Two Frodos

[Naaramare]

I would agree that the difference in Frodo's reaction to Goldberry as opposed to Arwen and Galadriel is more because of Goldberry herself than the evirons in which they're found.

For example, the first time I remember being read LotR, I remember thinking that both Arwen and Galadriel were some sort of angel--not actually elven, but just having elven shape and being something holy. Things to be revered and loved from a distance.

Whereas Goldberry was a good deal more human (the irony that she was most likely entirely spiritual of nature and Arwen was heritage-wise part human is not lost on me). She was a woman; a very powerful and wise one, yes, but still a person who belonged walking on the Earth. She cooked, cleaned, danced, made small mocking jokes, reprimanded her husband for being discourteous . . .she wasn't an angel, she was a person in my five-year-old head.

Now, twelve years later, my views on Galadriel and Arwen have changed slightly so far as intellectual thought goes--Galadriel is hardly an angel, after all--but that first impression, that bone-deep image of them in contrast to Goldberry remains.

My point being that Goldberry was alwasy more accessible, but that it was inherent in her own person.

< edit> Or one could just sum up everything I said in what Sharon said, much more eloquently. ^~ < /edit>

[ June 24, 2002: Message edited by: Naaramare ]