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

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This is Galadriel’s chapter! Though we readers were in “the heart of Elvendom” at Cerin Amroth in the previous chapter, the middle of the three Lothlórien chapters concentrates on Galadriel as the heart of the present Elven kingdom, and at the end, we find out the reason – Nenya.

Tolkien introduces the land and its rulers with descriptive writing, though most of the chapter concerns the characters and their interaction. Celeborn is the first to greet the members of the Fellowship, and the relationship between him and his wife is one of the highly interesting aspects of the chapter. They are very different and react quite individually; she is apparently more powerful, yet calls him “the wisest of Elves in Middle-earth and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings”. Her gaze seems to be a part of her power; not only does she test each member silently, but also shows Gimli “love and understanding” in the “heart of an enemy”. That opens his heart, prompting his gallant reaction and the courtly love which has often been discussed, as well as preparing the way for his friendship with Legolas.

Again, Aragorn’s sharp reprimand, spoken to Boromir, prepares the reader for the latter’s later downfall and echoes the remarks in the previous chapter, that the only evil present here is that which its bearer brings in himself.

Though we read that the Elves sang songs of mourning for Gandalf, none of them are recorded. Frodo’s poem is the only one in this chapter – with Sam’s added stanza.

The Mirror is a mysterious object; if it is “dangerous as a guide of deeds”, just what is its merit in this situation? The statement “Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them.” reminds me of the story of Othello, in which the attempt to prevent the fulfilment of prophecy is the very instrument of its fulfilment.

What is the significance of Sam and Frodo’s visions? Which parts are past, present or future?

Though Galadriel foresees the negative effect the destruction of the One Ring will have for her kingdom, she assures Frodo that he is not responsible for that “but only for the doing of your own task”. The chapter ends with her temptation; she passes the test, and in doing so, opens the way for the quest to continue.

What do you think of Galadriel, Celeborn, and Calas Galadon? What is important about this chapter for the story?

[Boromir88]

Well the intended quotes I was going to show would delve deeper into the Boromir topic of the previous chapter, but just so happens, I realize those quotes are in the next chapter "Farewell to Lorien." So, the anticipation will just have to mount for another week lol. Here's what I got.

There is a little bit more on Boromir to point out.
"To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us and offering what she pretended to have the power to give. It need not be said that I refused to listen. The Men of Minas Tirith are true to their word." But what he thought that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell.

I will have to say that Boromir could be right here. The Lady looked each Fellowship member in their eyes, and from the previous paragraphs Merry, Pip, Sam, Frodo all said it seemed like she offered them something. It would seem Galadriel acted as the Ring. Offering the people their desires, what they want. As Boromir said "she pretend to have the power to give," which I would think that's right. She tempted them, but did not have the power to give it to them. As Boromir said "Maybe it was only a test," that's what it appears to be. The Lady just testing the Fellowship members, seeing if they would hold true.

Then we have the wonderful Boromir boasting about the Men of Minas Tirith. It's a pity that we don't know what the Lady offered Boromir (or the others) but we can definately make a logical guess.

"No," she said. "I do not counsel you one way or the other. I am not a counsellor. You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.

Here we see the difference between the Elf-lord of Rivendell and the Elf-lady of Lothlorien. She does not counsel, or "contrive plans" to defeat the Enemy. Where Gandalf and Elrond both came up with the plan to beat Sauron. Even though Galadriel does not counsel, what she does show, is in a way "counselling." The Mirror (in both Frodo and Sam) shows a snip of the future, and what is revealed, as Galadriel says, "you may learn something."

I don't have the time to quote the two paragraphs of Sam and Frodo looking into the water, so you will all just have to trust me lol.

In both cases they see the future. Sam sees the devastation of the Shire, he also sees Frodo lying pale cold under a dark cliff (sounds sort of like Shelob). Frodo sees a wizard in white, and since it reminds him of Gandalf, it probably is Gandalf, since from the Appendix Gandalf has just returned to life on the day they view the Mirror of Galadriel. Then Frodo also sees the future doom of Minas Tirith, black sails (Corsairs), a fortress with seven towers, bearing a White Tree as an emblem (Minas Tirith). Then there's smoke and Fire.

Sam after seeing the Mirror wishes to go home, the Lady responds.

"You cannot go home alone," said the Lady. "You did not wish to go home without your master before you looked in the Mirror, and yet you knew that evil things might well be happening in the Shire. Remember that the Mirror shows many things, and not all have yet come to pass. Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them. The Mirror is dangerous as a guide of deeds."

Ahh, the "danger" of the Mirror is revealed. It's as if Tolkien is trying to say, it's dangerous to see the future. For Sam's path is with Frodo, all of a suddenly he see's what will happen to the Shire, and he wants to leave to "prevent" it. I can't think of that saying right now, but it has something to do with the future, lol. Also, I think it deals with fate too, Sam's path is with Frodo, if he turns from that path, if he turns away from his "destiny," who knows what will happen.

Finally, just one thing I need to point out, as I found this out just a couple months ago, whilst rereading the chapter.

Frodo gazed at the ring with awe...
"Yes," she said divining his thought, "it is not permitted to spek of it and Elrond could not do so...
"He suspects, but does not know-not yet. Do you not see now wherefore your coming is to us as the footstep of Doom? For if you fail, then we are laid bare to the Enemy. Yet if you succeed, then out power is diminished, and Lothlorien will fade, and the tites of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and to be forgotten."

"And did you not see and recognize the ring upon my finger? Did you see my ring?" she asked turning agin to Sam.
"No, Lady, he answered.....

What I just learned was the three-elven rings are invisible while on their bearers finger. Frodo can see it because he wields the one ring, and it only goes to resemble the fact that if the One is destroyed, the Three will lose their powers. Then Lothlorien will fade...etc. That is why in the Grey Havens, Sam then sees Vilya on Elrond's hands, not something important, just something I found out a couple months ago.

Anyway, some to bring up, this just goes and reinforces the fact that look at what the Elves are giving up. They're giving up this wonderful home of Lothlorien to see Middle-Earth restored back to peace. Really amazing, and courageous, if you think about it.

[davem]

I suppose I have a slightly different take on what Frodo & Sam see in the Mirror - though I think Boromir88 makes important points regarding it

There are a few significant points in this chapter, specifically centred around the central event - the Mirror. This is one point in the story where the events in the early drafts are enlightening in the context of the finished version.

As in the movie, the original idea was to have Frodo alone looking into the Mirror, & he was to have witnessed the destruction of the Shire. Tolkien decides against this, & introduces Sam as recipient of these sights. Why?

Sam sees the Shire - his home, what it was & what has happened (or will happen) to it. This shows where Sam’s heart is. His vision strays for a moment to Frodo & the journey, but almost immediately it comes back to the Shire, his true concern. Frodo, however, sees nothing of the Shire. His vision is of the greater world, ‘the great history in which he had become involved’. The only thing he sees which relates to his ‘old’ life is Bilbo - but not Bilbo back in Bag End: he sees Bilbo the exile from the Shire, in Rivendell, lost among his papers - which will turn out to be not simply his own journal, but also his ‘Translations from the Elvish’, The Silmarillion. Sam is still (& will always remain) a wanderer from the Shire who will return home in the end. Frodo, even at this point in his story, is a permanent exile, for whom there can be no going back. He has chosen another world, one which touches the mortal world only tangentially, & is splitting from it with increasing rapidity.

Sam has wished to see Elf magic, because the Elven world is alien to him, a place of wonder & novelty, where ‘magic’ happens, genies offer three wishes, trees walk, carpets fly & pumpkins are transformed into coaches at the wave of a Fairy Godmother’s wand. Frodo doesn’t desire to see Elf magic, because Faerie is not like that for him - he is more like an exile returning home. He is ‘content’ with Faerie just the way it is - he has no desire for it to start playing ‘tricks’. Sam wants to be entertained by Faerie & then go home. Frodo is home, finally, & is about to be exiled from it in order to take the Ring to the Fire, & if he succeeds in doing so he will destroy his home. Sam is on the Quest to save his home, Frodo is on the Quest (he now realises) to destroy his home.

We also see again how the Ring begins to grow on Frodo: he asks Galadriel ‘I am permitted to wear the One Ring (‘NO YOU AREN’T!!!!!): why cannot I see all the others & know the thoughts of those that wear them?’

Finally, a point I think I brought up elsewhere & I can’t at the moment remember which essay I originally read it in: Galadriel says that if she took the Ring ‘All shall love me & despair. This is significant - Sauron is served by slaves who are motivated by fear. Galadriel’s ‘slaves’ would serve her out of love. She would be more dangerous than Sauron, more powerful, because while Sauron’s slaves would wish to be free of his rule, Galadriel’s never would. Sauron’s slaves would slay themselves out of terror of him, Galadriel’s out of love for her. We can see here the potential for a terrible fundamentalism in her followers: slaying others & sacrificing their own lives at her wish. I don’t think Tolkien pursues this idea anywhere else - his fanatics are either driven by fear or desire. But ‘love’ as a motivating force for atrocities is at least a potential danger in Middle earth. All that said, it is strange that her taking & wielding of the Ring could inspire ‘love’ in her subjects - in what way would they ‘love’ her?

Boromir's other point regarding the invisibility of Nenya is reminiscent of Bombadil & the One - both he & Galadriel seem more powerful than the respective Rings. But, back to the 'magic' question - is it for the same reason? Is the same kind of power being used by them both, or are they using different powers to produce the same effect?

[Aiwendil]

Estelyn wrote:

This is Galadriel’s chapter!

Just as the seventh chapter of the previous book was Tom Bombadil's chapter. I think that your repetition of that introduction points to some important analogies between I-7 and II-7. In both cases we are in the middle of a three-chapter detour from the main plot, in a safe haven in a forest (which Lorien certainly is on the surface, despite any underyling peril). And just as Goldberry is often forgotten, Celeborn seems often to fall by the wayside as it were. Celeborn is an interesting figure. If we are to go by the writings from shortly after LotR, he is a Sinda and a relation of Thingol; in some very late writings he becomes a Teler from Alqualonde.

Particularly with the former story, Lorien becomes a sort of echo of Doriath. The power of Nenya plays something of the same role as Melian's power, putting a kind of protection over the realm. As in Doriath (and as has been noted), there is something of a "provincial" outlook, for lack of a better term. This analogy is also supported by the story of Aragorn's meeting with Arwen, which of course echoes Beren's with Luthien. One wonders to what extent Celeborn is responsible for this. If he is a Sinda then he is at once closer to Doriath and to the Silvan Elves of his realm than Galadriel, a Noldo in every account.

Galadriel's story also fluctuated considerably. Like Celeborn, she was invented for LotR - but Tolkien seemed to consider her a major personality in the Legendarium, and expended considerable effort trying to find a place for her in the Silmarillion. The earlier story is that she rebelled along with the rest of the Noldor, though apparently for better reasons than many others, and returned to Middle-earth. In one account she is too proud to accept the pardon of the Valar and that's why she remains after the War of Wrath. In another (and this I think fits best with her portrayal in LotR) she, being the only remaining leader of the rebellion, is not pardoned by the Valar. This story lends great significance to her "passing of the test" in this chapter, for by refusing the Ring she finally gains re-admittance to the West. But in the same late writings that make Celeborn a Valinorean, the story is altered so that Galadriel does not join the rebellion but leaves Valinor with Celeborn for reasons of her own - and she would have been permitted to leave had her voyage not coincided with Feanor's flight. These three different accounts generate quite different readings of the chapter at hand.

One miscellaneous bit from this chapter that I find curious is Merry's reaction to Galadriel's gaze:

'That's funny,' said Merry. 'Almost exactly what I felt myself; only, only well, I don't think I'll say any more,' he ended lamely.

What's Merry's secret? Or is it nothing?

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

One impression that I would like to point out before it slips my mind completely is regarding Galadriel’s temptation the fellowship:

All of them, it seemed, had faired alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired….”

Until now I had always felt that Galadriel was testing the character of each in the fellowship with a purely benevolent motive, but at this reading I had the distinct notion that she was weighing her own temptation at the same time, and that her impetus for searching their thoughts might have been prompted by both the proximity of the Ring and her own desire for it. If she had found them any weaker I wonder if it would have affected the ultimate outcome of her test.

She knew of their purpose, and that they sought to destroy it, or be caught trying. Can't help but wonder if it were also a choice between "a shadow full of fear that lay ahead and something greatly desired" for her as well!

Edit: This is be no means to say that she would be impolite and seize the opportunity, unless of course it was "given her freely" and she deemed it necessary. If Elrond, Gandalf and Aragorn trusted her, who am I to have doubts. I like to think though, that she found in the company the inspiration she needed to resist. (She has seemed to have mellowed a bit since her UT days.)

[Aldarion Elf-Friend]

I really enjoy this chapter. Whatever people may say about Goldenberry or Arwen, Galadriel and Eowyn are the only strong women in the story who even approach the status as major characters.

There are several scenes that I think PJ captures especially well, and this chapter contains one of them: the tempting of Galadriel after Frodo and Sam look in the mirror. In fact, I remember approaching this section of the chapter last week and wondering to myself if PJ altered it much from the book (been a while since I read the books). I was hoping that this one was true to the original because I enjoyed the scene in the movie so much. I was pleasently surprised that the paragraph in the story and the scene from the movie were so close.

The idea that Galadriel and Elrond keep their realms safe through the power of their rings leads me to wonder how Cirdan has maintained the havens since he gave the third ring to Gandalf 1500 years before. My guess would be his distance from Mordor - any further and you're swimming.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Aldarion

There are several scenes that I think PJ captures especially well, and this chapter contains one of them: the tempting of Galadriel after Frodo and Sam look in the mirror. In fact, I remember approaching this section of the chapter last week and wondering to myself if PJ altered it much from the book (been a while since I read the books). I was hoping that this one was true to the original because I enjoyed the scene in the movie so much. I was pleasently surprised that the paragraph in the story and the scene from the movie were so close.

I think this is a perfect example of how fans of the book can differ in the way they 'see' events. I have to say the movie depiction was, for me, all wrong. There's a wonderful analysis of the movie scene in Brian Rosebury's 'Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon:

In the book, Galadriel as she imagines herself transformed by the Ring seems to Frodo 'terrible & beautiful' in the light of her own Ring Nenya, which she holds aloft; the fact that Sam, who is present, does not even see this ('I saw a star through your finger') confirms that Frodo's Ring-heightened perception is at work, & that Galadriel's terrible beauty is grounded in her actual charismatic presence. In the film, Sam is eliminated, & by means of uncharicteristically crude visual & auditory distortions (which make nonsense of her line 'All shall love me & despair!') Galadriel is literally transformed into a roaring seagreen hellhag: she staggers when the effect wears off.

I often wonder how much of what she actually does at that moment is simply aimed at showing Frodo what she would become, & not some overwhelming desire that sweeps over her.

Still, as I say, its all down to each individual's interpretation - as it is with so much else.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

.

One miscellaneous bit from this chapter that I find curious is Merry's reaction to Galadriel's gaze:



What's Merry's secret? Or is it nothing?

Wistful thoughts of Estella Bolger maybe?

I have truly appreciated reading all of your reflections and various information regarding the Lord of the Rings. So many of you are filled with such insightful thoughts.

There is a great prophecy made towards the mother of Christ from the prophet Simeon. It is found in Luke 2:33, "thy own soul a sword shall pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." It is amazing because during this prophecy, Christ is identified as the light of the world.

When identifying with Galadriel, she seems to have this quality. The ability to read hearts. Just my two cents. Thanks for all your thoughts.

[davem]

Just reading Kipling's 'Rewards & Fairies' & come across an episode where the children, Dan & Una, meet the spirit of Elizabeth I in a wood.

"'Play!' said the lady with a laugh, & threw up her hands affectedly. The sunshine caught the jewels on her many rings & made them flash till Una's eyes dazzled, & she had to rub them..."

Its been suggested (by Hammond & Scull in their LotR Reader's Companion) that one of Tolkien's inspirations for the appearance of Hobbits was Kipling's Puck (in 'Puck of Pook's Hill' & 'Rewards & Fairies'), so its possible that this incident inspired Tolkien in the scene where Galadriel holds up the Elven Ring & laughs.

Oddly, I'd always imagined Galadriel in Elizabethan dress at that point - even before I read the Faerie Queene.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Here I am to continue the CbC, as much as it's possible, but it's been a while since I read the chapter, but I could not write on this thread immediately, so let's just see what I can make up. Although this chapter would definitely deserve the most attention it could get, I only hope I will put my observations up in the possible way.

We are still in Lórien, and the chapter begins with the description of Caras Galadhon, which is really described beautifully and I remember I was quite "taken into it" this time. When reading Esty's introduction to this thread, I also remembered that when reading LotR for the first time, the description of the Lord and Lady were probably the first descriptions of characters I cared about in a book. Otherwise, I always used to dislike descriptions, mainly because they were usually long and boring, and that concerned the descriptions of people as well as landscapes (and, I must admit, it largely applied even on LotR on the first reading. However thinking of it... not much. This is probably the book where it started to break - well, sure, because Tolkien's descriptions are brilliant. I can recall only instances like Ettenmoors, Emyn Muil and Mordor where I did not care that much about the description: it seemed "static and dull". But even that does not apply today anymore, of course ).

The dialogue between Galadriel, Celeborn and the Fellowship is also a well-written part, I think Esty well described the difference and the interesting relation of Galadriel to Celeborn ("she is apparently more powerful, yet calls him “the wisest of Elves in Middle-earth and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings” "). And the whole discussion is crowned by Galadriel's words in the secret Dwarven language to Gimli.

Galadriel herself would require... well, dozens of pages to be written about her. If nothing else, she's one of the best characters in the books, and one of the most significant role, and also one of the important ones, as her influence will drag on into the darkness of Mordor. Tolkien must have been playing on that a reader is going to remember her very, very, very well - more than some Butterbur or even Elrond. And he was right. I think a "star-glass" by Butterbur or Elrond would not seem as significant to the reader in the darkness of Shelob's lair as the "star-glass" of Galadriel.

In any case: However there is not many of female characters in Tolkien's books, I daresay that Galadriel, even if she were alone, would have sufficed as compensation. Thinking about character of a compensable "grade", possibly Gandalf would be something similar.

Speaking of him: The mourning songs for Gandalf and the debate about it brings up the subject of what happened in Moria once more - indeed, as Celeborn asks, I would say with Aragorn - the threat of pursuit at first and the beautiful Lórien completely drove it out of my mind. Here, even the reader is allowed to stop and reflect on the loss of Gandalf, and what it means. As Frodo put it, we don't miss "his fireworks, but his bushy eyebrows, and his quick temper, and his voice." How fitting!

In the chapter, we witness some of Galadriel's "magic". First is the "test" (?) during the debate with the Fellowship. We see a glimpse of something dark inside Boromir in the debate after that. I must confess that I will be really curious what all the Companions were "offered". Especially Merry, whose behavior is very funny in this case

In the Mirror itself, there are interesting views which do not make much sense for a first-time reader, as much as they don't to Frodo and Sam (well, to Sam, maybe some things).

However, the Mirror is probably one of the most impressive scenes in the book (does everyone agree?), I mean particularly the scene AFTER the look into the Mirror, when Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. Actually, it is not that long time ago (it was on my last reading before this one) when I fully realised the depth of this scene. The power is immense: but I was always orientated on the image of the "Ring-Queen" Galadriel, which is surely strong; however what really knocks me out, and even more, is when Galadriel actually refuses the power! That's such a strong moment! And here we see what actually makes Galadriel being Galadriel: because she "will remain Galadriel", by refusing the Ring. What more, she is well aware of what the Ring would cause and bring her (she cathegorically refuses - this is exponed by the last words of the chapter: "We will not speak more of it. Let us go!"). Taken from a perspective of someone who came to Middle-Earth three ages ago with the hope of building up an own kingdom for herself, her life-story is really interesting: finally, when "a land of her own" came at last, it was just Lórien: a pretty small and insignificant place. And more, it was by the time Galadriel did not in fact even desire it that much anymore (and she did not titulate herself as "Queen of Lórien" but just "Lady", the same goes for Celeborn - see the UT) and her "rulership" of it showed to be mainly the responsibility for the lives of those who lived there. And once again, her wish, or at least thought to come close to the Ring really came to her (she admits she has been thinking often what she would do if that happened!), and when it came, she refused it. Hard to explain, but I am just deeply influenced by this. And the impressivity of her character and tale is given also by that.

[Formendacil]

Fascinating thread to read in its own right, especially the commentary about the characters of Galadriel and Celeborn.

About Celeborn, who is described as the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, I have no deep commentary to offer, only the jesting suggestion that maybe Galadriel is offering a joke herself--that wisdom in a husband is listening to her wife.

Actually, while I have no conclusions to offer, I do wonder about Celeborn the Wise, both in light of the contrast with Galadriel here and in the light of his eventual decision not to take to the ships with her immediately. Is her statement here a form of prophecy: Celeborn will be the wisest Elf in Middle-earth once everyone else leaves? Certainly, by contrast with the other Elf-kings he shares an archetype with (Thingol, Thranduil especially), he comes across quite positively. He also may lack the keen insight of Galadriel, but there's also a sense that he lacks her closeness to temptation--we never see him desiring the Ring, and it certainly seems that the realm-seeking he shares with Galadriel was HER desire, rather than his.

As to Galadriel... well, I *do* have some thoughts there, specifically about her relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The basics of my thought here is that Mary should only be considered PART of the influence on Galadriel--and I don't think it was the first influence. The approach of the plot into Lórien is very much modelled on adventures into Fäerie ("it IS perilous," as Aragorn affirms) and Galadriel seems to start as a type of the Fäerie Queen--like the Lady in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, she is a test for the hero(es).

This test culminates in the Mirror scene, where Tolkien brilliantly turns her from an impassive Lady to a character in her own right by being tested herself. This is suggested, I think, by the Ring. The Ring *must* be sent to the Fires, it can't be offered to someone More Pure (TM) than Frodo, and it is Pure Evil--it tests even Gandalf. Once this thought occurs to Tolkien, Galadriel becomes the most fascinating Elf in The Lord of the Rings--approriately enough, she becomes truly First Age in her complexity.

I think it is only after she passes this test (an abegnation of her own will that DOES recall, in a more melancholy way, Mary's Fiat) that Tolkien starts to associate her with the Virgin Mary. The gift-giving is a traditional element brought in from other literature, but the gift of lembas is one that even Tolkien admits has Eucharistic influences--and once you have a queen gifting you the Eucharist, you definitely have a Marian figure.

This also explains, if it has any validity, why Galadriel's backstory seems to become purer and holier as Tolkien's life goes on: he's remembering the post-mirror Galadriel more and more, the Galadriel who continues to be an important figure in the story for Frodo and Sam--and the others--obscuring ever more the pre-Mirror Lady of the Wood. The thunder-clap in the middle, however, is the true genius--and the reason Galadriel gets grafted onto the House of Finwë.

[Boromir88]

This CBC has spurred a lot of discussion and it's no surprise, because after reading it again there is much for anyone to ponder.

Pippin's curiosity again. In the previous chapter he asks Sam what he saw when Gimli led him and Frodo to Mirrormere.. This chapter he asks Sam what happened between him and Galadriel's gaze. It's not at all surprising when Pippin is drawn to look into the palantir.

Sam is the only one who is open in revealing what Galadriel's test was, and it's clear she is acting as the Ring in her testing of the Fellowship. Sam's tempted by having a nice bit of garden.

It's pretty easy to guess what the test for Boromir was, and he makes an interesting statement about it: "what she pretended to have the power to give." I think Boromir is correct in that statement, but it would be accurate to say the same of the Ring, and unfortunately Boromir does not perceive the deceit of the Ring, as he perceived Galadriel's deceitful testing.

We're left wondering what Merry and Pippin's tests were, and I think as I continue in this reread it will be revealed. Considering the tests that were revealed in this chapter, we know Sam speaks true of his test, Boromir doesn't say what his test was but he doesn't have to, Frodo's test is to give the Ring to someone else...we will be able to figure out what Merry and Pippin's tests were at some point.

I'm thinking about if Frodo had not accepted to be the Ring-bearer, what was Elrond and Gandalf's plan B? Was it possibly Merry as the Ring-bearer? I think he is the closest representation to Frodo, and after all he was attacked by the Nazgul before Frodo. Merry got a taste of the evil and danger of the Nazgul before Frodo. You could also say Pippin is to Merry's "Sam." I don't mean as the same social status, but just the similar friendship and roles they play.

The similarities between the Mirror and the palantir:

"Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal," she answered. "and to some I can show what they desire to see. But the Mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are often stranger and more profitable than things which we wish to behold. What you will see, if you leave the Mirror free to work, I cannot tell. For it shows things that were, and things that are, and things that yet may be. But which it is that he sees, even the wisest cannot always tell. Do you wish to look?"

This got me thinking of Sauron's use the Palantir to corrupt and deceive Saruman and Denethor. Galadriel says she can command the Mirror to reveal many things, but if the viewer leaves the Mirror free to work, then she cannot tell what the viewer will see. Sauron's will can command the palantir to reveal what he wants it to to Denethor and Saruman. But then we have Aragorn with the "right" and "will" to command what he wants it to reveal to Sauron.

This chapter really sets it up that Galadriel, even more so than Elrond or Gandalf, is the counter to Sauron. She has a viewing device that she could have used to bend the viewers to do her will. Sam was ready to abandon everything and run back to the Shire that very instant after looking in the Mirror. Galadriel stops him and says to look is both good and perilous and..."Some never come to be, unless those that behold the visions turn aside from their path to prevent them."

Galadriel has her test where she is offered the Ring. And I think this is the first time in the book the "Eye of Sauron" isn't just used as a metaphor, but becomes a vision of "the Eye" in the Mirror. Galadriel's impact and aid later in Mordor makes all the sense. Sauron and Galadriel, the two most powerful beings in Middle-earth and there's the slightest of differences which makes Galadriel the "good force's" counter to Sauron's evil force. But, also the frightening reminder that Galadriel could have been Sauron had she not passed the test:

..."I wish you'd take his Ring. You'd put things to rights. You'd stop them digging up the Gaffer and turning him adrift. You'd make some folk pay for their dirty work."

"I would," she said. "That is how it would begin. But it would not stop with that, alas! We will not speak more of it. Let us go!"