Zipping in and out, enjoying the read but with no time to respond in an organized way. Still, a few ideas off the top of my head...
Bethberry, how interesting that you point to the Hebrew Bible in your analysis of Galadriel. In my personal reading of the text, I have often sensed this connection with the ancient Hebrew text. Your description is apropos:
Quote:
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Galadriel is an adversary, not in the sense of being an opponent, but in the sense of challenging human activity for the purposes of trying it, of making it firmer and more resolute.
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While acknowledging the aspect of Satan that you bring up and the possibility of applying it in this context, my reading of these passages is somewhat different than your own. Look more carefully at the quotation above. You have given us the perfect description of the biblical "prophet": the individual who seeks to compel people and society to search within themselves and to come to grips with what they find.
I do not know if you are familiar with the works of Abraham Heschel, particularly his two volumes entitled The Prophets. They are among my favorites. These books explore many themes which I've always felt also applied to Galadriel: sensitivity and awareness of evil; the inevitable tension between admonition and compassion (both of which I see encapsualated in her behavior and words); the message of doom versus the message of hope.
Of course, the Hebrew prophets were not the only ones who performed such a function. I think we can sense the same in medieval mystics like Theresa, Birgitta, and Mechthild; even the dervishes of the Moslem world; and the shamans of the Ural-altaic peoples.
Whenever I read the interaction between Galadriel and Frodo, I have this odd sense that she is an Elf who has somehow ascended to another realm and learned something of the "secrets" there and thus has gained the ability to challenge hostile powers or spirits. Eru's name is, of course, never mentioned in LotR, and the Valar themselves seem very distant. Yet in Galadriel's presence I have the clear feeling that Frodo has a glimpse of what many of us today would call 'holy'.
Davem's mention of faerie may be akin to this: perhaps we are describing the same thing with different words.
Lorien is the point on earth that seems closest to the West and Aman (even more than the Havens), and Galadriel seems to be its "gatekeeper". The fact that her own past is so flawed makes this all the more interesting. In her presence, Frodo of the Shire must have felt a bit like Dorothy awakening to the realization that this isn't Kansas anymore!
Strange thoughts at 2 in the morning when I should be in bed asleep!
One last impression.... We often speak of Galadriel as the prime example of a powerful female character in LotR. Yet sometimes I wonder about this. To me, at times, she seems almost genderless, if such a thing is possible. (Perhaps this ties in with the Virgin Mary, an issue that others can better address?)
Does anyone else view Galadriel as "genderless", or do you see her in a different, more feminine, light?