#galadriel's mirror

[neyafromfrance95]

"if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

oh and gaze back into her he does.

when the abyss she has gazed into with hatred for so long gazes back into her with love, what does that say about the complex depths of her own identity and feelings?

galadriel basically wills sauron into life after she turns her back on heaven for him, and then she calls for him to bind himself to her.

and bind her to himself he does. over and over again. just like she has devoted herself to slaying the darkness of him, he now covets to own the light of hers he worships. her obsession became his yearning. they were already bound cosmically, by the sea and by nenya, by connection they share. but it was not enough, he intended to merge their beings, to become intrinsic parts of each other. so he binds her by the blood in an act that is disturbingly erotic, a symbolically sexual act, as it is consummated through violent penetration. he opens her up and slithers in, consuming her.

and there are dimensions to this. sauron still wants her to give herself to him willingly when he asks for nenya. this is his ultimate goal, he is desperate for her to let him "heal" her, to the point he is brought to tears. pain -> reward is his love language, and i'd say he hates hurting her while she refuses his gifts, and yet he still gives them to her in the form of binding her to himself, his darkness, and most likely to her greatest desire - power.

galadriel is metaphorically ravished and reborn, she is both killed by sauron and birthed by him into something new, his mirror, drowned witch thirsty for power. the symbol of their bond both on her finger and just above her heart - his eye, always with her, perceiving her.

now they are bound for all eternity, and those indeed are the seeds galadriel herself has planted.

all of this is of course a metaphor, a narrative device. as sexual subtext is an effective tool of storytelling, a tangible way of showing galadriel's complex relationship with the darkness, ambition and power. and on a more metaphysical scale, a metaphor for an eternal push and pull of the dark and the light, for the intertwined nature of these concepts.

[mythographers]

"I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired this"

Some people think Galadriel has now overcome her "bad boy phase" and can move on with no internal struggle. But TROP made Galadriel's desire for Sauron a symbol of her desire for power. By ignoring Galadriel's ongoing temptation, people end up ignoring what makes Galadriel who she is—a character constantly fighting and taming the desires of her own heart.

Galadriel didn't hear Diarmid's advice to Sauron in 2x01 about choosing good each day but that's what she does. She chooses good even when her very heart greatly desires something else. The choosing didn't eliminate the desire. It just makes Galadriel a very strong person to want something and deny herself for 3000 years.

The most famous Galadriel scene happens 3000 years post-TROP. Sauron has been haunting the edges of Galadriel's heart for millennia when Frodo offers her the One Ring. Galadriel sees the One Ring that represents Sauron and tells Frodo that her heart has greatly desired it and she uses Sauron's words throughout.

"Has greatly desired" a phrasing that implies a current ongoing state. Galadriel isn't saying "I had desired." Her desire is stated in the present perfect tense.

Just because she fights her temptation for 3000 years and wins doesn't mean her desire has gone or that it isn't a hard won victory every time. Her internal victory wouldn't mean anything if the temptation wasn't real and an ever-present danger, and if the desire wasn't real.

Sauron is representational of a key part of Galadriel's identity and struggle on TROP. Whatever else Galadriel does, he's there, haunting her with what he offers. She denies the desires of her very heart (which really is her denying and overcoming herself).

[silhouette-cosplay]

✨Lady of Light✨

This is one of my favourite Galadriel shoots EVER (and just plain shoots tbh). I have never felt more ethereal than in these photos, and I am forever grateful that @lizabetroberts was able and willing to fit me into her packed New England shoot schedule! She is such a gem to work with and she brought this otherworldly quality that was absolutely magical. ✨

(Also my makeup and wig were just cooperating so well that day—blessings from the Valar!)

Costume/crown made by me!

Photos by @lizabetroberts

[autistook]

February 14th/15th - The Mirror of Galadriel

“Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal,” she answered, “and to some I can show what they desire to see. But the Mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are often stranger and more profitable than things which we wish to behold. What you will see, if you leave the Mirror free to work, I cannot tell. For it shows things that were, and things that are, and things that yet may be. But which is it that he sees, even the wisest cannot always tell. Do you wish to look?”

[theworldsoftolkein]

The Mirror of Galadriel - by Lines Damn Lines

[cilil]

I've now been laughing at the "fair count" (see this post by @lemoneyshipz; credit for the counting goes to Febbb__ from weibo) - as in which Tolkien characters have been described as fair in the book and how many times - for two days straight... buuut how about we, the fans, get our own opinions in too?

(I excluded the groups of people to get as many characters on this as Tumblr lets me)

((Still couldn't fit them all, so honorable mentions go to Thingol, Celegorm and Indis))

(((Edit for clarity: The selection of characters is based on the list as seen in the post I'm referring to. To my understanding it in turn is counting mentions in the Silmarillion (aka "the book" for us Silm fans). See also the tags)))

[galadrielspeaks]

[halfelf558]

The Mirror of Galadriel

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Mirror of Galadriel

"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."

Artist: Kasia 'Kafis' Zielińska TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[incorrectringsofpower]

Galadriel: I never leave home without my glowing artifacts

[chewytoothmeats]

The Lady and the Mirror

Galadriel this time! This composition was inspired, oddly enough, by the excellent Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams, a game I cannot recommend enough if you like to really immerse yourself.

Apparenly drawing elves and large bodies of water is becoming a theme for me! Sorry I haven’t been around much, I’ve been hard at work doing [redacted] and have also been super depressed, so most of my art has been private sketchbook shit I don’t much feel like sharing. Womp womp.

Hope you like this, though!

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Mirror of Galadriel by Galina Egorenkova

[mycaptainjones]

Two sides of the same coin.

✨Manifesting dark!galadriel in 2024 ✨

Also on instagram and tiktok

[silhouette-cosplay]

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭.

Look at me editing a new photo from an old shoot! I gotta remember to do that sometimes. I’m pretty proud of the vibes of this one!

wip tag | more of this costume

Photo by @sennedjemcosplay

Costume by me!

[morganas-pendragons]

tonight’s thoughts are ALLLLLLLLLLLLL his.

[dutchkel]

If Adar has served as a sort of mirror to Galadriel this season, does that mean his symbolic healing, turning back to peace and not war, only to decide that the elf he was he couldn't return to... is this where Galadriel is going? This post S2 'loss of innocence' Galadriel may be healing, working towards peace and light, but have scars and a new purpose? We may also see the crown's effects on Galadriel, like how Adars torture at Morgoth and Saurons' hands permanently changed him as well. Interesting...