#down to the third age galadriel is making her own lembas

[the-werewithal]

Silm fandom is a very dangerous place for someone with world builders disease.

[tolkienuntangled]

Fact for Fans #3 - Galadriel Untangled: Ambition VS Wisdom

One of the reasons I love the wider Legendarium of Professor Tolkien so much, is that when you scratch the surface, he takes a number of the characters we all know and love from The Lord of the Rings, and he illuminates a whole extra layer of their story and character. And in my opinion one of the best examples of this, is the Lady Galadriel. Now everyone who's read The Lord of the Rings knows who Galadriel is, but it's only after reading The Silmarillion that we truly discover who Galadriel is at her core, and who she was before that. So today's fun fact is going to chronicle the Ages of Arda from the perspective of Galadriel. And hopefully this information will make her character seem even more awesome!

So the first thing to say about Galadriel, which I feel like every single one of you will know, is that she's old. Like very old. Like older than the sun kind of old. And she wasn't even born in Middle Earth. She was born in the Undying Lands that lie west of West. The Land of Valinor. And even from birth, Galadriel was kind of a big deal. Her father was a Prince of the Noldor, her mother was a princess of the Teleri, and her grandmother was a Lady of the Vanyar. So Galadriel can trace her lineage to all three of the clans of High Elves in Valinor. But Galadriel's story truly begins when she develops a close relationship with her uncle. Fëanor.

Now I feel that at the very heart of Galadriel's character, there is an internal duel between her ambition and her wisdom. On the one hand, she's among the wisest beings in the entire Legendarium. The only other people on her level (at least in the Third Age) would be the likes of Gandalf, Círdan, and Elrond. And yet unlike the other bearers of the Elven rings, Galadriel is not defined by her humility. Quite the opposite in fact. For better or for worse, Galadriel is afflicted with ambition. And more than once throughout her story, Galadriel is forced to choose between her conflicting wisdom and her pride.

But anyway, in a group that's all about the Silmarillion, I reckon you'll all know about Galadriel's uncle Fëanor. The arrogant genius who forged the titular Silmarils. And in the beginning, his story is very closely connected to his niece's. You see, Galadriel actually served as a sort of inspiration for Silmarils of Fëanor in the first place. Or at least her hair did. In the Unfinished TalesTolkien tells us that Galadriel's hair was "held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees had been snared in her tresses." Now this is particularly special because of course these Two Trees are the source of all light in the world. And this light comes from the gods. So Galadriel's hair is a lot more than just pretty to look at.

Anyway, the first example of Galadriel's internal conflict between wisdom and ambition comes when she begins to discuss the lands of Middle Earth with her uncle Fëanor. Now it's important to remember that Middle Earth is a place that neither Galadriel nor Fëanor had ever seen or set foot upon. They were both born in the Undying Lands. They are natives of paradise. And yet in her youth, Galadriel's ambition blinds her to this reality. You see, at this early point in the tale, both Galadriel and Fëanor seek power above all else. And Galadriel makes the decision that one day, she will leave the Undying Lands and rule a kingdom of her own in Middle Earth.

But, I certainly don't want to imply that Galadriel was ever foolish. She may be ambitious, but her wisdom is ever present. And we can see this in the unravelling of her relationship with Fëanor. So Fëanor's wrath and temper, mixed with his fiery pride, soon becomes too much for Galadriel to bear. And this is where her hair comes back into play. So just before Fëanor forged the Silmarils (the thing he's most famous for doing) he asked Galadriel for a strand of her gold and silver hair. But Galadriel saw darkness in her uncle and she refused him. Three times Fëanor requested a tress of her hair and three times she refused him. Not even a single strand. Now what makes this especially interesting is that if we skip forward in time about 7500 years, we'll come to a familiar scene from the Fellowship of the Ring. And Gimli will also ask Galadriel for a strand of her hair. And what does she do? She gives him three. So make of that what you will.

But anyway without wanting to get too bogged down in details, the darkness of Fëanor eventually erupts into a full blown rebellion, when he leads a small faction of the most radical and prideful Noldor away from the West, in the hopes of going to war in Middle Earth. And every single woman of the Noldor rebukes Fëanor. His wife, his sister, his step-mother, all of them refuse to join him on his outrageous mission. Except for Galadriel. Due to her ambition, she stands alone as the only woman amongst the Eldar to march to war alongside Fëanor. But once again, Galadriel is soon forced to choose between ambition and wisdom.

Because before Fëanor can sail east, he first needs ships. And the only fleet of ships in Valinor belongs to the Teleri - the Sea Elves of Alqualondë. So Fëanor demands that the Teleri give their ships to him, and when they refuse, Fëanor initiates the first ever elf on elf violence. So this is one of the first true turning points for Galadriel. Because although she's loyal to Fëanor, and she desires to sail to Middle Earth as much as he does, Galadriel is not a murderer. She has the option to do evil, but she wholeheartedly refuses. And this is a very good thing, because remember Galadriel's mother is one of these sea-faring Teleri. In this moment, her wisdom far exceeds her ambition. But her ambition doesn't disappear.

So at this point, you would definitely be forgiven for thinking that Galadriel would simply turn away and leave her (psychotic) uncle behind her. But this isn't what happens. Her hands are completely unstained by the murders at Alqualondë, and so unlike her uncle, Galadriel has the choice to repent and turn back. But she doesn't take it. She refuses to beg for pardon. She no longer has any love for her uncle, but her ambition still wins out. She still wants to rule a kingdom in Middle Earth.

So Galadriel sets off with her other (much much better) uncle, and she leaves the Undying Lands behind her. Which is kind of crazy because, again, she didn't have to do this. Her own father begged her to return with him to paradise, but she won't do it. And she journeys away across the frozen sea. Her pride and ambition effectively drive her to banish herself from heaven!

But, it seems that the violence at Alqualondë truly did affect Galadriel, because when she does finally arrive in Middle Earth, she almost immediately passes out of the spotlight. For the rest of the First Age she lies low. She meets and marries Celeborn of Doriath, and for 500 years, she lives a peaceful life there; in the kingdom of someone else. Extra fun fact, it's at this time that Galadriel learns to make Lembas!

Now throughout the following 7000 years, Galadriel's ambition seems to soften, and her wisdom seems to grow. During the Second Age she is given Nenya, the Ring of Water, but she uses it only to preserve and defend that which is good. And despite the fact that Tolkien tells us she was "the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth," Galadriel was not mighty in the way that she and Fëanor had perhaps once intended to be. She was no warrior. She didn't fight in the wars of the Second Age, and she didn't fight much in the Third Age. Despite what the Hobbit movie would have us believe, by the Third Age Galadriel's might is almost entirely founded upon her wisdom.

And this is explicitly demonstrated when she and Celeborn come to live in the Golden Wood of Lothlórien. When Galadriel and Celeborn first arrived there, the realm was ruled by an elf called King Amroth, and Galadriel was simply his guest. But when Amroth died, Galadriel had the perfect opportunity to declare herself the Queen of Lothlórien, and to finally rule a kingdom the way she'd always wanted since she first met Fëanor. But she doesn't do it. She never declares herself Queen of anything. Instead she is simply "the Lady of the Golden Wood." She is its protector but not its monarch. It seems that by the time the Third Age was in its prime, and Galadriel was an ancient being, she had truly learned to place her wisdom over her ambition. That is, until she faced the ultimate test.

So in the year 3019 of the Third Age, this whole internal conflict that's defined Galadriel's character throughout her entire life, suddenly comes full circle when Frodo Baggins arrives in Lothlórien. And as we all know, he brings with him the One Ring. A source of unlimited power. And Frodo offers this power to Galadriel freely. Now in this moment Galadriel is faced with the most important choice of her life. On the one hand she could take the One Ring and claim immeasurable power to rule all of Middle Earth as a "queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth!" Or she could let it go. Ambition versus wisdom.

Now we all know that in this moment Galadriel makes the right choice, and this is the reason for her statement that she "passed the test." Finally, her wisdom overcame her ambition. And so this casts a whole new light on Galadriel's final scene in the Legendarium, only two years later. Right at the end of Return of the King Galadriel stands with the other ring bearers on the deck of the White Ship, and for the first time in millennia, she is able to return West, to sail home, and to end her 7000 year long banishment.

And Galadriel does not return home in shame. She has nothing now to atone for. The misdeeds of her past are utterly redeemed, and she is free to "diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel."

Now when I first read the Lord of the Rings, I knew nothing of the Silmarillion, and so I assumed that Galadriel was just this inherently perfect character. But that's not the case. She's so much more interesting than that. Galadriel isn't great because she was born perfect. She's great because she made mistakes, and she learned from them, and those mistakes are what caused her to grow into what she finally became. "The mightiest and fairest of all the Elves...in Middle Earth."

So, thank you all for reading. Over the course of this year’s lockdown I’ve been working on a series of Tolkien themed YouTube videos called Tolkien Untangled. So far I’ve uploaded 10 episodes explaining the beginning of the Simarillion, the Beginning of Days, and the tale of Fëanor and the Silmarils. I’ve also released four episodes about the differences between the Lord of the Rings books and movies, and I’m currently releasing a weekly series of Tolkien lore videos. So check out Tolkien Untangled on YouTube if you’d like to learn more.

Thanks again everyone. Much love and stay groovy ❤️