Dol Guldur from An Unexpected Journey. Several strongholds of elves and men are besieged while Frodo and Sam are trudging laboriously through Mordor to Mount Doom. In particular, Lothlórien repels three such assaults before Galadriel and Celeborn finally lead a counter-offensive against Dol Guldur.

“…the assaults were driven back; and when the Shadow passed, Celeborn came forth and led the host of Lórien over Anduin in many boats. They took Dol Guldur, and Galadriel threw down its walls and laid bare its pits, and the forest was cleansed.” Appendix B, Lord of the Rings.

That last sentence has often puzzled; people wonder exactly how Galadriel might have accomplished such a task. More, why is she doing now what ought to have been accomplished when the White Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur years before? Continue reading “Dol Guldur’s destruction. Why Galadriel succeeds where the White Council fails.”

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A cool new infographic for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has just become available. This one details each of the key characters from the film, along with a succinct line that gives an insight into the personality of each character.

Still, I must nitpick. Galadriel is not “the oldest of all the Elves in Middle-earth”. At the time of the Third Age, the oldest of the Eldar still in Middle-earth (that we know of), is the Telerin elf, and Lord of the Grey Havens, Cirdan the Shipwright. And we do see Cirdan briefly in the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings — initially in the prologue sequence where the Three Rings are distributed by Celebrimbor (see here) and then at the end of The Return of the King when he greets the departing Frodo, Gandalf and co as they take ship for Valinor (see that one here). So Cirdan the Shipwright certainly exists in the movie universe.

You can read a little about speculation about the age of Cirdan in this old Greenbooks post by Staffer Turgon. Basically, Cirdan undertook The Great Journey (but stayed in Middle-earth); Galadriel was born in Valinor after the Vanyar, Noldor and some of the Telerin elves finished The Great Journey and reached Aman. Ergo Cirdan is the older of the two.

Anyway, arguments over canon aside, this is cool. Enjoy!

Continue reading “The Hobbit: new ‘company of characters’ info-graphic!”