# \[LOTR\] Where would you rather live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143 "2002-10-27T19:43:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/1 "2002-10-27T19:43:21Z")
\*\*1. The Shire 1. Rivendell 2. Lothlorien 3. Minas Tirith 4. Other (Bree, Mordor, Isengard, Mirkwood…etc.)\*\* For me, it’s a hard choice. I really like the Shire, but Rivendell is where I’d choose to live. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/2 "2002-10-27T19:47:42Z")
The Shire for me… easily. I get all misty every time I see it in the movie. Rivendell is beautiful, but it’s beautiful like a museum. The Shire is beautiful like a home. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/3 "2002-10-27T19:51:31Z")
Okay, I’m split between the Shire and Barad-Dur… ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/4 "2002-10-27T20:23:50Z")
Spring in the Shire. Summer in Rivendell. Autumn in Edoras. Winter in Minas Tirith. ---
**Author:** ![I\_am\_Sparticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@I\_am\_Sparticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_am_Sparticus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/5 "2002-10-27T21:01:14Z")
Gray Havens. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/6 "2002-10-27T21:04:10Z")
Gondolin, or Tirion. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/7 "2002-10-27T21:23:11Z")
Minas Tirith. I like hiking in mountains and would absolutely love to spend a lifetime browsing around its library. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/8 "2002-10-27T23:08:56Z")
_sigh_ I guess the Shire. Or maybe Rivendell. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/9 "2002-10-28T00:34:02Z")
Psst, **Spartacus** , you misspelled “grey”! As for myself, I take it that we’re restricted to Middle-Earth (as opposed to Valinor, or Tol Eressea, or Numenor, or whatnot)? In that case, I’ll go with Orthanc. Well, at least, before Saruman did his little remodeling project. But Khazad-Dum (pre-Balrog) or Erebor (pre-Smaug) and Lothlorien are tempting as well. Then again, though, I probably wouldn’t fit in too well among the Dwarves or Elves. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/10 "2002-10-28T00:52:07Z")
Lothlorien seems like the perfect place to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/11 "2002-10-28T01:50:01Z")
I would probably have to go with Lorthlorien but make frequent visits to Rivendell. Lothlorien is beautiful but the woods would probably get me feeling a bit claustraphobic every few centuries. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/12 "2002-10-28T04:42:53Z")
The Shire. Not only did I used to live in a place not unlike it, but the olde worlde charm of it is very appealing. [Where I used to live](http://www.guanolad.com/karitane.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/13 "2002-10-28T04:45:05Z")
The Shire. I am absolutely in love with the Hobbitt houses and the countryside. If I could have a Hobbitt house, I would also have fainting goats, miniature donkeys & cows to graze on the top of the house. I would, however, like to vacation in Rivendell and Lothlorien. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/14 "2002-10-28T04:55:52Z")
Bree, I think. I might not fit in so well with the great ones, at Minas Tirith, or even Osgiliath. The shire is out, of course, according to the decree of King Elessar, given after the War of the Ring. Men are forbidden to live in the Shire, or any of the lands west of the Brandywine. But Bree is nice, and I could try to find Bombadil in the Old Forest, now and then, as an adventure. Rivendale, and Lothlorien are empty now, of course. And Even the Grey Havens are deserted. I would be sad if I lived there. The age of Men is now upon us, and those few elves who abide still east of the Sea are a hidden folk of the woods, and I doubt that they will have much to do with an ordinary man, like me. I would so like to hear an elf song, of course. But perhaps one of the hobbits of the shire would visit the Prancing Pony, and sing one of their songs. They do have excellent beer there, you know. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Firebat023](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Firebat023](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firebat023)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/15 "2002-10-28T06:15:07Z")
The Shire. I’m a Marine, but that’s just a shell over being a hobbit. Looking at the Shire is like looking at a home. Sure would like to visit Lothlorien, although I wouldn’t want to take the Moria route to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/16 "2002-10-28T07:23:42Z")
I would want to live in Rivendell because Elrond seems to have an eternal party going there, and there’s a more diverse crowd there than anywhere else. Of the few people that were in Middle Earth in the Third Age that could tell you first-hand stories of the Good Olde Days and Valinor, most of them were in Rivendell or Lothlorien. Places like Khazad-Dum and Osgiliath would have been good tourist stops in their time, but still not as interesting and racially diverse as Rivendell. As for Lothlorien, Galadriel may be a hell of a sexy Elf chick, but she sounds pretty authoritarian to me (which is kind of scary since she’s a mind-reader) and I think I’d get bored in a big hurry there. Now if we were talking _Bored of the Rings,_ I would want to live at Tim Benzedrine’s place. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/17 "2002-10-28T07:48:54Z")
I’d love to actually spend a lot of time in Moria. Seems that there are a ton of things to explore and see there, as well as places that I could easily claim as my own. ---
**Author:** ![I\_am\_Sparticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@I\_am\_Sparticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_am_Sparticus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/18 "2002-10-28T07:59:21Z")
Chronos, I mispelled Sparticus too. It is a small mind that can only conceive of one correct spelling of a word. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/19 "2002-10-28T20:45:20Z")
**GaunoLad** where is that place and why did you leave it? It’s beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143/20 "2002-10-29T02:53:25Z")
That place is called Karitane, on the east coast of the South Island. I grew up there as a kid. I left when I was 20 because of it being a quiet country village with more of a retirement feel than anything. So I moved to the “city” (small though it was) and then that town started to die also, so now I’m in a totally separate country. I might go back when I reach retirement age, though… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-where-would-you-rather-live/134143.md?page=2)