fbpx
Wikipedia

Galadriel

Galadriel (IPA: [ɡaˈladri.ɛl]) is a character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales.

Galadriel
Tolkien character
Created byJ. R. R. Tolkien
In-universe information
RaceElves
SpouseCeleborn
ChildrenCelebrían
Book(s)The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
The Return of the King (1955)
The Silmarillion (1977)
Unfinished Tales (1980)

She was a royal Elf of both the Noldor and the Teleri, being a grandchild of both King Finwë and King Olwë. She was also close kin of King Ingwë of the Vanyar through her grandmother Indis. Galadriel was a leader during the rebellion of the Noldor, and present in their flight from Valinor during the First Age. Towards the end of her stay in Middle-earth, she was joint ruler of Lothlórien with her husband, Celeborn, when she was known as the Lady of Lórien, the Lady of the Galadhrim, the Lady of Light, or the Lady of the Golden Wood. Her daughter Celebrían was the wife of Elrond and mother of Arwen, Elladan, and Elrohir. Tolkien describes Galadriel as "the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth" (after the death of Gil-galad)[T 1] and the "greatest of elven women".[T 2]

The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey has written that Galadriel represented Tolkien's attempt to re-create the kind of elf hinted at by surviving references in Old English. He has compared his elves also to those in a Christian Middle English source, The Early South English Legendary, where the elves were angels. Another scholar, Marjorie Burns, compares Galadriel in multiple details to Rider Haggard's heroine Ayesha, and to Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott, both being reworked figures of Arthurian legend. Galadriel, lady of light, assisting Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring, opposed to Shelob, the giant and evil female spider of darkness, have been compared to Homer's opposed female characters in the Odyssey: Circe and Calypso as Odysseus's powerful and wise benefactors on his quest, against the perils of the attractive Sirens, and the deadly Scylla and Charybdis.

Modern songwriters have created songs about Galadriel; Tolkien's Quenya poem "Namárië" has been set to music by Donald Swann. Galadriel has appeared in both animated and live-action films and television. Cate Blanchett played her in Peter Jackson's film series, while Morfydd Clark played her in an earlier age in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Fictional biography Edit

Stories of Galadriel's life prior to the War of the Ring appear in both The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.[T 3][T 1] She was the only daughter and youngest child of Finarfin, prince of the Noldor, and of Eärwen, daughter of Olwë and cousin to Lúthien. Her elder brothers were Finrod Felagund, Angrod, and Aegnor. She was born in Valinor. She had the ability to peer into the minds of others to judge them fairly. She was a member of the royal House of Finwë. Galadriel was often called the fairest of all Elves, whether in Aman or Middle-earth.[T 3]

According to the older account of her story, sketched by Tolkien in The Road Goes Ever On and used in The Silmarillion, Galadriel was an eager participant and leader in the rebellion of the Noldor and their flight from Valinor; she was the "only female to stand tall in those days".[T 4][T 5] She had, however, long since parted ways with Fëanor and his sons. In Beleriand she lived with her brother Finrod Felagund at Nargothrond and the court of Thingol and Melian in Doriath. In this account, she met Celeborn, a kinsman of Thingol, in Doriath.[T 6] She carried some dark secrets from those times; she told Melian part of the violent story of the Silmarils and Morgoth's killing of Finwë, but did not mention the kinslaying of elves by elves.[T 7]

Second Age Edit

Galadriel and Celeborn travelled first to Lindon, where they ruled over a group of Elves, and were themselves ruled by Gil-galad. According to Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn, they then removed to the shores of Lake Nenuial (Evendim) and were accounted the Lord and Lady of all the Elves of Eriador. Later, they moved eastward and established the realm of Eregion (Hollin). They made contact with a Nandorin settlement in the valley of the River Anduin, which became Lothlórien. At some point, Celeborn and Galadriel left Eregion and settled in Lothlórien. According to some of Tolkien's accounts, they became rulers of Lothlórien for a time during the Second Age; but in all accounts they returned to Lórien to take up its rule after Amroth was lost in the middle of the Third Age.[T 3]

Celeborn and Galadriel had a daughter, Celebrían, who married Elrond Half-elven of Rivendell.[T 2]

During the Second Age, when the Rings of Power were forged, Galadriel distrusted Annatar, the loremaster who taught the craft of the Rings to Celebrimbor. Again according to some of the accounts, Celebrimbor rebelled against her view and seized power in Eregion. As a result, Galadriel departed to Lórien via the gates of Moria, but Celeborn refused to enter the dwarves' stronghold and stayed behind. Her distrust was justified, for Annatar turned out to be the Dark Lord, Sauron. When Sauron attacked Eregion, Celebrimbor entrusted Galadriel with Nenya, one of the Three Rings of the Elves. Celeborn joined up with Elrond, whose force was unable to relieve Eregion but managed to escape back to Imladris. Celeborn reunited with Galadriel when the war ended; according to one text, after some years in Imladris (during which Elrond first saw and fell in love with Celebrían) Galadriel's sea-longing became so strong that the couple removed to Belfalas and lived at the place later called Dol Amroth.[T 3]

Third Age Edit

'And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!' [Galadriel] lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark... Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 'I pass the test', she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel'.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel welcomed the Fellowship to Lothlórien after their escape from Moria.[T 8] When she met the Fellowship in her tree-dwelling she gave each member a searching look, testing their resolve—though Boromir interpreted this test as a temptation. She was in turn tested when Frodo Baggins offered to place the Ring in her keeping. Knowing that its corrupting influence would make her "great and terrible", and recalling the ambitions that had once brought her to Middle-earth, she refused the Ring. She accepted that her own ring's power would fail, that her people would diminish and fade with the One Ring's destruction, and that her only escape from the fading of the Elves and the dominion of Men would be to return at last to Valinor.[T 9] It is implied, backed up by other writings, that in acknowledgement of this renunciation of power her personal ban from Valinor was lifted.[T 1][T 3]

When the Fellowship left Lothlórien, she gave each member a gift and an Elven cloak, and furnished the party with supplies, both as practical support and as a symbol of faith, hope and goodwill. Her husband Celeborn likewise provided the Fellowship with Elven-boats.[T 10] On the day that the Fellowship left Lórien, but unknown to them, Gandalf arrived, carried by the eagle Gwaihir. Galadriel healed his wounds and re-clothed him in white, signalling his new status as head of the Istari, the order of wizards.[T 11]

After Sauron perished, Celeborn led the host of Lórien across the Anduin and captured Dol Guldur. Galadriel came forth and "threw down its walls and laid bare its pits".[T 2] She travelled to Minas Tirith for the wedding of her granddaughter Arwen to King Aragorn Elessar after the end of the war. Galadriel passed over the Great Sea with Elrond, Gandalf, and the Ring-bearers Bilbo and Frodo, marking the end of the Third Age.[T 12] Celeborn remained behind, and Tolkien writes that "there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens".[T 13]

Characteristics Edit

The Dúnedain said that her height was two rangar, or "man-high" – some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm).[T 14] However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair. The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves.[T 15]

Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful, and her hair is held a marvel unmatched. It is golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold is touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar say that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, has been snared in her tresses.[T 15]

Fëanor greatly admired her hair; it may have inspired him to create the Silmarils.[T 15]

Many thought that this saying first gave to Fëanor the thought of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees that later took shape in his hands as the Silmarils. For Fëanor beheld the hair of Galadriel with wonder and delight.[T 15]

Nevertheless, Galadriel never repaid Fëanor's admiration. Fëanor "had begged her thrice for a tress and thrice she refused to give him even one hair. It is said that these two kinsfolk, being considered the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor, remain unfriends forever."[T 15]

Her character was a blend of characteristics of the Eldar from whom she was descended. She had the pride and ambition of the Noldor, but in her they were tempered by the gentleness and insight of the Vanyar. She shared the latter virtues of character with her father Finarfin and her brother Finrod.[T 15]

She was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget. From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Fëanor. In him she perceived a darkness that she hated and feared, though she did not perceive that the shadow of the same evil had fallen upon the minds of all the Noldor, and upon her own.[T 15]

Her sympathy for Gimli the Dwarf, when she rebuked her husband Celeborn for being tempted to regret his decision to admit a Dwarf to Lothlórien, completely won him over.[T 9]

Relationships Edit

Family tree[T 15]
Melian
the Maia
ThingolElmoOlwë
of the Teleri
Finwë
of the Noldor
Indis
of the Vanyar
GaladhonEärwenFinarfin
LúthienGalathilCelebornGaladrielAngrodEldalótëFinrodAegnor
DiorNimlothOrodreth
ElurédElurínElwingGil-galadFinduilas
ElrosElrondCelebrían
Tar-Elendil
SilmariënTar-Meneldur
ElendilAr-Pharazôn
IsildurAnárion
ArveduiFíriel
Aranarth
AragornArwenElladanElrohir
Eldarion
Colour key:
Colour Description
  Elves
  Men
  Maiar
  Half-elven
  Half-elven who chose the fate of elves
  Half-elven who chose the fate of mortal men

Analysis Edit

Reconstructed Old English elf Edit

The critic Tom Shippey notes that in creating Galadriel, Tolkien was attempting to reconstruct the kind of elf hinted at by elf references in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words. The hints are, he observes, paradoxical: while ælfscyne, "elf-beautiful", suggests a powerful allure, ælfsogoða, "lunacy", implies that getting too close to elves is dangerous. In Shippey's view, Tolkien is telling the literal truth that "beauty is itself dangerous", as Chaucer did in The Wife of Bath's Tale where both elves and friars are sexually rapacious. So when Faramir says to Sam Gamgee in Ithilien that Galadriel must be "perilously fair", Shippey comments that this is a "highly accurate remark"; Sam replies that "folk takes their peril with them into Lorien... But perhaps you could call her perilous, because she's so strong in herself."[1]

Angelic being Edit

Shippey also considers the Christian Middle English attitude of the South English Legendary, a hagiographic work which he supposes Tolkien must have read, that elves were angels. In Shippey's view, Tolkien's elves are much like fallen angels, above Men but below the angelic Maiar and the godlike Valar. He comments at once that Galadriel is in one way certainly not "fallen", as the elves avoided the war on Melkor in the First Age; but all the same, "Galadriel has been expelled from a kind of Heaven, the Deathless land of Valinor, and has been forbidden to return." Shippey suggests that the Men of Middle-earth might have thought the fall of Melkor and the expulsion of Galadriel added up to a similar fallen status;[2] and he praises Tolkien for taking both sides of the story of elves into account.[1]

Arthurian figure Edit

The Tolkien scholar Marjorie Burns compares Galadriel to Rider Haggard's heroine Ayesha in his 1887 novel She: A History of Adventure, a book that Tolkien acknowledged as an important influence, and to Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott, which recast the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat; she notes that Ayesha was herself an Arthurian figure, transposed to 19th century Africa.[3]

Marjorie Burns's comparison of Galadriel with Ayesha and the Lady of Shalott[3]
Attribute Galadriel Ayesha (She) The Lady of Shalott
Image
 
Galadriel in front of her mirror

Tessa Boronski, 2011
 
Depiction of She, Holly, Leo, and Job journeying to the cavern containing the Pillar of Life. Ayesha stands on one side of a deep ravine, having crossed over using a plank of wood as a demonstration of its safety. She beckons the three Englishmen to follow her. A great beam of light divides the darkness about them.

Edward Killingworth Johnson, 1887
 
PreRaphaelite oil painting of the Lady of Shallott, finely dressed, on a small boat in a river

John William Waterhouse, 1888
Life immortal Elf immortal human after
entering the flame
"fairy"
Beauty very fair
long blonde hair
men fall to their knees
long raven-black hair
great beauty
very long dark hair
Wisdom
Power
sees more than any man
dangerous and strange
Work
weaving, and overseeing weaver-maidens
weaves continually
Place
isolated realm, sheltered from change
enchanted island
Healing
heals and preserves
enchanted
Magic mirror
(dish of water)
sees past, present,
"things that may yet be"
denies it is magic
sees past and present
denies it is magic
"the mirror's magic
sights"
Ending her ring loses power
elves leave and diminish
re-enters the flame
shrivels up and dies
relinquishes power
and dies

Homeric benefactor Edit

 
Galadriel's support of the Fellowship of the Ring has been compared to that of Circe and Calypso for Odysseus in Homer's epic.[4] Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse, 1891.
Mac Fenwick's comparison of Galadriel
with the Homeric Circe and Calypso[4]
Attribute Galadriel Circe and Calypso
Place
own magical realm
Assistance
help and advice
Monstrous
opposites
Shelob,
giant spider of darkness
Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis,
who would destroy his ship
Gifts
cloaks, food, wisdom, light

The Tolkien scholar Mac Fenwick compares Galadriel and what he sees as her monstrous opposite, the giant and evil spider Shelob, with the struggle between the good and the monstrous female characters in Homer's Odyssey. Like Galadriel, Circe and Calypso are rulers of their own secluded magical realms, and both offer help and advice to the protagonist. They help Odysseus to avoid destruction by the female monsters, the Sirens who would lure his ship on to the rocks, and Scylla and Charybdis who would smash or drown his ship; Galadriel gives Frodo the Phial of Galadriel, which by her power contains the light of Eärendil's star, able to blind and ward off Shelob in her darkest of dark lairs. Galadriel's gifts, too, are Homeric, including cloaks, food, and wisdom as well as light, just like those of Circe and Calypso.[4]

Legacy in music Edit

Tolkien wrote a poem "Namárië" that Galadriel sings in farewell to the departing Fellowship, and to Frodo in particular. The song is in Quenya, and "spoke of things little-known in Middle-earth," but Frodo is said to have remembered the words and translated them long afterward. It is a lament in which Galadriel describes her separation from the Blessed Realm and the Valar, her longing to return there, and at the end a wish or hope that even though she herself is forbidden (by the Ban) to return, that Frodo might somehow come in the end to the city of Valimar in Valinor. The poem was set to music by Donald Swann with Tolkien's assistance. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the song-cycle of The Road Goes Ever On. In a recording, Tolkien sings it in the style of a Gregorian chant.[5]

Galadriel's songs are omitted from Howard Shore's music for The Lord of the Rings film series;[6] instead, Shore created a Lothlórien/Galadriel theme using the Arabic maqam Hijaz scale to create a sense of antiquity.[a][7]Fran Walsh, Shore, and Annie Lennox co-wrote the Oscar-winning song "Into the West" for the closing credits of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Originally sung by Lennox, the song was conceived as Galadriel's bittersweet lament for those who have sailed across the Sundering Seas. The lyrics include phrases from the final chapter of the original novel. The song has since been covered by Yulia Townsend and Will Martin.[8]

On their album Once Again, the band Barclay James Harvest featured a song called "Galadriel". It gained notability because guitarist John Lees played John Lennon's Epiphone Casino guitar on this track, an event later recounted in a song on the band's 1990 album Welcome To The Show titled "John Lennon's Guitar".[9]Hank Marvin and John Farrar wrote a song "Galadriel", recorded by Cliff Richard; the four five-line stanzas include the couplet "Galadriel, spirit of starlight / Eagle and dove gave birth to thee".[10][11] An Australian band named Galadriel released a self-titled album in 1971 which "became a highly sought-after collectors' item among European progressive rock circles".[12]

Adaptations Edit

 
Galadriel in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings

Galadriel was voiced by Annette Crosbie in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film of The Lord of the Rings,[13] and by Marian Diamond in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation.[14]

 
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Galadriel is played by Cate Blanchett.[15] In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel narrates the prologue that explains the creation of the One Ring, as well as appearing in Lothlórien.[16]

 
Rebecca Jackson Mendoza in the elaborate[17] costume of the Toronto musical production[17]

While Galadriel does not feature in Tolkien's The Hobbit, the story was amended so that she could appear in Jackson's films based on the book.[18]

On stage, Galadriel was portrayed by Rebecca Jackson Mendoza in the 2006 Toronto musical production of The Lord of the Rings; Mendoza's dress was hand-embroidered with some 1800 beads.[17] The musical was revised and moved to London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2007, with Laura Michelle Kelly in the "glittering" role.[19]

Galadriel appears in video games such as The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, where she is voiced by Lani Minella.[20]

In the 2022 television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, young Galadriel was portrayed by Morfydd Clark,[21] and her younger version by Amelie Child Villiers.[22]

Notes Edit

  1. ^ Lothlórien/Galadriel theme 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine (listening sample)

References Edit

Primary Edit

  1. ^ a b c Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
  2. ^ a b c Tolkien 1955, Appendix B, "The Tale of Years"
  3. ^ a b c d e Tolkien 1980, 4. "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn", "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn"
  4. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 9 "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
  5. ^ Tolkien 1980, part 2, ch. 4 "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" discusses "the reasons and motives given for Galadriel's remaining in Middle-earth", citing The Road Goes Ever On.
  6. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldor"
  7. ^ Tolkien 1977, "Quenta Silmarillion", ch. 15 "Of the Noldor in Beleriand"
  8. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 2 ch. 6 "Lothlórien"
  9. ^ a b Tolkien 1954a, book 2 ch. 7 "The Mirror of Galadriel"
  10. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 2 ch. 8 "Farewell to Lórien"
  11. ^ Tolkien 1954, book 3, ch. 5 "The White Rider"
  12. ^ Tolkien 1955, book 6, ch. 9 "The Grey Havens"
  13. ^ Tolkien 1954a, "Prologue", "Note on the Shire Records"
  14. ^ Tolkien 1980, part 3, ch. 1 "The Disaster of the Gladden Fields: Appendix (Númenórean Linear Measures)"
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Tolkien 1980, part 2, ch. 4 "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"

Secondary Edit

  1. ^ a b Shippey, Tom (1982). The Road to Middle-Earth. Grafton (HarperCollins). pp. 54–55. ISBN 0261102753.
  2. ^ Shippey, Tom (1982). The Road to Middle-Earth. Grafton (HarperCollins). pp. 212–214. ISBN 0261102753.
  3. ^ a b Burns, Marjorie (2005). Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. pp. 114–116, footnote 33 (page 194). ISBN 978-0-8020-3806-7.
  4. ^ a b c Fenwick, Mac (1996). "Breastplates of Silk: Homeric Women in The Lord of the Rings". Mythlore. 21 (3). article 4.
  5. ^ Hargrove, Gene (January 1995). "Music in Middle-Earth". University of North Texas. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. ^ Jorgensen, Estelle R. (December 2004). "Music, Myth, and Education: The Case of The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy" (PDF). Reasons of the Heart: Myth, Meaning and Education, an International Conference, University of Edinburgh, September 9–12, 2004: 6–7.
  7. ^ Adams, Doug (2010). The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films. Carpentier. pp. 51–54. ISBN 978-0-7390-7157-1.
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). Guinness World Records. p. 137. ISBN 978-1904994107.
  9. ^ "Galadriel". Barclay James Harvest. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1977). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 1618.
  11. ^ Gramophone. Vol. 61. C. Mackenzie. 1983. p. 541.
  12. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Broderick Smith". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  13. ^ Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-56976-222-6.
  14. ^ . Radioriel. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Torn Exclusive: Cate Blanchett, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Mikael Persbrandt join cast of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit"". 7 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  16. ^ Harl, Allison (Spring–Summer 2007). "The monstrosity of the gaze: critical problems with a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings". Mythlore. 25 (3). Article 7.
  17. ^ a b c Brantley, Ben (24 March 2006). "Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings,' Staged by Matthew Warchus in Toronto". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  18. ^ Child, Ben (8 December 2010). "Peter Jackson tinkers with Tolkien to hand Cate Blanchett Hobbit role". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  19. ^ Billington, Michael (19 June 2007). "Guardian review, "The Lord of the Rings"". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  20. ^ "Galadriel". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  21. ^ Kroll, Justin (17 December 2019). "'Lord of the Rings' Series Taps Morfydd Clark as Young Galadriel". Variety. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  22. ^ Welch, Andy (2 September 2022). "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power recap episodes one and two – like no TV you've seen before". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2022.

Sources Edit

galadriel, other, uses, disambiguation, ɡaˈladri, character, created, tolkien, middle, earth, writings, appears, lord, rings, silmarillion, unfinished, tales, tolkien, charactercreated, tolkienin, universe, informationraceelvesspousecelebornchildrencelebríanbo. For other uses see Galadriel disambiguation Galadriel IPA ɡaˈladri ɛl is a character created by J R R Tolkien in his Middle earth writings She appears in The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales GaladrielTolkien characterCreated byJ R R TolkienIn universe informationRaceElvesSpouseCelebornChildrenCelebrianBook s The Fellowship of the Ring 1954 The Return of the King 1955 The Silmarillion 1977 Unfinished Tales 1980 She was a royal Elf of both the Noldor and the Teleri being a grandchild of both King Finwe and King Olwe She was also close kin of King Ingwe of the Vanyar through her grandmother Indis Galadriel was a leader during the rebellion of the Noldor and present in their flight from Valinor during the First Age Towards the end of her stay in Middle earth she was joint ruler of Lothlorien with her husband Celeborn when she was known as the Lady of Lorien the Lady of the Galadhrim the Lady of Light or the Lady of the Golden Wood Her daughter Celebrian was the wife of Elrond and mother of Arwen Elladan and Elrohir Tolkien describes Galadriel as the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle earth after the death of Gil galad T 1 and the greatest of elven women T 2 The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey has written that Galadriel represented Tolkien s attempt to re create the kind of elf hinted at by surviving references in Old English He has compared his elves also to those in a Christian Middle English source The Early South English Legendary where the elves were angels Another scholar Marjorie Burns compares Galadriel in multiple details to Rider Haggard s heroine Ayesha and to Tennyson s The Lady of Shalott both being reworked figures of Arthurian legend Galadriel lady of light assisting Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring opposed to Shelob the giant and evil female spider of darkness have been compared to Homer s opposed female characters in the Odyssey Circe and Calypso as Odysseus s powerful and wise benefactors on his quest against the perils of the attractive Sirens and the deadly Scylla and Charybdis Modern songwriters have created songs about Galadriel Tolkien s Quenya poem Namarie has been set to music by Donald Swann Galadriel has appeared in both animated and live action films and television Cate Blanchett played her in Peter Jackson s film series while Morfydd Clark played her in an earlier age in The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power Contents 1 Fictional biography 1 1 Second Age 1 2 Third Age 1 3 Characteristics 1 4 Relationships 2 Analysis 2 1 Reconstructed Old English elf 2 2 Angelic being 2 3 Arthurian figure 2 4 Homeric benefactor 3 Legacy in music 4 Adaptations 5 Notes 6 References 6 1 Primary 6 2 Secondary 6 3 SourcesFictional biography EditStories of Galadriel s life prior to the War of the Ring appear in both The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales T 3 T 1 She was the only daughter and youngest child of Finarfin prince of the Noldor and of Earwen daughter of Olwe and cousin to Luthien Her elder brothers were Finrod Felagund Angrod and Aegnor She was born in Valinor She had the ability to peer into the minds of others to judge them fairly She was a member of the royal House of Finwe Galadriel was often called the fairest of all Elves whether in Aman or Middle earth T 3 According to the older account of her story sketched by Tolkien in The Road Goes Ever On and used in The Silmarillion Galadriel was an eager participant and leader in the rebellion of the Noldor and their flight from Valinor she was the only female to stand tall in those days T 4 T 5 She had however long since parted ways with Feanor and his sons In Beleriand she lived with her brother Finrod Felagund at Nargothrond and the court of Thingol and Melian in Doriath In this account she met Celeborn a kinsman of Thingol in Doriath T 6 She carried some dark secrets from those times she told Melian part of the violent story of the Silmarils and Morgoth s killing of Finwe but did not mention the kinslaying of elves by elves T 7 Second Age Edit Galadriel and Celeborn travelled first to Lindon where they ruled over a group of Elves and were themselves ruled by Gil galad According to Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn they then removed to the shores of Lake Nenuial Evendim and were accounted the Lord and Lady of all the Elves of Eriador Later they moved eastward and established the realm of Eregion Hollin They made contact with a Nandorin settlement in the valley of the River Anduin which became Lothlorien At some point Celeborn and Galadriel left Eregion and settled in Lothlorien According to some of Tolkien s accounts they became rulers of Lothlorien for a time during the Second Age but in all accounts they returned to Lorien to take up its rule after Amroth was lost in the middle of the Third Age T 3 Celeborn and Galadriel had a daughter Celebrian who married Elrond Half elven of Rivendell T 2 During the Second Age when the Rings of Power were forged Galadriel distrusted Annatar the loremaster who taught the craft of the Rings to Celebrimbor Again according to some of the accounts Celebrimbor rebelled against her view and seized power in Eregion As a result Galadriel departed to Lorien via the gates of Moria but Celeborn refused to enter the dwarves stronghold and stayed behind Her distrust was justified for Annatar turned out to be the Dark Lord Sauron When Sauron attacked Eregion Celebrimbor entrusted Galadriel with Nenya one of the Three Rings of the Elves Celeborn joined up with Elrond whose force was unable to relieve Eregion but managed to escape back to Imladris Celeborn reunited with Galadriel when the war ended according to one text after some years in Imladris during which Elrond first saw and fell in love with Celebrian Galadriel s sea longing became so strong that the couple removed to Belfalas and lived at the place later called Dol Amroth T 3 Third Age Edit And now at last it comes You will give me the Ring freely In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen And I shall not be dark but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning Stronger than the foundations of the earth All shall love me and despair Galadriel lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark Then she let her hand fall and the light faded and suddenly she laughed again and lo she was shrunken a slender elf woman clad in simple white whose gentle voice was soft and sad I pass the test she said I will diminish and go into the West and remain Galadriel J R R Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring In The Fellowship of the Ring Galadriel welcomed the Fellowship to Lothlorien after their escape from Moria T 8 When she met the Fellowship in her tree dwelling she gave each member a searching look testing their resolve though Boromir interpreted this test as a temptation She was in turn tested when Frodo Baggins offered to place the Ring in her keeping Knowing that its corrupting influence would make her great and terrible and recalling the ambitions that had once brought her to Middle earth she refused the Ring She accepted that her own ring s power would fail that her people would diminish and fade with the One Ring s destruction and that her only escape from the fading of the Elves and the dominion of Men would be to return at last to Valinor T 9 It is implied backed up by other writings that in acknowledgement of this renunciation of power her personal ban from Valinor was lifted T 1 T 3 When the Fellowship left Lothlorien she gave each member a gift and an Elven cloak and furnished the party with supplies both as practical support and as a symbol of faith hope and goodwill Her husband Celeborn likewise provided the Fellowship with Elven boats T 10 On the day that the Fellowship left Lorien but unknown to them Gandalf arrived carried by the eagle Gwaihir Galadriel healed his wounds and re clothed him in white signalling his new status as head of the Istari the order of wizards T 11 After Sauron perished Celeborn led the host of Lorien across the Anduin and captured Dol Guldur Galadriel came forth and threw down its walls and laid bare its pits T 2 She travelled to Minas Tirith for the wedding of her granddaughter Arwen to King Aragorn Elessar after the end of the war Galadriel passed over the Great Sea with Elrond Gandalf and the Ring bearers Bilbo and Frodo marking the end of the Third Age T 12 Celeborn remained behind and Tolkien writes that there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens T 13 Characteristics Edit The Dunedain said that her height was two rangar or man high some 6 feet 4 inches 193 cm T 14 However Galadriel s most striking feature was her beautiful long silver golden hair The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves T 15 Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful and her hair is held a marvel unmatched It is golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis but richer and more radiant for its gold is touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother and the Eldar say that the light of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion has been snared in her tresses T 15 Feanor greatly admired her hair it may have inspired him to create the Silmarils T 15 Many thought that this saying first gave to Feanor the thought of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees that later took shape in his hands as the Silmarils For Feanor beheld the hair of Galadriel with wonder and delight T 15 Nevertheless Galadriel never repaid Feanor s admiration Feanor had begged her thrice for a tress and thrice she refused to give him even one hair It is said that these two kinsfolk being considered the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor remain unfriends forever T 15 Her character was a blend of characteristics of the Eldar from whom she was descended She had the pride and ambition of the Noldor but in her they were tempered by the gentleness and insight of the Vanyar She shared the latter virtues of character with her father Finarfin and her brother Finrod T 15 She was proud strong and self willed as were all the descendants of Finwe save Finarfin and like her brother Finrod of all her kin the nearest to her heart she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others but judged them with mercy and understanding and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Feanor In him she perceived a darkness that she hated and feared though she did not perceive that the shadow of the same evil had fallen upon the minds of all the Noldor and upon her own T 15 Her sympathy for Gimli the Dwarf when she rebuked her husband Celeborn for being tempted to regret his decision to admit a Dwarf to Lothlorien completely won him over T 9 Relationships Edit Family tree T 15 Melianthe MaiaThingolElmoOlweof the TeleriFinweof the NoldorIndisof the VanyarGaladhonEarwenFinarfinLuthienGalathilCelebornGaladrielAngrodEldaloteFinrodAegnorDiorNimlothOrodrethEluredElurinElwingGil galadFinduilasElrosElrondCelebrianTar ElendilSilmarienTar MeneldurElendilAr PharazonIsildurAnarionArveduiFirielAranarthAragornArwenElladanElrohirEldarionColour key Colour Description Elves Men Maiar Half elven Half elven who chose the fate of elves Half elven who chose the fate of mortal menAnalysis EditFurther information Women in The Lord of the Rings Reconstructed Old English elf Edit The critic Tom Shippey notes that in creating Galadriel Tolkien was attempting to reconstruct the kind of elf hinted at by elf references in Old English Anglo Saxon words The hints are he observes paradoxical while aelfscyne elf beautiful suggests a powerful allure aelfsogoda lunacy implies that getting too close to elves is dangerous In Shippey s view Tolkien is telling the literal truth that beauty is itself dangerous as Chaucer did in The Wife of Bath s Tale where both elves and friars are sexually rapacious So when Faramir says to Sam Gamgee in Ithilien that Galadriel must be perilously fair Shippey comments that this is a highly accurate remark Sam replies that folk takes their peril with them into Lorien But perhaps you could call her perilous because she s so strong in herself 1 Angelic being Edit Shippey also considers the Christian Middle English attitude of the South English Legendary a hagiographic work which he supposes Tolkien must have read that elves were angels In Shippey s view Tolkien s elves are much like fallen angels above Men but below the angelic Maiar and the godlike Valar He comments at once that Galadriel is in one way certainly not fallen as the elves avoided the war on Melkor in the First Age but all the same Galadriel has been expelled from a kind of Heaven the Deathless land of Valinor and has been forbidden to return Shippey suggests that the Men of Middle earth might have thought the fall of Melkor and the expulsion of Galadriel added up to a similar fallen status 2 and he praises Tolkien for taking both sides of the story of elves into account 1 Arthurian figure Edit The Tolkien scholar Marjorie Burns compares Galadriel to Rider Haggard s heroine Ayesha in his 1887 novel She A History of Adventure a book that Tolkien acknowledged as an important influence and to Tennyson s The Lady of Shalott which recast the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat she notes that Ayesha was herself an Arthurian figure transposed to 19th century Africa 3 Marjorie Burns s comparison of Galadriel with Ayesha and the Lady of Shalott 3 Attribute Galadriel Ayesha She The Lady of ShalottImage nbsp Galadriel in front of her mirror Tessa Boronski 2011 nbsp Depiction of She Holly Leo and Job journeying to the cavern containing the Pillar of Life Ayesha stands on one side of a deep ravine having crossed over using a plank of wood as a demonstration of its safety She beckons the three Englishmen to follow her A great beam of light divides the darkness about them Edward Killingworth Johnson 1887 nbsp PreRaphaelite oil painting of the Lady of Shallott finely dressed on a small boat in a river John William Waterhouse 1888Life immortal Elf immortal human afterentering the flame fairy Beauty very fairlong blonde hair men fall to their kneeslong raven black hair great beautyvery long dark hairWisdomPower sees more than any man dangerous and strangeWork weaving and overseeing weaver maidens weaves continuallyPlace isolated realm sheltered from change enchanted islandHealing heals and preserves enchantedMagic mirror dish of water sees past present things that may yet be denies it is magic sees past and presentdenies it is magic the mirror s magicsights Ending her ring loses powerelves leave and diminish re enters the flameshrivels up and dies relinquishes powerand diesHomeric benefactor Edit nbsp Galadriel s support of the Fellowship of the Ring has been compared to that of Circe and Calypso for Odysseus in Homer s epic 4 Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse 1891 Further information Shelob Mac Fenwick s comparison of Galadrielwith the Homeric Circe and Calypso 4 Attribute Galadriel Circe and CalypsoPlace own magical realmAssistance help and adviceMonstrousopposites Shelob giant spider of darkness Sirens Scylla and Charybdis who would destroy his shipGifts cloaks food wisdom lightThe Tolkien scholar Mac Fenwick compares Galadriel and what he sees as her monstrous opposite the giant and evil spider Shelob with the struggle between the good and the monstrous female characters in Homer s Odyssey Like Galadriel Circe and Calypso are rulers of their own secluded magical realms and both offer help and advice to the protagonist They help Odysseus to avoid destruction by the female monsters the Sirens who would lure his ship on to the rocks and Scylla and Charybdis who would smash or drown his ship Galadriel gives Frodo the Phial of Galadriel which by her power contains the light of Earendil s star able to blind and ward off Shelob in her darkest of dark lairs Galadriel s gifts too are Homeric including cloaks food and wisdom as well as light just like those of Circe and Calypso 4 Legacy in music EditTolkien wrote a poem Namarie that Galadriel sings in farewell to the departing Fellowship and to Frodo in particular The song is in Quenya and spoke of things little known in Middle earth but Frodo is said to have remembered the words and translated them long afterward It is a lament in which Galadriel describes her separation from the Blessed Realm and the Valar her longing to return there and at the end a wish or hope that even though she herself is forbidden by the Ban to return that Frodo might somehow come in the end to the city of Valimar in Valinor The poem was set to music by Donald Swann with Tolkien s assistance The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the song cycle of The Road Goes Ever On In a recording Tolkien sings it in the style of a Gregorian chant 5 Hijaz source source nbsp Howard Shore used the Arabic maqam Hijaz scale to give the Lothlorien Galadriel theme a sense of antiquity Problems playing this file See media help Galadriel s songs are omitted from Howard Shore s music for The Lord of the Rings film series 6 instead Shore created a Lothlorien Galadriel theme using the Arabic maqam Hijaz scale to create a sense of antiquity a 7 Fran Walsh Shore and Annie Lennox co wrote the Oscar winning song Into the West for the closing credits of The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Originally sung by Lennox the song was conceived as Galadriel s bittersweet lament for those who have sailed across the Sundering Seas The lyrics include phrases from the final chapter of the original novel The song has since been covered by Yulia Townsend and Will Martin 8 On their album Once Again the band Barclay James Harvest featured a song called Galadriel It gained notability because guitarist John Lees played John Lennon s Epiphone Casino guitar on this track an event later recounted in a song on the band s 1990 album Welcome To The Show titled John Lennon s Guitar 9 Hank Marvin and John Farrar wrote a song Galadriel recorded by Cliff Richard the four five line stanzas include the couplet Galadriel spirit of starlight Eagle and dove gave birth to thee 10 11 An Australian band named Galadriel released a self titled album in 1971 which became a highly sought after collectors item among European progressive rock circles 12 Adaptations Edit nbsp Galadriel in Ralph Bakshi s animated version of The Lord of the RingsGaladriel was voiced by Annette Crosbie in Ralph Bakshi s 1978 animated film of The Lord of the Rings 13 and by Marian Diamond in BBC Radio s 1981 serialisation 14 nbsp Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in Peter Jackson s The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the RingIn Peter Jackson s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies Galadriel is played by Cate Blanchett 15 In The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Galadriel narrates the prologue that explains the creation of the One Ring as well as appearing in Lothlorien 16 nbsp Rebecca Jackson Mendoza in the elaborate 17 costume of the Toronto musical production 17 While Galadriel does not feature in Tolkien s The Hobbit the story was amended so that she could appear in Jackson s films based on the book 18 On stage Galadriel was portrayed by Rebecca Jackson Mendoza in the 2006 Toronto musical production of The Lord of the Rings Mendoza s dress was hand embroidered with some 1800 beads 17 The musical was revised and moved to London s Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2007 with Laura Michelle Kelly in the glittering role 19 Galadriel appears in video games such as The Lord of the Rings The Battle for Middle earth II where she is voiced by Lani Minella 20 In the 2022 television series The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power young Galadriel was portrayed by Morfydd Clark 21 and her younger version by Amelie Child Villiers 22 Notes Edit Lothlorien Galadriel theme Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine listening sample References EditPrimary Edit a b c Tolkien 1977 Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age a b c Tolkien 1955 Appendix B The Tale of Years a b c d e Tolkien 1980 4 The History of Galadriel and Celeborn Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn Tolkien 1977 Quenta Silmarillion ch 9 Of the Flight of the Noldor Tolkien 1980 part 2 ch 4 The History of Galadriel and Celeborn discusses the reasons and motives given for Galadriel s remaining in Middle earth citing The Road Goes Ever On Tolkien 1977 Quenta Silmarillion ch 13 Of the Return of the Noldor Tolkien 1977 Quenta Silmarillion ch 15 Of the Noldor in Beleriand Tolkien 1954a book 2 ch 6 Lothlorien a b Tolkien 1954a book 2 ch 7 The Mirror of Galadriel Tolkien 1954a book 2 ch 8 Farewell to Lorien Tolkien 1954 book 3 ch 5 The White Rider Tolkien 1955 book 6 ch 9 The Grey Havens Tolkien 1954a Prologue Note on the Shire Records Tolkien 1980 part 3 ch 1 The Disaster of the Gladden Fields Appendix Numenorean Linear Measures a b c d e f g h Tolkien 1980 part 2 ch 4 The History of Galadriel and Celeborn Secondary Edit a b Shippey Tom 1982 The Road to Middle Earth Grafton HarperCollins pp 54 55 ISBN 0261102753 Shippey Tom 1982 The Road to Middle Earth Grafton HarperCollins pp 212 214 ISBN 0261102753 a b Burns Marjorie 2005 Perilous Realms Celtic and Norse in Tolkien s Middle earth Toronto Ontario Canada University of Toronto Press pp 114 116 footnote 33 page 194 ISBN 978 0 8020 3806 7 a b c Fenwick Mac 1996 Breastplates of Silk Homeric Women in The Lord of the Rings Mythlore 21 3 article 4 Hargrove Gene January 1995 Music in Middle Earth University of North Texas Retrieved 8 July 2012 Jorgensen Estelle R December 2004 Music Myth and Education The Case of The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy PDF Reasons of the Heart Myth Meaning and Education an International Conference University of Edinburgh September 9 12 2004 6 7 Adams Doug 2010 The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films Carpentier pp 51 54 ISBN 978 0 7390 7157 1 Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed Guinness World Records p 137 ISBN 978 1904994107 Galadriel Barclay James Harvest Retrieved 12 May 2020 Library of Congress Copyright Office 1977 Catalog of Copyright Entries Third series p 1618 Gramophone Vol 61 C Mackenzie 1983 p 541 McFarlane Ian 1999 Broderick Smith Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop Allen amp Unwin ISBN 1 86508 072 1 Archived from the original on 3 August 2004 Retrieved 23 August 2019 Beck Jerry 2005 The Animated Movie Guide Chicago Review Press p 154 ISBN 978 1 56976 222 6 Riel Radio Theatre The Lord of the Rings Episode 2 Radioriel 15 January 2009 Archived from the original on 15 January 2020 Retrieved 18 May 2020 Torn Exclusive Cate Blanchett Ken Stott Sylvester McCoy Mikael Persbrandt join cast of Peter Jackson s The Hobbit 7 December 2010 Retrieved 7 December 2010 Harl Allison Spring Summer 2007 The monstrosity of the gaze critical problems with a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings Mythlore 25 3 Article 7 a b c Brantley Ben 24 March 2006 Tolkien s Lord of the Rings Staged by Matthew Warchus in Toronto The New York Times Retrieved 29 May 2020 Child Ben 8 December 2010 Peter Jackson tinkers with Tolkien to hand Cate Blanchett Hobbit role The Guardian Retrieved 29 May 2020 Billington Michael 19 June 2007 Guardian review The Lord of the Rings The Guardian Retrieved 22 April 2012 Galadriel Behind the Voice Actors Retrieved 29 May 2020 Kroll Justin 17 December 2019 Lord of the Rings Series Taps Morfydd Clark as Young Galadriel Variety Retrieved 17 December 2019 Welch Andy 2 September 2022 The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power recap episodes one and two like no TV you ve seen before The Guardian Retrieved 3 September 2022 Sources Edit Tolkien J R R 1954a The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings Boston Houghton Mifflin OCLC 9552942 Tolkien J R R 1954 The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings Boston Houghton Mifflin OCLC 1042159111 Tolkien J R R 1955 The Return of the King The Lord of the Rings Boston Houghton Mifflin OCLC 519647821 Tolkien J R R 1977 Christopher Tolkien ed The Silmarillion Boston Houghton Mifflin ISBN 978 0 395 25730 2 Tolkien J R R 1980 Christopher Tolkien ed Unfinished Tales Boston Houghton Mifflin ISBN 978 0 395 29917 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Galadriel amp oldid 1171817503, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.