{"id":67531,"date":"2012-12-22T11:50:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-22T16:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=67531"},"modified":"2012-12-22T11:50:27","modified_gmt":"2012-12-22T16:50:27","slug":"galadriel-political-animal-of-middle-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2012\/12\/22\/67531-galadriel-political-animal-of-middle-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Galadriel, political animal of Middle-earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"intro\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-TpZIn-msKjY\/UJ-03OR2mqI\/AAAAAAAACpw\/9E4K0pS8_S8\/s350\/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-character-poster-03.jpg\" hspace=\"10\" align=\"right\" class=\"no-lazyload\">I haven&#8217;t yet seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but what I&#8217;ve seen and read of the White Council sequence has intrigued me.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Not because of the sniping between Gandalf and Saruman (although that in itself is worthy of a separate discussion), but for the superficially strange behaviour of Galadriel. I write &#8220;superficially&#8221; since I believe when you think about what&#8217;s going on more deeply, it reveals a key character trait that most readers (and viewers) overlook.<\/p>\n<p>In the clip, Gandalf and Saruman are at odds facing each other across the table. The two Noldorin elves are distant from the &#8230; exchange &#8230; but Elrond approaches the two Istari to push home his point about the Watchful Peace.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, Galadriel waits, watches and circles. A bit like a hawk striking, she makes her message count: &#8220;Let him speak&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>At first this action struck me as deeply calculated, and I found this off-putting.<\/p>\n<p>Then I realised that must be the point. Because Tolkien&#8217;s Galadriel is a deeply political animal. A meddler par-excellence, if you will. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7CiZmvGp7Z4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>This is something that&#8217;s often subsumed beneath the idea of Galadriel as one the most potent exponents of _magical_ power in Middle-earth &#8212; the wielder of Nenya, creator of the eponymous phial filled with the light of Earendil&#8217;s star, and owner of the mysterious Mirror that reveals past, present and future.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-6E-4_dU0zy0\/ULYEpqwLjoI\/AAAAAAAAC94\/XOrJ51D5pL4\/s300\/The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Galadriel-Saruman-Elrond-and-Gandalf.jpg\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" class=\"no-lazyload\"> And that&#8217;s often the default interpretation of elves &#8212; ethereal and majestic beings wielding an unknowable and puissant magic. It&#8217;s an idealistic interpretation reinforced by the stereotypes that litter scores of lazily written pulp fantasy novels, Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft. And the pretty but vacuous artwork that tends to accompany all that.<\/p>\n<p>But scratch the surface of Tolkien and you&#8217;ll find Middle-earth&#8217;s elves exhibit their own share of (jealousy-driven) brutal politicking. The end of Finrod&#8217;s rule in Nargothrond is one example. The overthrow of Galadriel and Celborn&#8217;s lordship over Eregion by the Gwaith-i-Mirdain is another (which we&#8217;ll explore further in a moment).<\/p>\n<p>Galadriel&#8217;s history is, of course, convoluted and inconsistent. But across all these variations, themes do emerge. One of these, I believe, is that Galadriel desired to wield (political) influence over others.<\/p>\n<h5>Proud, strong, and self-willed&#8230;<\/h5>\n<p>&#8220;She was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finw\u00eb 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.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>When the Noldor leave Valinor in the wake of Melkor and Ungoliant&#8217;s destruction of the Two Trees, Galadriel&#8217;s desire to achieve greater things is plain:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Galadriel&#8230; was eager to be gone. No oaths she swore, but the words F\u00ebanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled in her heart, for she longed to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm at her own will.&#8221; (The Silmarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www-images.theonering.org\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel.jpg\" class=\"no-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www-images.theonering.org\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel-300x165.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"galadriel\" width=\"300\" height=\"165\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-67182 no-lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel-1024x563.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel-600x330.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> Later, after Morgoth is defeated and the ban of the Valar is lifted, in one version of events, she &#8212; and Celeborn &#8212; reject their pardon to remain in Middle-earth:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pride still moved her when&#8230; she refused the pardon of the Valar for all who had fought against [Morgoth], and remained in Middle-earth.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>This concept is reinforced when later in Unfinished Tales Tolkien writes of the origin of the Elessar:<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;&#8221;Will you then pass over Sea?&#8221; [Celebrimbor said.]<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nay,&#8221; [Galadriel] said. &#8220;Angrod is gone, and Aegnor is gone, and Felagund is no more. Of Finarfin&#8217;s children I am the last. But my heart is still proud. What wrong did the golden house of Finarfin do that I should ask the pardon of the Valar, or be content with an isle in the sea whose native land was Aman the Blessed? Here I am mightier.&#8221;&#8216; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<h5>The Lady of three different realms<\/h5>\n<p>No less than three times does Tolkien write about Galadriel establishing a realm of her own in Middle-earth.<\/p>\n<p>The first, although possibly under the stewardship of Gil-galad, is a short-lived elven realm on the shores of Lake Nenuial in northern Eriador.<\/p>\n<p>The second, (at least in one version of events) has Galadriel and Celeborn founding of Eregion as a defence and counter against menaces from the east regions of Middle-earth.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-Cke0G5Bc-w4\/ULYEo5Rsv9I\/AAAAAAAAC98\/STQzxVTW2ig\/s300\/The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Galadriel-Cate-Blanchett-and-Gandalf-Ian-McKellen.jpg\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" class=\"no-lazyload\">&#8220;[Galadriel] perceived that there was an evil controlling purpose abroad in the world, and that it seemed to proceed from a source further to the East, beyond Eriador and the Misty Mountains. Celeborn and Galadriel therefore went eastwards, about the year 700 of the Second Age, and established the (primarily but by no means solely) Noldorin realm of Eregion.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>And the third, after the Noldorin smith Celebrimbor and his Gwaith-i-Mirdain supplanted her power in Eregion, as the Lady of Lorien.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Galadriel thereupon left Eregion and passed through Khazad-d\u00fbm to L\u00f3rinand&#8230; but Celeborn would not enter the mansions of the Dwarves, and he remained behind in Eregion, disregarded by Celebrimbor. In L\u00f3rinand Galadriel took up rule, and defence against Sauron.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>The latter two realms were organised with clear purpose: to guard the elven lands of western Middle-earth against the Shadow of the East.<\/p>\n<p>From the tale of Amroth and Nimrodel: &#8220;In her wisdom Galadriel saw that L\u00f3rien would be a stronghold and point of power to prevent the Shadow from crossing the Anduin in the war that must inevitably come before it was again defeated (if that were possible); but that it needed a rule of greater strength and wisdom than the Silvan folk possessed.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>This is prescient as L\u00f3rien, of course, later plays a key role as a bulwark against the growing influence of Dol Guldur on the area around Mirkwood.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h5>Founder of common causes<\/h5>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-ubt6HVC0zX8\/ULYEttSaUlI\/AAAAAAAAC-o\/E9XAH0HGen0\/s300\/The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Rivendell.jpg\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" class=\"no-lazyload\">Galadriel does more than simply establish realms that stand alone against Sauron like sandcastles in the surf. Tolkien observes that Galadriel realised only &#8220;a union of all the peoples who were in their way and in their measure opposed&#8221; to Sauron could defeat him. <\/p>\n<p>In this way in founding Eregion (and presumably, later L\u00f3rien), &#8220;she looked upon the Dwarves [of Khazad-d\u00fbm] also with the eye of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the Orcs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The White Council is another of these unions of peoples. Although the scale is far more intimate, the purpose is the same. In The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel explains that it was she who created the (second) Council.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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.&#8221; (Lord of the Rings, The Mirror of Galadriel)<\/p>\n<p>Tolkien reveals to us a Galadriel who is unafraid to accumulate and wield political influence. She assiduously assembles power blocs of forces sympathetic to her long-term goals. <\/p>\n<p>Eregion also proves that she&#8217;s pragmatic about it, and unafraid to start all over when it doesn&#8217;t work out. She is, as she states in The Lord of the Rings, engaged in fighting &#8220;the long defeat&#8221;: falling back, regrouping, trying again.<\/p>\n<h5>Deft diplomat<\/h5>\n<p>An essential part of her politicking is her deftness as a diplomat. When Celeborn, alarmed at the news of the Balrog, blames the dwarves for rousing it from slumber, she smoothly intervenes and defuses the incident, placating both Celeborn and Gimli.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, with a handful of words she turns Gimli into a firm ally and admirer:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dark is the water of Kheled-z\u00e2ram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-n\u00e2la, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-d\u00fbm in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-XFVGz1XM1Go\/UEMQqd4rdOI\/AAAAAAAABQk\/iM5pNcJcXOI\/s387\/newsletter_hero.png\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" class=\"no-lazyload\">There&#8217;s a significant sequence in the Silmarillion where she matches wits with Melian the Maia under difficult circumstances. Melian wonders at the timely return of the Noldor back to Middle-earth, and doubts that they were sent by the Valar.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There is some woe that lies upon you and your kin. That I can see in you, but all else is hidden from me&#8230; Why will you not tell me more?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;For that woe is past,&#8217; said Galadriel; &#8216;and I would take what joy is here left, untroubled by memory. And maybe there is woe enough yet to come, though still hope may seem bright.&#8217; (The Silmarillion, Of the Noldor in Beleriand)<\/p>\n<h5>Tester of hearts and minds<\/h5>\n<p>Finally, there&#8217;s the scene where she tempts the Fellowship, offering each a choice between fear of what lay ahead, and some thing they greatly desired. It&#8217;s an fascinating contrast against Elrond, who chooses to lay no oath or bond on the Fellowship when they leave Rivendell. And note: the magical element is less important than the reasoning behind, and the import of, her actions. <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;&#8221;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn.&#8217; (Lord of the Rings, The Mirror of Galadriel)<\/p>\n<p>In testing their resolve it almost seems that she is confirming for herself Elrond&#8217;s choices. And from another perspective, by challenging their commitment, she is also working to stiffen their commitment to the cause &#8212; akin to the process of tempering steel to give it greater strength. <\/p>\n<p>It is also, like the White Council scene,  a calculated act. Galadriel says that none of Gandalf&#8217;s deeds were needless. The same applies to her: she does nothing without cause.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-lB3n8KQfRa4\/ULYEiFKz_6I\/AAAAAAAAC8g\/oFiT8PVOGLM\/s300\/Rivendell-in-The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey.jpg\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" class=\"no-lazyload\">For two whole ages of Middle-earth &#8212; some 6,000 years &#8212; ruling is Galadriel&#8217;s purpose. And politicking &#8212; the art of coaxing people to do what you think is best &#8212; is an essential part of that. It&#8217;s a purpose that she is not willing to give up even for the promise of Valinor:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was not until two long ages more had passed, when at last all that she had desired in her youth came to her hand, the Ring of Power and the dominion of Middle-earth which she had dreamed, that her wisdom was full grown and she rejected it, and passing the last test departed from Middle-earth for ever.&#8221; (Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn)<\/p>\n<p>People have a tendency to idealise Galadriel. Yet, really, she is as driven as F\u00ebanor. It&#8217;s something to keep in mind while admiring the pretty dress.<\/p>\n<p><b>Demosthenes has been an incredibly nerdy staff member at TheOneRing.net since 2001. The views in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of other TORn staff.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I haven&#8217;t yet seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but what I&#8217;ve seen and read of the White&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":67182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41,499,331,7,4,6,98,148,152],"tags":[1788,897,1819],"class_list":["post-67531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blanchett","category-hobbit-movie-characters","category-greenbooks","category-hobbit-book","category-hobbit-movie","category-tolkbooks","category-silmarillion","category-hobbit","category-tolkien","tag-library","tag-the-silmarillion","tag-unfinished-tales"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/galadriel.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-hzd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67531"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67556,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67531\/revisions\/67556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}