Because folks have complained about the ship to Valinor--and even I had a stab at calling the situation a Rapture--I thought a good post here would be to a post I found elsewhere which really helped peopl (including me) appreciate how the scene/event could be understood within this new narrative interpretation. The people who responded positively to this are very knowledgeable, extensive readers of Tolkien and critical commentary on him.
Quote:
this isn't about #Tolkien lore per se, but more about mythic mood and a possible nod to one area of Tolkien's many influences.
For me, the #Galadriel on the boat sequence seemed to show her struggling with accepting some traditional/accepted eternity after service done/graceful retirement of responsibility, and peaceful acceptance as expected of her, whilst here still grieving for both her brother and her perceived removal of agency by being assumed to be grateful for this "prize" of returning to Valinor with a group of elven warriors who are all seemingly very happy/honoured to receive their final reward of eternal respite in splendor following years of glorious battle.
Here she is at once one of the glorious "slain" or battlefield chosen, rewarded, and here being ritually disarmed by spectre-like veiled women who have (at some point in the past) already accepted their ritual roles. As if both her and the veiled women were somehow both halves or severed aspects of the same classic Norse concept of the #Valkyrie or dísir.
While the veiled women are portrayed as the ritualistic, anonymous #psychopomps of those deemed worthy of reward in a shining Valhalla-like eternity, she becomes their other side, the fierce armoured #Erinyes-like female warrior, bent on revenge (even shown earlier gathering up arms of the dead on the battlefield herself, placing helms on a vast memorial).
Here she is split into two (almost in front of us, as she literally finds herself struggling with the veiled maiden over the knife), forcing her hand as to which one she must become... at least for now (all long before her transformation into the Norn-like wise and patient "goddess" of fate we meet in the Third Age by her mirror basin of things past, present and future).
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I very much like the idea of drawing inspiration from possible Tolkien sources.