me know!
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Thank you for reading!

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