Misc. Questions

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

Another question:

When Galadriel says "Needless were [missing words, I think: none of] the deeds of Gandalf. We do not know yet his full purpose," do you think Gandalf knew about Galadriel's secret lust for the ring & intended her to face her test? And what would happen if she failed & took the ring, would not the Valar hinder him from returning to ME?

And this lament of Galadriel (during the departure from Lothlorien) of Valimar being lost to those in the east is quite contradictory when she declares "I will go into the West & remain Galadriel." Could Gandalf have told her that Varda had answred her prayers?

I would attribute it, myself, to a more mundane answer. I would say that Galadriel agreed with Gandalf that Moria was the only way to pass the Mountains. The Redhorn Pass, as was already clear, was impassible. The High Pass by Rivendell would have meant a month or three of delay- perhaps Galadriel's mirror told her that they didn't have that time. Likewise with detouring to Gondor. As for the remaining option, the Gap of Rohan- we all know about the danger of Saruman, but perhaps the danger was greater than we think. Perhaps companies like Ugluk's were being sent northwards towards Moria? If so, that's another thing that Galadriel could have meant.

In any case, in this situation, the simplest answer would seem to be that Galadriel felt that Gandalf was justified in leading them through Moria, and that his death was not wasted, for the Ring still continued towards its defeat. Galadriel strikes me, for some reason, as a person who would approve of dying for a cause.

Hmm... must be the Silmarillion working on me...