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Eruonen
Half-elven
May 16, 7:52pm
Post #1 of 14
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Excellent analysis of who Galadriel was and her innate powers
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NATnZGhkIkc
Too bad the Galadriel of ROP bears no resemblance to the Galadriel of canon. Her power was so beyond physical - she should have exuded radiance and mystery.
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Morthoron
Gondor
Mon, 6:09pm
Post #3 of 14
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It is definitely 'too bad', both literally and figuratively...
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Too bad the Galadriel of ROP bears no resemblance to the Galadriel of canon. Her power was so beyond physical - she should have exuded radiance and mystery.
As with many filmic bastardizations of Tolkien's work, it is unfortunate that creating a fan-fiction of a character is more expedient than actually presenting the character in his (or in this case, her) original manifestation. Thus, we see a Xena Warrior Princess version of Galadriel that does not at all gibe with her history, rather than a true person of power, who studied under the tutelage of Melian the Maia and is one of three holders of an Elvish Ring.
(This post was edited by Morthoron on Mon, 6:10pm)
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Mon, 8:15pm
Post #4 of 14
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I think it would be odd to show Galadriel as ethereal and powerfully otherworldly throughout her entire life, as if she had sprung fully formed from Valinor. At least Warrior Galadriel gives the character room for change and growing wisdom. I hope we do see that growth by the end of ROP with Galadriel choosing 'another path', away from war and towards persistent endurance during the long defeat.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Mon, 9:11pm
Post #5 of 14
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And then there's the author, Tolkien himself,
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who had one version of her story where Galadriel fought--yes, fought physically--on the side of her kin, the Teleri, when Feanor was leading his rampage in Valinor and stealing their ships. She was ethereal when she wanted to be.
Kinda reminds me of a version of Gondolin's fall where Idril had every intention to stay and fight and was decked out in special armor for it, even though it was hopeless. I think Turgon or Tuor had to persuade her to decamp for her son's sake.
(This post was edited by CuriousG on Mon, 9:12pm)
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Morthoron
Gondor
Mon, 9:34pm
Post #6 of 14
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who had one version of her story where Galadriel fought--yes, fought physically--on the side of her kin, the Teleri, when Feanor was leading his rampage in Valinor and stealing their ships. She was ethereal when she wanted to be.
There is a distinct difference between a single instance of fighting at utmost need in defense of the innocent, as opposed to gallivanting about in the guise of a vengeful knight errant with a bloody swathe of bodies trailing behind them.
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Mon, 10:08pm
Post #7 of 14
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I have got to re-read The Sil.
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It's been years - maybe 15? - since I last dived into it and my memories are more 'vibes' at this point. I had an idea that Galadriel had been involved in battles but I couldn't remember the details. I really need to polish my fan-badge again.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Eruonen
Half-elven
Tue, 1:38am
Post #8 of 14
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But she was. She was born in Valinor and lived under the light of the trees.
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Those high elves were much more powerful than other elves, She was trained by Melian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqT12eNsfGk
Why Was Galadriel so Powerful? Middle-earth Explained
Men of the West
(This post was edited by Eruonen on Tue, 1:40am)
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Elthir
Grey Havens
Thu, 6:03pm
Post #9 of 14
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in descriptions outside the 1977 Silmarillion
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Just in case anyone looks into the Silmarillion, Galadriel is not, in this book, said to have fought at Swanhaven
For the constructed version, Christopher Tolkien appears to have employed text from the early 1950s, in which (I argue) all the Finarfinians "still" arrive too late to be part of the Kinslaying. This version includes the Finarfinian responses (about the Kinslaying) to Melian and Thingol as well.
And so far, in my opinion, the descriptions in which Galadriel does fight are much later than the early 1950s.
The Shibboleth of Feanor (1968 or later): "though she fought fiercely against Feanor in defence of her mother's kin, . . ."
"The Adumbrated Tale" (1973), described by Christopher Tolkien in Unfinished Tales: ". . . indeed, she with Celeborn fought heroically in defense of Alqualonde. . ."
[Galadriel is here removed from the Rebellion however, which disagrees with already Tolkien-published description in The Road Goes Ever On]
Cover Page to Galadriel and Celeborn, The Nature of Middle-Earth:
". . . at sack of Alqualonde. How she fought with Celeborn."
[note: all the description on page 349, including this statement, was struck out by Tolkien]
Carl Hostetter characterizes the cover page as apparently much later
(than the text Galadriel and Celeborn), and I agree, and so I'm guessing the following example is fairly late too:
Marginal Note (see Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman, commentary on section 149): "Finrod and Galadriel (whose husband was of the Teleri) fought against Feanor in defence of Alqualonde."
Finrod too?
Anyway.
I'm not saying "later" means anything other than later, although I will say that I prefer what I think is the 1977 Silmarillion story -- that Galadriel (and Finrod) simply weren't there while the fighting was going on.
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Thu, 7:58pm
Post #10 of 14
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Thanks for all the sleuthing, Elthir!
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That's a lot of sources to track down and reconcile. And people can reach their own conclusions, but it seems clear to me that Tolkien thought Galadriel was perfectly capable of participating in battle and holding her own, but she also probably only did so once or twice in a lifetime. She wasn't fighting battles every week like Xena the Warrior Princess.
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Thu, 8:39pm
Post #11 of 14
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Thanks for laying that all out, Elthir. 
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo
My LOTR fan-fiction
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Morthoron
Gondor
Fri, 3:17am
Post #12 of 14
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One could say Galadriel was on an entirely diffferent plane from a power standpoint, and wouldn't necessarily need to concern herself with hand-to-hand combat.
I always marvel that Tolkien mentioned as almost an aside that Galadriel threw down the walls of Dol Guldur and cleansed its pits of evil.
This she did after the One Ring was destroyed. Talk about potency!
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Felagund
Rohan
Fri, 5:03pm
Post #13 of 14
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Lúthien, similarly swordless and potent
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I share your marvel and it's also a great link across/back to the power of the daughter of Galadriel's one-time mentor, who similarly threw down a dark fortress - and saved her boy to boot ('Beren and Lúthien', The Silmarillion):
Then Lúthien stood upon the bridge, and declared her power: and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone, and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare...
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Fri, 6:35pm
Post #14 of 14
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There's something scary about Tolkien's magic vs other depictions
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and I think for me it's that he doesn't do a more cinematic version of, say, "The sorceress gathered a ball of fire in her hand, and from that ball of fire leapt ten blazing rivers of fiery destruction that focused on the castle's foundation and overwhelmed it with their force, topping it and laying bare its pits."
I'm fine with that kind of magic--it's cool to watch and experience. But Tolkien is very spare with his description like the one you gave, where Luthien just speaks boldly and dramatically, and a bunch of things happen, and maybe it's the simplicity that's awe-inspiring but also that it's mostly unseen. Anyway, I love those Luthien/Galadriel moments.
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