Galadriel - like or dislike

[Durin1]

I'm probably being controversial here but i just can't stand that woman!

She seems to command a bit too much reverence for my liking - and doesn't exactly do too much in the 6 or 7 thousands years that she has been in Middle-Earth.

Anyone share the same feelings (probably not!)

Also, I would have liked to think of Celeborn as being a Wood Elf (as in Tolkien's original conception). It would have been nice to see that the Silvan folk could develop their own great leaders without looking to the Sindar and Noldor.

[Elrond the Wise]

You may be right that Galadier does almost nothing during the time she is in Middel Earth. BUT she protects the Lothlorien and "fights" with Saoron in her mind. I havn`t payd much attention to Galadriel but I think she is a important character.

[Jonathan]

I don't think it's right to say that Galadriel didn't do much. She marched with Fingolfin over Helcaraxë, she often travelled to Doriath, she repelled three (I think it was three) major attacks on Lothlórien.
I believe she has done many other things too that I don't know of.

Not that these are reasons to like her, but I like her very much anyway

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by Jonathan
I believe she has done many other things too that I don't know of.

gave sheltetr and protection to the fellowship, no to mention those gifts of hers

[Sister Golden Hair]

I do not dislike Galadriel, but I'm not sure that I agree with the "Master" that she was deserving of the title: "greatest of the Noldor, next to Feanor" I just never saw what she did that put her in that class, and she was given that title before the exile.

I think Finrod was greater than her, and did more, eventhough, he didn't live as long. He did more in his short life, than she did in 7 thousand years.

[Durin1]

Putting my cyncism aside (perhaps i was not giving Galadriel her full dues), I agree that it seems strange that she was supposed to be the greatest next to Feanor.

Having read Unfinished Tales, it is clear that Tolkien was never sure about Galadriel's true role in ME, however, he did seem to gradually start giving her more importance amongst the hierarchy of the Noldor

[durin's bane]

I have never read The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales, so I can't really tell whether she did stuff or not. She did show Sam and Frodo her mirror, but that only made them feel worse. But she did give hospitality to the Fellowship and those gifts, and the LotR wouldn't have ended the way it did without them, so Galadriel is an OK character.

[Fat middle]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
I do not dislike Galadriel, but I'm not sure that I agree with the "Master" that she was deserving of the title: "greatest of the Noldor, next to Feanor" I just never saw what she did that put her in that class, and she was given that title before the exile.

I think Finrod was greater than her, and did more, eventhough, he didn't live as long. He did more in his short life, than she did in 7 thousand years.

Finrod? Who's speaking of Finrod? This is a thread for Galadriel!

From Letters, 320:
"actually Galadriel was a penitent: in her youth a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the Ring for herself."

In Galadriel it is not only important what she did. What I think is more interesting is that she's present in nearly all the history of the noldor and that that history is reflected in her character. Hers is a history of fall and redemption. The history of the noldor.

[Bombadillo]

I think there's some misunderstanding. Galadriel is infinately wiser. We are all bloody idiots compared to her. But I believe that she didn't do much 'physically' because she couldn't risk it. She had remarkable foresight, remember, so she knew the world would need her precious aid at another time.

I'm no Tolkien expert, but from what I've read in LotR, she did help the fellowship greatly. She inspired them so much, and that's what they needed more than anything. SHe also warned them of consequences if they failed, and she gave them all gifts that soon became their most precious items. Off course she gave them shelter and boats, and I'm sure she used her elf ESP to confuse Sauron. I'm aware that she could have battle Sauron with arms, but there's two things that prevented that: 1. SHe's simply not a warrior. 2. She knew sshe'd be more useful by fighting him indirectly, doing what she did.

She was just too wise for some to understand. She wasn't looking for glory and so she isn't a glorious character like Aragorn (he wasn't looking for glory either, but that's how the human [reader's] mind works, if you follow). So it might appear at first that she didn't do much, but that's wrong. She did the best she possibly could, and it was becouase of wisdom, not cowardice or incompitence.

[Artanis]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
I do not dislike Galadriel, but I'm not sure that I agree with the "Master" that she was deserving of the title: "greatest of the Noldor, next to Feanor" I just never saw what she did that put her in that class, and she was given that title before the exile.

I think Artanis was given her title because of her potential, not for what she actually did. Just as Fëanor was always named the greatest, though his actions was both great and ruinous.

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Durin1
I'm probably being controversial here but i just can't stand that woman!

She seems to command a bit too much reverence for my liking - and doesn't exactly do too much in the 6 or 7 thousands years that she has been in Middle-Earth.

Also, I would have liked to think of Celeborn as being a Wood Elf (as in Tolkien's original conception). It would have been nice to see that the Silvan folk could develop their own great leaders without looking to the Sindar and Noldor.

Yah, I also thought the rest of the elves should have had their own leaders without having the Noldor as their leaders. But on the other hand I think that they were quite satisfied with their Noldor leaders and therefore they accepted them. I don't think that they were hasty in their decisions who should be the leader and who not.

Personally I like Galadriel, because I think she was a woman of great strenght and she was very wise and thought long about her actions. Plus, she was a ring-bearer and ring bearers are alone.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Well, Fat Middle, I know that.

I am not trying to take anything away from Galadriel, but to me, it does seem as though she wasn't very active or helpful to the Noldor after she came to Middle-earth. So, besides her helping the Fellowship, what else did she do that was so spectacular, in the three ages she was in M-e?

She may have been the greatest of female characters in the books, but I can think of many male characters that seemed greater to me, including Finrod, Mr. Fat Middle.

[Fat middle]

of course, of course

then we can say that Galadriel is great... according to female standards

*puts under cover*

[Artanis]

Cover won't save you, FM.

[Willow Oran]

Galadriel accomplished quite a bit from what I've read. She provided support, aid and advice to the Fellowship throughout the quest. Her actions in regards to Gimli went a long way towards healing the rift between the elves and Dwarves and she managed to survive three ages in Middle Earth under the Doom of the Noldor all the while activly and inactively resisting Sauron under all his names and Morgoth too in the earlier stages of the story. Not only that but there are probably many more things she did that Tolkien never had the chance to write about. I think she fully deserves the titles that Tolkien saw fit to give her.
However, I believe that the view we are given of her in the Fellowship of the Ring makes it seem as though she is commanding too much reverence, (as the original complaint of this thread was.) The view in question being through the eyes of people who, aside from Aragorn and Legolas, have never before seen anyone quite like her. You must admit that meeting Galadriel for the first time would be overwhelming for most mortals and it is comparing this overwhelmed point of view of her and the more overlooked historical view presented in the Silmarillion that makes it seem as though she is being given more credit than she's worth, if you see what I mean. There really isn't enough written about Galadriel to judge rather she really is the greatest or not. All we have to go on are scraps of information, a couple scenes from LotR and Tolkien's word.

[Keith K]

She proved her quality by resisting the lure of the Ring. She could have ruled ME (which sets her apart from Feanor who wanted power above all things it seems), yet she refused the temptation.

[ArwenEvenstar]

What would happen if she did take the Ring? What would happen to the ring she has as well?

[Keith K]

Originally posted by ArwenEvenstar
What would happen if she did take the Ring? What would happen to the ring she has as well?

She would have supplanted Sauron as the "new" Dark Lord. She would have gained control of the nine, the seven and the three (rings of power). Her elf ring would have been rendered useless unless she could have duped another to wield it, in which case all that was wrought with that ring would have been laid bare to her since she would have control of the One Ring.

[Kirinki54]

'I it was who first summoned the White Council. And if my designs had not gone amiss, it would have been governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then mayhap things would have gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be. But this I will say to you: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true.'

Is this spoken with great wisdom and foresight or not? And clearly she had not been idle even in the later part of the Third Age.

[LutraMage]

Hey guys, are we not missing something here? Galadriel was a ring bearer (as pointed out by Lalaith). Now, what does that mean?

Firstly, she must have been deemed very worthy by some of the highest of the elfish race.

Secondly, seven rings were given to dwarf lords, and not one single one of them managed to hold onto their ring in the three thousand years that Galadriel protected hers. Nine were given to men - and not just any Tom, Dick or Harry, but to 'great leaders and kings of men' and they all fell sway to Sauron. Don't people realise that merely to possess a ring of power for 3,000 years was to be constantly in a hidden battle with the Dark Lord for dominance of the bearer's very soul.

Thirdly, LoTRs makes numerous references to Galadriel 'protecting' Lothlorien.

"But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, nor even by the slender arrows of elven-bows, is this land of Lothlorien maintained and defended against its Enemy. I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!"

This was a constant battle fought by Galadriel on her own, for most of the 3,000 years (when Sauron wasn't in hiding).

Fourthly, was her decision to aid the Fellowship (Celeborn was not so keen until she persuaded him of the importance).

Fifthly, when offered the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, the Ring that would make all her hard work a thing of the past, the Ring that would save her beloved Lothlorien, she had the strength to deny it dominion over her.

Finally, (but by no means the only other contribution by Galadriel) one of my favourite quotes in the book

"In this phial is caught the light of Earendil's star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out. Remember Galadriel and her mirror!"

Without Galadriel's foresight, Frodo could never have found a way to fight off Shelob, and the Ring might have ended up with Gollum 'picked from the bones of Shelob's feast' and so the quest would have ended in failure and the Free World of Middle Earth would have been plunged into a darkness that would have lasted for eons. Anyone who thinks this was just coincidence and not down to Galadriel's deeper knowledge of the workings of Middle Earth ignore the fact that she clearly had a vision that was purer than most. Her mirror reflected this, as did her knowledge that Bilbo had been 'meant to find the Ring and so Frodo was also meant to have the Ring, and by a Power not aligned to the Dark Lord'.

For me, Galadriel was not only important, she really did deserve her special place amongst the elves.