Quote:
884 - 910 SA: Tar-Aldarion makes many long voyages to Middle-Earth. He sails up Gwathló and meets with Galadriel. He gives Gil-galad nuts of the Mallorn. But since these do not grow well in Lindon Gil-galad gives them to Galadriel.
1000 SA: Galadriel does make contact with Lórien, which is slowly sindarized due to the migration of Elves from Eregion. Galadriel does plant the Mallorns in Lórien.
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Perhaps not unexpectedly, considering my comments about
Concerning Galadriel And Celeborn, I also have to question Tolkien a bit on his 'revised' history of the mallorn trees. JRRT describes that
'under her power' [Galadriel's power of course] the mallorn trees grew and flourished in Lorien.
OK but wasn't she powerful in Eregion too
Especially as in your scenario (following Tolkien's in CG&C), Galadriel was founder and ruler of Eregion (although again, I think this was rejected myself), so why plant the trees in Lorien rather than Eregion? I think it's clear enough that Tolkien's later view was that Galadriel did not take up Lorien as a permanent home until Third Age 1981, so she would have had chances to grow the trees elsewhere in my opinion.
But that said, given the description of
Cerin Amroth, Lorien seemingly had mallorn trees before Galadriel and Celeborn took up rule there in any case (after Amroth was lost). So yes, if we agree on that, Nerwen 'must' have planted them before she 'moved in' as ruler, so to speak.
Tolkien could have explained things I guess, but I think the original idea was that these golden trees grew naturally in Lorien, making the realm unique, and JRRT only later tried to give them a 'Western' origin (Numenor, Tol Eressea), while connecting them to the power of Galadriel.
I mean even Gil-galad could not get them to flourish in Lindon, a more Western land than Lorien, but Galadriel could.
Once Eregion fell, obviously that would take care of that. Yet we still have Galadriel in Imladris for
'many years' in the Third Age for example,
before the loss of Amroth [Unfinished Tales, Galadriel and Celeborn go to Imladris after their sojourn in Rhovanion]. And in one of Tolkien's own scenarios at least, he puts Galadriel in Lindon after Eregion falls, where Celeborn eventually rejoins her.
Again, Tolkien is creative enough to supply reasons for why Galadriel plants the trees East of the Misty Mountains on her visits to Lothlorien, but on the other hand I wonder if the original scenario wasn't easier?
Or not?