LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 07 - The Mirror of Galadriel

[Bêthberry]

A very hurried and rushed reply....

[bChild[/b] posted
We often speak of Galadriel as the prime example of a powerful female character in LotR. Yet sometimes I wonder about this. To me, at times, she seems almost genderless, if such a thing is possible. (Perhaps this ties in with the Virgin Mary, an issue that others can better address?)

hmm. We get into many kinds of problems here. Galadriel had a daughter and grandchildren. She has a husband, but as Estelyn and Aiwendil suggest, his depiction is mixed--Galadriel even 'corrects' him at one point, does she not?

"... And if it were possible, one would say that at the lat Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria." [spoken by Celeborn]

He would be rash indeed that said that thing," said Galadriel gravely.

My understanding of the Catholic tradition of Mary is that she remained a virgin even after bearing Christ. (The concept of virginity is related to purity rather than corporeal fact.) Some traditions say that she and Joseph never had children; others, that they did. Others more knowledgeable than I about the Catholic tradition will have more to say, but to me Mary is usually represented without the stain of human sexuality but nevertheless has gender as the Mother of God.

Particularly in the interactions with Gimli, Galadriel is represented as part of the courtly love tradition (for Tolkien's view of this, see letter #43 to his son Michael). Tolkien describes the best of the tradition as " the highest ideal of love between man and woman." Particularly with the exchange of Galadriel's lock of hair, which could easily be an eroticised object, I think the characterisation stays firmly within a gendered depiction of Galadriel, but one well removed from sexual connotations.. But then, Tolkien's tone removes much sexual connotation from his characterisation. Perhaps it is this high tone ("free from dross", if I am remembering jHelen's thread correctly) which creates your sense of a genderless Galadriel?

To my regret, I do not know Abraham Herchel's [i]The Prophets[/b]--something I should redress I think. My understanding of prophets is that they carry God's message to others, they speak for God in His name. Would this be possible in a work of Middle-earth, particularly one where Eru's name is not mentioned? This gets us into the realm of Tolkien's allusions ("consciously so in the revision" as I recall Littlemanpoet's excellent thread). Given that LotR does not make explicit the cosmology of TheSilm, I myself can not see Galadriel as a phrophet (prohetess?) in this text. For this reason, I preferred to think of her as a challenger who helps stimulate the members of the Fellowship to reflect upon their roles and the self-knowledge and self-discipline which will be required of them.

davem has asked me, when he repped my previous post, to pursue my ideas further and explain what exactly Galadriel is up to, but alas I have no more time now to devote to posts--later tonight perhaps.

I'm sure that others will take up Child's very interesting idea that Lothlorien is somehow closer to the West than the rest of Middle-earth.