[Bêthberry]

Oh, indeed, there is much here to discuss. Like davem, I must register my disappointement with the Blanchett Galadriel--but not to disparage those who were happy with the movie's queen of the elves. I was disappointed on two levels. First, that she appeared to look so much younger than Elrond. I know the text tells us that there was no sign of age upon either Celeborn or Galadriel, yet I could not help but wonder why Galadriel's son in law, Elrond looked older than she, with his receding hair line and furrows of worry. I wondered why we could not have a more mature but handsome and beautiful Galadriel, perhaps played by someone such as Susan Sarandron, or Michelle Pfieffer, or even Angelica Huston (with blonde hair). An older Catherine Deneuve is what I would have wanted. Also, the pyrotechnics of the temptation scene disappointed me. We had Gandalf's great scene in Bag End where Ian McClellan handled the scene himself, without any special effects. Why did Galadriel's temptation have to be delivered via the skills of someone other than the actress? But this is a diversion and, I repeat, my own personal response. I think I can understand how someone who thrills to the special effects of movies would enjoy this Galadriel.

About book-Galadariel I have much to say, particularly cocerning her role with the Mirror, which several of you have already admirably discussed..

Estelyn posted
Her gaze seems to be a part of her power; not only does she test each member silently, but also shows Gimli ?love and understanding? in the ?heart of an enemy?. That opens his heart, prompting his gallant reaction and the courtly love which has often been discussed, as well as preparing the way for his friendship with Legolas.

davem posted:
Galadriel says that if she took the Ring ?All shall love me & despair. This is significant - Sauron is served by slaves who are motivated by fear. Galadriel?s ?slaves? would serve her out of love . She would be more dangerous than Sauron, more powerful, because while Sauron?s slaves would wish to be free of his rule, Galadriel?s never would. Sauron?s slaves would slay themselves out of terror of him, Galadriel?s out of love for her. We can see here the potential for a terrible fundamentalism in her followers: slaying others & sacrificing their own lives at her wish. I don?t think Tolkien pursues this idea anywhere else - his fanatics are either driven by fear or desire. But ?love? as a motivating force for atrocities is at least a potential danger in Middle earth. All that said, it is strange that her taking & wielding of the Ring could inspire ?love? in her subjects - in what way would they ?love? her?

Hilde Bracegirdle posted
Until now I had always felt that Galadriel was testing the character of each in the fellowship with a purely benevolent motive, but at this reading I had the distinct notion that she was weighing her own temptation at the same time, and that her impetus for searching their thoughts might have been prompted by both the proximity of the Ring and her own desire for it. If she had found them any weaker I wonder if it would have affected the ultimate outcome of her test.

Boromir88 posted
Now look at "Elf Magic." Elf Magic, some examples the flood of the River Bruinen, Lothlorien, Mirror of Galadriel. These aren't anything of deceit. The Flood was caused by Elrond to stop the Nazgul from crossing. Lothlorien is a peaceful, beautiful place without a "blemish," it's like you're in a dream. The Mirror of Galadriel shows you the past, present, or future. Shows you what has happened, what will happen, or what could happen.

Encaitare posted
So when does the natural become the supernatural? When corruption occurs. Sources of Elven power are even natural in appearance: the basin of the Mirror is upon a base carved like a tree, and Nenya resembles a star. To the Elves, nature is power.

Firefoot posted
The answer to this is found a little later in the chapter, when Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. She says, "Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting." So yes, she was testing them. I think that what is important is not what she was doing, however, but why she was doing it. Just before Galadriel tested the Fellowship, she said, "your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true." (One of my favorite lines in the book.) So maybe she was seeing whether all of them intended to remain true? (Hilde made some interesting comments on this, as well.)

I am going to step back from all these approaches for a bit and suggest something different for Galadriel's power. I am not going to be as shocking as davem when he, in the previous chapter, drew a similarity between Boromir and the Nazi youth who augmented Hitler's armied. But at least initially my comparison might be shocking.

Most of us here, I think, are aware that Tolkien was drawing heavily on imagery of the Virigin Mary in his depiction of the elven Queen. (This, I suspect, makes Celeborn similar to St. Joseph, the patron saint of cuckholded husbands and in some way might account for his seeming disappearance in the face of Galadriel's power. To my mind, the ancient Catholics had a good sense of humour.) Yet I have been uneasy with this artistic attempt to combine the medieval courtly regime with the veneration of Mary. Mary is for me, as she is for Diane Schoemperlen in her recent novel (Our Lady of the Lost and Found), "the perfect house guest" rather than a female available for male adoration. But this is really a digression....

I am going to suggest that Galadriel's role in this chapter, particularly in her seeing into the heart of the members of the Fellowship and in allowing Sam and Frodo to view the Mirror, is more akin to an ancient role in the Old Testament. Galadriel is an adversary, not in the sense of being an opponent, but in the sense of challenging human activity for the purposes of trying it, of making it firmer and more resolute. Those of you who know the old Hebrew Bible might know the term satan, not as a diabolical agent who opposes God but as an angel who, not necessarily malevolent, opposes human desires for the purpose of warning them against a bad path.

This would explain why Galadriel claims she will not give counsel, as she is not a counsellor.

I will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be.

The effect of her gaze is rendered thus:

Then they sighed and felt suddenly weary, as those who have been questioned long and deeply, though no words had been spoken openly.

How does Sam describe to Frodo his experience?

She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the chance...

Merry says it was almost exactly what he felt. And the others agree.

All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was offerred a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired ...

It is Boromir who speaks the less allusively of what Galadriel offers:

but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give. It need not be said that I refused to listen.

If indeed Galadriel is testing the Fellowship, as the satan urged Yahweh to test Job, in order to determine Job's true righteousness, we can only wish that at this point Boromir had had the courage of mind to listen to what Galadriel was holding out to him .

This is also the test of the Mirror of Galadriel, that she shows Sam and Frodo what they most desire, as a lesson in their true devotion. Sam can save The Shire only by, at this point, not succumbing to his desires and returning to it. Yet it is not a desire he must turn aside completely.

With Frodo, of course, the test of his desires becomes also a test of her own. Yet I think it is important to recognise that Galadriel's powers lie in making the members of the Fellowship more aware of their own role and desires, if they choose to listen. It is a test of self-knowledge and their own integrity. This is the true perilousness of the perilous realm: to be sought after by the greatest of your own desires, yet to withstand them.