[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Interesting topic! Let me throw in my two cents, though right now I cannot think of anything too big to contribute. Anyway...

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Personally, I like it this way since it makes the story more profound. If a character who said "I'm sorry", even genuinely, would just live happily ever after, it would not be Tolkien, it would be a Disney story.

I think that's basically it. This might also sound a bit bad, but technically it's true: a story ending with the recently redeemed person dying (like Boromir or Thorin, the strongest examples for me) gives it much stronger impact for the reader. It is also a bit like the way that Frodo, after his great victory, has to still bear the weight of all he had gone through and eventually leaves Middle-Earth. So I think, in fact, that the loss and death sort of goes along with the general image of the world of Middle-Earth: there is sadness, "long slow defeat", even victory has always its sacrifices and has somehow melancholic taste, at best. Arda Marred is Arda Marred and the "true redemption", if we want to look for it that far, comes probably only at the end of times, with the remaking of the Music.

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Hm. Could this be an example of a true repentance, without death or destruction?

Valaquenta

There we have a servant of a good Vala switching sides to Melkor, then back again, apparently permanently, with no lasting penalty.
If Ossë could do it, you'd think Sauron could have managed it also, had he wanted it badly enough.

I like this one, actually, and it's interesting. Though, aside from this, there are really not many examples of "lasting repentance".

I think we have more examples of "redemption in another generation" or things like that (e.g. Celebrimbor, even though falling into Sauron's trap, ultimately being a much more "good guy" than his father; something similar can be said about Maedhros).

But to contribute something of my own, let me name just one more example that has not been mentioned yet, and which is not exactly redemption in the most radical sense, but which I have always considered a touching story in its own way. And that is the case of Galadriel. She was, of course, never "evil" or anything like that, but! I consider her, in some way, a counterpart to Saruman or all those "I refuse to be redeemed" folks. Indeed, I think the main point - or the very strong theme present throughout Middle-Earth's history - is the (sadness-bringing) stories of those unwilling to accept redemption when offered. I think that is the whole point of this stuff appearing with all Saurons, Melkors, Sarumans and who knows who else. It basically means completely closing oneself to any outside offers, advice (and you can translate this into any other cases of such attitude causing ultimate doom to whole kingdoms, think of e.g. Thingol) or help. Basically all those characters decide to keep their pride, they do not wish to be humiliated by the fact that they'll accept something that someone else is offering them. Logically it is absolute nonsense, it does not cost them anything, but if you imagine yourselves in that situation, it probably is not as easy to just accept.

Well, Galadriel's story is in some way a miraculous counter-argument to this. She started also with her pride, following the Noldor out of Valinor (even though she disagreed with Fëanor), with her dreams of her own kingdom somewhere in that far land. First, the only thing she got was hardship on the road and then a random place at Turgon's court. When the First Age ended and the first chance of rehabilitation came, she had refused (!) with the chance of now finally fulfiling her dreams in a world free from Morgoth's oppression. We know things didn't go exactly that smoothly, but eventually we see Galadriel effectively governing her own realm - only, by that time, it was a small forgotten realm, and she had not even pronounced herself a Queen or anything. So typical - having the dream fulfiled, in a completely different way than she had originally envisioned it, but also at the point when she, in fact, no longer wishes it! I am not sure when did she actually start longing for the West again, but I wouldn't put it past that it might have been around this time. But, the way was shut for her - or so she thought. After refusing the mercy once, she had considered herself doomed to stay in Middle-Earth (maybe she even was?). In any case, we know this was the case for sure in the time of the War of the Ring - her Namárië song makes that much clear. She concludes it by wishing that Frodo at least, if not her, would get his place in Valimar. But as we know, eventually the mercy was granted to her - again, when she had not expected it anymore, but when, at the same time, all her pride had been consumed -- just imagine, a couple of moments ago she had gotten her hands on the Ring of Power, but she had refused it! That is what makes the moment most powerful and memorable to me, to know what it had meant for her and her life story.

So, Galadriel's "redemption", if we wish to call it that way (because what else is being freed from one's own pride that entraps them? That is exactly what had caused Melkor, Sauron, Saruman et al. to fail their "redemption") was a gradual thing, working throughout her whole life, and therefore also for me the most believable. It also has a happy ending (with just the bit of sadness which, however, is present everywhere in Middle-Earth and therefore is nothing unexpected). Just imagine an alternative ending for Galadriel - a tale that ends in bitterness, enclosed in some realm of her own, with holding to the fading power of her Ring as the world changes, a miserable Elven sorceress not unlike the evil witches from fairytales who hate all living beings that enter their realm since they are just bitter and have no perspective for the future. Galadriel had managed to move away the "dead end" of her own story, unlike Sauron or Saruman, and it was not anything "planned" as in "if I do this, maybe I shall be granted a place on a ship" - she simply did what she did, even when she could not see good end for herself, and in the end, she did get the happy ending.

And next time, when I say I won't write anything "big", I hope you are not going to believe me... well, I hope you know that by now... but I really hoped it won't be that long this time. Ahem.