In the footsteps of JRR Tolkien in Switzerland
As I stood at the entrance to Switzerland’s magical Lauterbrunnen Valley, I felt an eerie sense of familiarity. Where had I seen before such breathtaking scenery, a fertile and narrow river valley enclosed by towering cliffs over which dozens of waterfalls cascade in silver ribbons?
A whimsical illustration from my childhood edition of The Hobbit, a depiction of the elven valley of Rivendell painted by the author JRR Tolkien himself. When I pulled up the image and compared it to the landscape in front of me, the resemblance was startling. I suddenly realized that the renowned author must have stood exactly where I stand now, and his awe became the inspiration for Middle-earth.
I made this discovery in May during a week long visit with my daughter, based our stay deep in the Lauterbrunnen valley, a 10 minute walk from the village Camping Jungfrau. The cluster of tiny cabins, bungalows and campgrounds surrounding a lively restaurant and fairytale-lit garden perfectly embodied the magic of the place. Almost directly above us, so close that its spray burned the air, the mighty Staubach waterfall roared us to sleep at night.
The name Lauterbrunnen translates to ‘clear springs’ and indeed in the spring water seemed to spring from everywhere, seeping out of the rock in mossy grottos, flowing in rivers and streams and cascading over the cliffs in a series of waterfalls, that the locals had promised us numbered 72 at the height of snowmelt.
I wasn’t the only one making the Tolkien connection, of course; A subsequent dive into the world of Tolkienology unveiled a host of fascinating facts about a hike the author undertook in 1911 at the age of 19 through the Bernese Alps. In this formative adventure – led by a quirky aunt, whom some Tolkien scholars point to as a model, at least in part, for Gandalf – young JRR, his brother Hilary and a motley crew of relatives and friends spent weeks navigating these valleys carved by glaciers and snowy passes that would capture his imagination for the rest of his life.
While Tolkien scholars and readers have attempted to map the path using references in letters, journal entries, conversations, and signatures in guest books, much remains vague. But the connection to The Hobbitwhich Tolkien was not to write for another 25 years: he spelled it out in a 1967 letter to his son Michael when he was 76 years old.
“The journey of the hobbit (Bilbo) from Rivendell to the other side of the Misty Mountains, including the slide ride over the sliding stones into the pine forest, is based on my adventures in 1911,” he wrote. Tolkien admitted that his “principal hikes on foot in a group of 12 are now not clearly in order,” Tolkien continued: “We walked, carrying large backpacks, practically all the way from Interlaken, mostly on mountain trails, to Lauterbrunnen and so to Mürren and finally to the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley in a moraine wilderness.»
But the truth is, you don’t need any scientific support to know that you’re wandering the worlds of hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs, and dragons as you explore the high Alpine peaks and valleys of the Jungfrau region, with its tiny gabled villages running deep hidden in valleys and stacked precariously on sheer cliffs. The village of Lauterbrunnen, tucked away in the V of the valley through which the White Lütschine flows, resembles Rivendell too closely to be in doubt. And indeed, the Misty Mountains in the form of three peaks, the Eiger (4,024 feet), Mönch (4,448 feet) and Jungfrau (4,641 feet), rise at the end of the valley like mysterious sentinels.
There is no evidence that Tolkien visited them Trummelbach Fallsan underground waterfall and UNESCO World Heritage Site, and yet we found it impossible to duck through the rock-carved tunnels and walk the cliff-hugging walkways that connect its 10 subterranean cascades without glancing at Smaug and the Kingdom of the Dwarves beneath the mountain think.
Another set of caves and waterfalls that could easily be confused with Middle-earth: St. Beatus Caves Nearby Lake Thun is a maze of stalactite and stalagmite adorned caves and subterranean pools connected by passages that feel like Gollum’s subterranean lake.
Today you don’t need to hike to reach Mürren; We got there by walking down the valley to Stechelberg and taking the world’s steepest cable car. It offers dizzying views through the glass walls and floor as it climbs nearly 3,000 feet to the village at 5,450 feet.
With its chalets, hotels and restaurants staggering up a steep hillside and linked by stairs, this traffic-free village offers perhaps the most dramatic views of any in the area; A restaurant terrace juts out over the valley floor below. A path meanders down the mountain into neighboring Gimmelwald, past 500-year-old farmhouses and haystacks and hills where curious cows and perky goats graze.
Across the valley, the village of Wengen is perhaps the best-known of those that circle Lauterbrunnen, thanks to the ski slopes that climb just past the town and village male Cable car to the Jungfraujoch, resp top of Europe.
But it was the creaking gear Wengernalp Train connecting Lauterbrunnen with Wengen and Grindelwald, which once again commemorated Tolkien’s journey. Watching the late afternoon sun illuminate the valley as the train began its descent reminded me again of Tolkien’s living world and the essential escape and alternative vision it had offered me and countless others as we grew up and tried to understand our own . And how this mountain-ringed valley, with its impossibly high cliffs and glacial-fed cascades, had offered just as much awe, inspiration, and escape to all who set foot in its walled enclave.
As we finally descended the mountainside, a new view unfolding with every switchback, it occurred to me that this train – the longest rack railway in Europe – first ran in 1892. How likely is it that Tolkien and his 12-person band took the same ride 20 years later?
When I pulled out my phone to look again at his picture of Rivendell, I had my answer.
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