Approach to Rivendell

[Alcuin]

Of the four Elven settlements in the late Third Age that we see in Tolkien’s writings, Rivendell is by far the smallest territorially and least populated. (The others would be Lórien, Thranduil’s kingdom, and Lindon, of which we see only a glimpse at the very end and some discarded material in Return of the Shadow). Misdirection and concealment would be primary tools for these Elves, because a military response to every insult or aggravation would be unwise: it would only draw more attention, and it might prove costly in lives lost. Elrond and his compatriots must also have known how to prevent unwanted watchers from prying: Galadriel said that she could not see Gandalf “from afar...: a grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet … are hidden from me.� (“Mirror of Galadriel�)

But I think you are correct: the Elves withdrew into narrower and narrower confines and for the most part avoided contact with other folk. The one exception to this rule seems to have been Thranduil, who traded with the Men of Esgaroth on the Long Lake for food and wine. Elrond had considerable dealings with his far kinsmen, the few surviving Dúnedain of Arnor, but they in turn adopted his way of life, avoiding folk other than themselves and their Elven allies.

-|-

Insert image only works for me in this part of Entmoot while in edit mode. Here is an old section of Natchez Trace: I imagine that the Great Road looked much the same where it ran through woods.