[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by elbenprincess

Another thing that occured to me is Galadriels pardon. What was the condition? Did she have to repent going to ME?
So she was able to return because of that, was there more?

No she was banned for her part in being one of the leaders in the rebellion. Tolkien later on was considering changing her significant role in leading the Noldor, but she was always going to under ban for disobeying the Noldor.

Originally Posted by elbenprincess

It is stated that Galadriel

Nothing similiar is said regarding Elrond, later in the passage she resebles Luthien in her deed to destroy Dol Guldur. So I would agree that Galadriel somewhat takes the place of Melian, her defence of Lorien is similar to that of Doriath, just to a lesser degree. And that she could see Saurosn thought and still her thougts are hidden from him.

No the same thing is said about Rivendell.

What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lorien. But have they the strength, have we the strength to withstand the enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last; when all else is overthrown?
'I have not the strength.' said Elron; 'neither have they'

Yes her defense is impressive, but how is it more impressive than Elrond's defense of Imladris? Elrond without the help of his ring defended Rivendell against Sauron in person with his entire army at his back. This was Sauron using the One Ring.

It is Elrond, who takes out all 9 wraiths at the same time when they attempt to enter his realm.

The more powerful you are, the more tempted you are, the ring wanted the strongest master to come again to his real master.
Besides Galadriel has good reason to be tempted, more than Elrond, she was really in a dilemma, we must assume that she thought of her self as still being banned and allowing the ring to be destroyed could probably destroy her last home, for before the temptation she wouldn´t know that she could return to Valinor.
Elrond wouldn´t have this pressure, if things would went terribly wrong, he could take Arwen and flee to Aman, Galadriel never wold have the possibility, being banned.

Who told you the more powerful the more tempted you are? That is rubbish. Do you think Gollum was more powerful than Faramir? Or Boromir more powerful than Aragorn? The weakness is in the individual not their power. Of course with more innate power you can actually accomplish more.

So did everyone else just like Boromir. You defense of Galadriel is becoming to desperate. Everyone had much to lose and much to gain by using the Ring and if we are honest none more so than Aragorn of Gandalf.

She never planned to take the ring, she was tempted, but she didn´t ask Frodo to look in der mirror, just to get the ring.

No, but she was considering stealing it from Frodo if he passed through her land.

Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of his ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?

She does reject this train of thought, but at the same time she greatly desire Frodo to offer her the ring. Characters with pride without majesty do not.

So even before Frodo entered Lorien she decided to refuse the ring.

No she was unsure of what she would do until the moment itself happened.

When I compare the Noldor to the Vanya, the Vanya sure had the more comfortable life, but the Noldor were the heroes, matter of histories, legnds and songs, they made the more important deeds, they had a fullfilled life, the Vanyar were always in their golden cage, they never learned to take care of themselves. I wouldn´t want the life of a Vanyar, that wouldn´t satisfy me. I can understand the Noldor, they wanted to see what they were able to achieve alone, without the help of the Valar, of course there is a risk, but they accepted that. Individual fulfilment was very important to them and for that they had to leave Aman at least for a time.

You keep forgetting that the Vanyar were the ones, who actually defeated Morgoth.

There is more to life than just fighting and wars. It's a shame that more people would not be happy with living in a paradise with their friends and family. The Noldor were power hungry and influenced by Morgoth. In the end it cost them and they were forced to return to Aman anyway.

Could they really be sure that they would granted their wish, there is no accord that anyone if leaving Aman to ME except the Istati and Glorfindel. Maybe some were afraid that they never would get the opportunity.

The Valar had said several times the elves were free to come and go as they pleased.

And again, WHY does the Noldor have to ask the Valar to leave? Aren´t they free? That´s really not their business where the Eldar are going and why must they give a good reason, it´s their life and they can do with it what they want.

Manwe is King of Arda. It is his business. He is the king and rightful ruler. He is put there by Illuvatar and understands HIS will better than anyone else. That sort of reasoning is how Melkor became Morgoth.

And if the Valar later would allow them to leave, why not allow them at this point to leave, does it really matter if they leave 100 years earlier or 100 years later?
It seems to me they were overcharged.

It matters in the manner. Leaving in toe with a mad man, who had broken the Valars laws and sworn a destructive oath was there choice. They then doubled their misery by committing murder before they went.

They really had no idea what they were doing. Something was going against their wishes and so they had to punish everyody and not just the Noldor who deserves the punishment (The kinslayers and oathtakers).

No the Noldor did many crimes and were rightly punished. They had a choice to reject the actions of Feanor and his people, but instead they followed him.

I don´t think the majority wanted to fight Morgoth, I think the most, like Galadriel just wanted to see new lands. Isn´t it somewhere noted that the Noldor long before Morgoth influenced them had the desire to go to ME, but that it just came to the surface during Feanors rebellion?

Tolkien is clear that there is a shadow over them. This first came about when Morgoth started spreading his lies. If they were wiser like the Vanyar or less proud like the Teleri they would have rejected him. Pride like always was the downfall for the Noldor.

That is the problem, "where ever they tried to go they could not escape the authority of the Valar" isn´t that terrible? It´s like a big jail, or like you would never be able to move away from your parents, cause they force you to stay in a little vilage.

Manwe is the rightful ruler. It takes humility to accept that there are people in the world with a higher rank. Morgoth did not like this and the Noldor followed. Eru made it that way. Your words were the same lies that Morgoth told them.

If thraldom it be you cannot escape it: for Manwe is king of Arda and not Aman only.

I don´t see them being corrupted by Morgoth just because they wanted to leave Aman, they had dreams. It´s true, Arda belonged to the Valar but I see no crime in the need to be a little distanced from them, because you want to make your own experiences, that doesn´t mean that the Eldar who went into exil didn´t love the Valar anymore. Maybe the Valar thought that the Noldor don´t love them anymore, but Galadriel for example, and certaily other Noldor, still revered the Valar very much.

The whole world is under Manwe. As Mandos said you cannot escape his kingship. Tolkien outright states they were corrupted by Morgoth and repeated his lies. They may have loved the Valr, but they broke their laws and had to make their own bed.

Nor did the Valar punish them in any undue way. They refused them help and banned them from Aman. If the Valar had not shown mercy then the Noldor would have been wiped out by Morgoth and quickly returned to Aman to sit in the halls of Mandos. The ones, who remained would become a rustic people and slowly fade away. The Valar were more forgiving than they could have been. In the end it is the Noldor, who are desperate to come back and constantly pine for Aman.