glen

Few single words immediately bring an idyllic rural scene to mind as well as "glen." It refers to a small valley, and is used most often to describe a place that's quite separated from civilization. The connotation is pleasingly green and soft, and it is perhaps because the combination of these, the seclusion and the pastoral nature, hints at a surrounding natural tableau, that the word is so strangely rich. I associate it with 19th Century English fiction for some reason, Thomas Hardy in particular, though I can't recall any particular instances. Perhaps the appropriateness I saw down to the letter in "serene" is making me force a similar comparison where there isn't one, but it seems to me that the "g" and "n" in today's word are just a touch harsher than the inclusive "le," creating, in some obscure way, a small valley.