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Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel
Also, in the UT, her ring Nenya was referred to as the "Chief of the Three." Chief of what? My guess is...
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This also could be an external slip by Tolkien I think, JRRT forgetting what he had already published concerning Vilya -- meaning that he was maybe just thinking of characterizing Nenya as generally the most powerful of the Three. We must remember that the Elessar text is charcterized as a: '
very rough manuscript' and in
'the first stage of composition'.
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The hobbit suggest that Lorien is wearing slowly, while the Istari says it is clearly ageless (weariness is completely arrested, not slowed). I think I'll trust the maia.
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In my opinion Lorien could be said to be 'ageless' or timeless in general, if the wearing was either greatly slowed or fully arrested. That doesn't mean I think I have proven anything here, only that I think these two statements are not necessarily at odds given that I don't think Gandalf's need be taken so precisely.
Back to the Mallorns, I would say that the Elves did not need the Rings to create new things, but that the Third Age nevertheless was (generally speaking) considered the fading years of the Eldar, and they wielded the Three while Sauron slept, but attempted (as noted):
'nothing new, living in memory of the past.' The preservation power some Elves now did have (or could enjoy) went hand in hand with their tendencies here.
But was the growing of Mallorns in Lorien something 'new'? In one sense yes, but the trees came from Eressea to Numenor, and so to Gil-galad, and in another sense the Mallorns were not a new thing in the world, if new East of the Sea. They added an Eressean beauty to this 'mini Valinor' or sorts. Of course they must be grown, and one could even say they were born anew in Middle-earth I guess, which appears to go against Tolkien's own statement 'not of birth' (if Nenya was used to aid in this endeavour).
Or am I just trying to hold on to a (as I say above) 'possible' notion? because I like the idea of Galadriel helping the Mallorns thrive East of the Sea, in part due to Nenya.