Land of the Valley of Singing Gold

Treebeard's translation of Laurelindórenan, an old name for the land of Lórien on the banks of Celebrant and Anduin. The history of the name is hard to disentangle, but it apparently had its origins with Galadriel. It might therefore have dated back to her visits there during the Second Age, or to a time long afterward, when she and Celeborn took over the rule of the land after Amroth's loss in III 1981. The name had largely fallen out of use by the end of the Third Age, when the land was more usually called Lothlórien or simply Lórien.

Though the name Laurelindórenan translates literally as 'Land of the Valley of Singing Gold', it incorporates various intertwined references and meanings. Laurelin was the name of the Golden Tree that shed Light on Valinor in the days of Galadriel's youth, so her choice of the name carries a sense of her longing for the lost West. The idea of 'singing' is present in Laurelin's name, but combines here with a connection to the Lindar, the 'Singers', the Third Clan of the Elves, more usually called Teleri. It was from this clan that the Silvan Elves of Lórien came, so the name of the land also reflected the origins of the Tree-people who dwelt there.