Out of Dreams of Longing

"...so entranced was he that for long he could look at nothing else; for he saw before him at last the vision of his desire out of dreams of longing" - that is said of Tuor beholding "a vision of Gondolin" (in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Unfinished Tales'). With this image I would like to commemorate J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday that is today. In the photo there is one of my favourite Swiss sceneries . The image could be titled "From Rivendell to the Misty Mountains", for it depicts a part of Lauterbrunnen Valley - an inspiration for Rivendell - and the mountain range in the background, which has something to do with the Misty Mountains. The image could also be titled "In a Wilderness", because it's the view from the village of Mürren in Jungfrauregion, and here Tolkien travelled in 1911: "We went on foot carrying great packs practically all the way from Interlaken, mainly by mountain paths, to Lauterbrunnen and so to Mürren and eventually to the head of the Lauterbrunnenthal in a wilderness of morains" ('The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien' 306); the part of valley in the photo is, I suppose, "the head of the Lauterbrunnenthal" (Lauterbrunnen Valley). I saw this part of the valley from different points and wanted very much to wander there, but, unfortunately, I did not have such an opportunity. So, for me the main thing about this image is not its possible correlations with Middle-earth locations or Tolkien's biography - it's an expression of longing for Middle-earth, the journey through which nevers ends.