Edoras

Edoras is the capital city of Rohan. It is home to the Golden Hall of the King, called Meduseld.
The city of Edoras was built on a hill in a valley of the White Mountains by Rohan's second King, Brego son of Eorl the Young. Before Edoras was completed, Rohan's capital was at Aldburg in the Folde. The Golden Hall was described as having a golden thatch, and the stables were constructed at the top of the hill by Meduseld itself.
Edoras is Rohan's only real city. It is here in Meduseld that Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf meet with King Théoden in the account of the early stages of the War of the Ring.
The inhabitants of Edoras and the rest of the Rohirrim were often called to war, to defend both Gondor and Rohan. They wore green capes, carried green shields emblazoned with a golden sun and were armed with spears and long swords that were set with green gems.
Edoras is built at the end of the valley of Harrowdale, which lies under the great mountain Starkhorn. The river Snowbourn flows past the city on its way west towards the Entwash. The city was protected only by a high wall of timber, and a one-way road allowed access to the city. Just before the gates, two sets of mounds lined the road, which were the graves of the former Kings of Rohan.

Osgiliath

Osgiliath is a city of Middle-earth, the old capital city of Gondor. In Sindarin, the name means Citadel of the Host of Stars.
Founded by Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anárion at the end of the Second Age, Osgiliath straddled the Great River Anduin at a point approximately half way between the cities of Minas Anor to the west and Minas Ithil to the east. While Anor was the chief city of Anárion and Ithil that of Isildur, the brothers had their thrones alongside each other at Osgiliath.
During the first overthrow of the Dark Lord Sauron, Minas Ithil was taken and Isildur was forced to flee down the Anduin and seek Elendil, but Anárion rallied Gondor's forces at Osgiliath and drove the Enemy back to the mountains.
Osgiliath was burned during the Kin-strife, with its palantír being lost in the rebellion. Afterwards, having not fully recovered from the ruinous civil war, it was struck by the Great Plague, causing it to become partially deserted and fall into ruins. As a result King Tarondor moved the capital to Minas Anor in T.A. 1640. Around the time that Minas Ithil fell to the Ringwraiths and became Minas Morgul, Osgiliath became unsafe and the remaining population was driven out in T.A. 2475 when Uruks from Mordor occupied Ithilien and destroyed the Great Bridge of the city. Although the Uruks were driven back by Boromir, son of Denethor I, the city was finally ruined and from then on it became a city of ghosts watched over by a Gondorian garrison.
Osgiliath was the scene of some of the earliest fighting in the War of the Ring. In T.A. 3018 skirmishes broke out as the Black Captain tested the strength of Gondor's outer defences, by occupying East Osgiliath and trying to capture the Western half in addition. Boromir, son of Denethor II led a force that managed to destroy its last stone bridge and therefore halted the advance. After Boromir's departure and subsequent death, his younger brother Faramir took command, but the men of Gondor were hard pressed to prevent the enemy from breaking through at Osgiliath and were eventually driven out by the forces of Mordor shortly before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
After the destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Sauron, it may be presumed that Osgiliath was rebuilt, although it never regained its former glory. It is thought that Osgiliath was the capital city of Eldarion son of Elessar.

Lothlórien

Other names
LórienLaurelindórenanGolden WoodThe Hidden Land
Description
Refuge of the Elves
Location
None
Lifespan
Founded circa S.A. 1350[1]Abandoned by F.A. 119[2]
Lord
Celeborn and Galadriel
the Elven centre of resistance against Sauron and is a symbol for the Elves'

Early in the First Age some of the Eldar left the Great March and settled in the lands east of the Misty Mountains. These elves became known as the Nandor and later the Silvan Elves. By S.A. 1200 Galadriel had made contact with an existing Nandorin realm, Lindórinand, in the area that would later be known as Lothlórien,[9] and planted there the golden mallorn trees which Gil-galad had received as a gift from Tar-Aldarion.[11]
The culture and knowledge of the Silvan elves was considerably enriched by the arrival of Sindarin Elves from west of the mountains and even the Silvan language was gradually replaced by Sindarin. Amongst these arrivals was Amdír, who became their first lord, as well as Galadriel and Celeborn, who also crossed the mountains and the Anduin to join these southern Nandor after the destruction of Eregion during the War of the Elves and Sauron. Ultimately, Amdír led an army out of the forest as part of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, just as Oropher, another Sindarin lord, led the Silvan Elves of the north in the same victory over Sauron, so it can be assumed that both northern and southern woodland realms had been founded by then.
With the gradual return of Sauron's malign influence to the forest east of Anduin, the northern Silvan Elves led by Thranduil son of Oropher moved even further north to escape it, and those of the south returned west across the Anduin, although without their last Sindarin lord Amroth son of Amdír, who departed to Edhellond after his lover Nimrodel had fled there.
It was later revealed that Galadriel's Ring enriched the land by preserving its flora from death and decay, and in wielding it she created a powerful ward against all creatures of evil intent: in fact the only way that Galadriel's Lothlórien could have been conquered by Mordor is if Sauron himself, the master of all the Rings of Power, had come there.
Following the departure of Galadriel for Valinor at the beginning of the Fourth Age, the Elves of Lothlórien were ruled by Celeborn alone, who led them across the Anduin to found a new, larger realm, East Lórien, centred around Amon Lanc. By the time of the death of Queen Arwen, Celeborn and Galadriel's granddaughter, Lothlórien itself was deserted.

Lothlórien was located East of Moria between the Misty Mountains and the river Anduin. Other than a small strip of forested land to the south, the realm was located between the rivers Anduin and Silverlode, a region called the Naith (S. spearhead)[12] by the Elves or the Gore in Westron. The city of Caras Galadhon was located in the narrowest portion of the Naith, where the two rivers came together, called Egladil.

Imladris

Established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth (four or five thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings). In addition to Elrond and his family, notable Elves who lived there included Glorfindel and Erestor.

The name Rivendell is formed by two elements: "riven" and "dell" meaning split, cloven and valley respectively, making the whole word purport "deeply cloven valley". It is also referred to as The Last Homely House of the West of the mountains, alluding to the wilderland that lies beyond the Misty Mountains.

Rivendell is located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Bruinen (one of the main approaches to Rivendell comes from a nearby ford of Bruinen), but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Hithaeglir or the Misty Mountains.
The climate is cool-temperate and semi-continental with moderately warm summers, fairly snowy — but not frigid — winters and moderate precipitation. Seasons are more pronounced than in areas further west, such as the Shire, but less extreme than the places east of the Misty Mountains.

Rivendell was founded in Second Age 1697 when a force sent by Gil-galad from Lindon and led by Elrond rescued the refugees of Eregion from Sauron's army and was driven into the hills of Rhudaur.Rivendell was founded in Second Age 1697 when a force sent by Gil-galad from Lindon and led by Elrond rescued the refugees of Eregion from Sauron's army and was driven into the hills of Rhudaur. Sauron's forces subsequently laid siege to the refuge for three years until a relief army sent by Gil-galad attacked the besieging force in conjunction with the defenders and annihilated it. Rivendell was next attacked in the fourteenth century of the Third Age when the Armies of the Witch-king of Angmar attacked the refuge. After some years they were driven off when reinforcements were sent from Lothlórien.

At the beginning of the Fourth Age Elrond left Rivendell and for a while it was lived in by Elladan and Elrohir, joined later by Celeborn. It is not known when Rivendell was finally abandoned.