High Elves and the Balrogs

[Gorthaur the Cruel]

Originally Posted by obloquy

I don't think anyone said she could "crush" a Balrog.

Yes, in fact. We have a handy example in Glorfindel, whose duel with a Balrog went much the same as Gandalf's did. His power was actually increased through his reincarnation and recuperation in Aman, and he returned to Middle-earth almost a peer of the Maiar. Galadriel was more powerful than Glorfindel.

Relevant text from HoMe XII Late Writings:

What, Tolkien? "Spiritual power"? Why, we have never heard of this before!

So if Galadriel was more powerful than Glorfindel, that means the curse of Mandos hasn't harshly affected her (except for weariness). And wasn't it said that the Eldar diminished in their spiritual powers eventually, or become weary to that effect? And if she was still more powerful than Glorfindel even after his rebirth, that would mean she was the closest to a Maia, right? But then Tolkien is confusing. He says that Galadriel was the mightiest and fairest of all the elves (including the mighty Glorfindel) in the 3rd age. But he seems to suggest that Elrond was inherently more powerful than Galadriel in one of his letters:

Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him - being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same order, an immortal spirit taking a visible physical form. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond.