The first inhabitants of the forested area later known as Lórien were a group of Nandor that refused to cross the Misty Mountains when summoned to Valinor. The land in which they dwelt became known in the Silvan tongue as Lórinand, or Laurelindórenan.

Following the destruction of Beleriand and the War of Wrath, the remnants of the Sindar retreated eastward. Amdír, along with his son Amroth, established himself in Lórinand, where he would soon lead the princeless Silvan Elves. With the influx of exiles and the new king in place, their language was slowly replaced with Sindarin.

During the Second Age, Celeborn dwelt with his wife Galadriel in Eregion, to the west of the Misty Mountains. They made contact with the Nandor of Lórinand, and before long they passed through Moria and arrived in the woods. Galadriel planted the seeds of the mallorn trees that had been given to her by Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor. It was because of these trees that Lothlórien became known as the Golden Wood thenceforth.

As Sauron's power grew over the Westlands, King Amdír marshalled the Elves of Lórinand to the War of the Last Alliance. His division was cut off from the main body during the Battle of Dagorlad and many of the Nandor went down into the Dead Marshes with their King.

The survivors of the battle, which included Amdír’s son Amroth, returned to Lórinand. Amroth was the new King, but he was tired of Middle-earth, and wished to go West and seek Valinor. When Moria fell to evil in T.A. 1981, many of the Lórinand elves fled south. Around that time Amroth departed to Edhellond with his beloved, Nimrodel. The Nandor never saw either of them again.

After Amroth and Nimrodel had passed away, Celeborn and Galadriel took the title of Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim, the collective name for the people of Lothlórien. Under the power of the Ring that Galadriel bore, Nenya, Lothlórien flourished. It became unfading, untouched by shadow, and timeless - a living memory of the Elder Days.

Only two-and-a-half years after the War of the Ring, Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien, took ship West to Valinor. Celeborn left for Rivendell several years later, and light departed from Lórien.

In the year 121 of the Fourth Age, a grief-filled Arwen Undómiel travelled to an empty Lothlórien after Aragorn surrendered his life, surrendering her own upon Cerin Amroth.

"There is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten...”