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Originally Posted by Legolas in spandex
I am now almost finished reading the Fellowship for the first time and I must say that when I came to the part where the group enters Lothlorien, as beautiful as it was, I found it to have a scary quality about it. Galadrial seemed somewhat eccentric and the Galadhrim were very distant in my opinion. I'm lead to believe that Tolkien was looking for that eccentric quality. I dunno. Did anyone else get the vibes that Lothlorien had a dark quality about it?
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I got that feeling too, and I still get it! What's more, other people in Middle-earth clearly find Lothlorien and Galadriel frightening too. The interesting thing is that once you have been there with the Fellowship, you find it to be a place of calm and beauty, as though like them, you have learned the truth about the place, that to those who do not seek to harm it or the Elves, those who can accept it for what it is, it is lovely. I think Tolkien intended it to be this way. Lothlorien is like Faerie, a little bit frightening to those who have never been there, and indeed, the inhabitants are not kindly to strangers. But those who have been there and been welcomed, who have no malice, can say it is beautiful.
Even so, despite learning about its beauty, it does have an otherworldly air about it, a sense of peril and magic!