Middle Earth: Galadriel Traditional Cache

The heroes in the story of the Lord of the Rings are so numerous. One of the most beautiful and most powerful is Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien, and one of the keys to finding Lothlorien.

Background

Stories of Galadriel's life prior to The Lord of the Rings are collected in the Unfinished Tales. Galadriel was the only daughter and youngest child of Finarfin, prince of the Noldor, and of Eärwen, who was cousin to Lúthien. Her elder brothers were Finrod Felagund, Angrod, and Aegnor. She was born in Valinor during the Years of the Trees.

According to the older account, used in the published The Silmarillion, Galadriel was an eager participant and leader in the rebellion of the Noldor and their flight from Valinor: in fact the 'only female to stand tall in those days'. She was, however, completely separated from Fëanor and his kin, and did not participate in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë. Once in Beleriand, she lived nominally with one of her brothers, Finrod Felagund of Nargothrond mainly, but spent much time at the court of Thingol and Melian in Menegroth, from whom she learnt many things concerning Middle-earth. She met Celeborn, a kinsman of Thingol, in Doriath.

Both in The Silmarillion and in the movies, Galadriel is portrayed with the power of telepathy. In The Silmarillion, she is actually described as having been "blessed with the ability to peer into the minds of others and she judged them so fairly. But in Fëanor, she only sees darkness". As one of the members of the royal house of Finwë and having the blood of the Vanyar from her paternal grandmother, Indis, she was often called the fairest of all Elves, be it on the shores of Aman or of Middle-earth.

According to Unfinished Tales, Galadriel was living with her mother's kindred in the Telerin port of Alqualondë when she met Teleporno (later known as Celeborn), who would become her husband and co-ruler. During the great upheaval at the end of that period, she and Celeborn sailed from Valinor and came to Beleriand separately from most of the Noldor (who either followed Fëanor in the ships of the Teleri or followed the main host that crossed Helcaraxë). Galadriel was not directly involved in the revolt of the Noldorin princes and fights in defence of Alqualondë during the kinslaying, but she fell under the Ban of the Valar because she left without permission. Once in Beleriand she and Celeborn were welcomed by Thingol and lived in Doriath. Celeborn, by this account, was Olwë's grandson. Once the Noldor arrived, Galadriel reestablished contact with her brothers.

In both accounts Celeborn plays no important role in the Battles of Beleriand. Both Celeborn and Galadriel had left Beleriand before the War of Wrath, but refused the pardon offered by the Valar. Galadriel refused out of pride and therefore remained under the Ban.

Celeborn and Galadriel travelled first to Lindon, where they ruled over a group of Elves, probably as a fiefdom under Gil-galad. Later they moved eastward and established (or are welcomed in) the realm of Eregion or Hollin. At this time they made contact with a Nandorin settlement in the valley of the Anduin, then later Lothlórien. Later they removed from Eregion by way of the mines of Khazad-dûm and became lords of Lothlórien. Celebrimbor now ruled over Eregion. Celeborn and Galadriel had a daughter Celebrían, who later married Elrond Half-elven of Rivendell, thus making Galadriel and her husband Celeborn the grandparents of the twins Elladan and Elrohir and their younger sister Arwen Undómiel, future Queen of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor.

During the Second Age, when the Rings of Power were forged, Galadriel distrusted Annatar, the loremaster who guided Celebrimbor and the other Noldor of Eregion. It later turned out that this distrust was justified, as he was finally revealed to be Sauron, pretending to be an emissary from the Vala Aulë. When Sauron attacked Eregion, Galadriel was entrusted with one of the Three Rings of the Elves. Her Ring was Nenya, the Ring of Water. Conscious of Sauron's power, and wishing to thwart it, she did not use the Ring as long as the One Ring was in his hands. However, during the Third Age, when the One Ring was lost, she put it to use. Its power might have been related to the Mirror of Galadriel, a large bowl of water in which visions of the past, present, and future could be seen. She may also have used it in the defence of Lórien, and the ring may have assisted her in making Lórien a fair refuge for the Nandor in the years after the departure and loss of Amroth and Nimrodel. Galadriel maintained constant vigilance against Sauron and often strove with him in thought. Sauron was said to have great desire to see into her mind that concerns the Elves as by this time, with the death of Gil-galad in the War of the Last Alliance, Galadriel had become the most powerful individual Elf ruler in Middle-earth (though ruling only a small area), and the foremost of the remaining Exiles; but so long as he did not have the One Ring, it was impossible. Throughout the Third Age, when Lothlórien is closed to outsiders, the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim maintained intelligence with Imladris, but less so with the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel hosted the titular characters after their escape from Moria. When she met the Fellowship in her tree dwelling at Caras Galadhon, she gave each member a searching look, testing their resolve, though Boromir regarded this test as a temptation. She, in turn, was tested when Frodo Baggins later 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, accepting as her fate that she would diminish to make way for the dominion of Men and returned at last to Valinor. When the Fellowship left, she gave each member a gift and an Elven cloak and outfitted the party with boats and supplies.

On the very same day that the Fellowship left Lórien, Gandalf arrived, carried by the eagle Gwaihir. There, Galadriel cured him of his wounds and reclothed him in white, signalling his new status as head of the Istari. During the last battles of the War of the Ring, Lórien was besieged three times by the armies of Dol Guldur. It is stated that Lórien resisted the attacks thanks to the bravery of its inhabitants, but most importantly, "the power that dwelt there was far too great for any to overcome, only if Sauron had come there himself".

After Sauron perished, Celeborn led the Lórien host over the Anduin and captured Dol Guldur. Then, Galadriel came forth and "threw down its walls and laid bare its pits", recalling the deeds of Lùthien Tinùviel who did the same thing at Tol Sirion during the First Age.

She passed over the Great Sea on the Last Ship with Elrond, Gandalf, Círdan, and the Ringbearers Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, marking the end of the Third Age. She left her husband Celeborn behind until he finally set sail as well. (Tolkien's original account here differs from Peter Jackson's movie version, where Celeborn apparently followed her on the same ship.) It was her refusal of the One Ring that lifted the Ban (along with her services in the war against Sauron) and that was why she is finally allowed to return. Out of the Noldorin exiles, she was the only one of prominence to return to Valinor. She was aged well over 7,000 years at that time, second only to Círdan the Shipwright.