Middle-Earth (Specialty) Tours

The Journey of Galadriel
Tolkien fans who've read Lord of the Rings know a bit of Galadriel's history, while those who've also read The Silmarillion know a bit more. Unfinished Tales provides the fullest picture of this fascinating woman, but even here, the story is achingly incomplete. Galadriel is and always will be a bit of a mystery, but we can trace at least a part of her life's journey through the course of these three books.

A third-generation Elf (her grandfather was Finwë, one of the original Elves to awaken on the shores of Lake Cuiviénin), Galadriel was born in Valinor during the Years of the Trees. In other words, she's older than the sun and moon themselves.


detail of Galadriel, by Alan Lee

The House of Finwë		 Galadriel was the greatest of the Noldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he, and her wisdom increased with the long years. --Unfinished Tales, "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn"
Her mother-name was Nerwen ("man-maiden"), and she grew to be tall beyond the measure even of the women of the Noldor; she was strong of body, mind, and will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth. Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful, and her hair was held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, had been snared in her tresses....
    ....She was proud, strong, and selfwilled, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. --Unfinished Tales, "THG&C"
The Two Trees of Valinor,
by Roger Garland
Galadriel was present at the Darkening of Valinor, when Melkor and Ungoliant destroyed the Two Trees, and she gathered with the other Elves on Túna to witness Fëanor's revolt against the Valar. Finarfin and Finrod were there, as well.

Melkor and Ungoliant,
by John Howe		 But Finarfin spoke softly, as was his wont, and sought to calm the Noldor, persuading them to pause and ponder ere deeds were done that could not be undone; and Orodreth, alone of his sons, spoke in like manner. Finrod was with Turgon, his friend; but Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled in her heart, for she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm of her own. --The Silmarillion, "The Flight of the Noldor"

The Haven of the Swans,
by Roger Garland		 So it came to pass that when the light of Valinor failed ... she joined the rebellion against the Valar who commanded them to stay; and once she had set foot upon that road of exile she would not relent, but rejected the last message of the Valar, and came under the Doom of Mandos. Even after the merciless assault upon the Teleri and the rape of their ships, though she fought fiercely against Fëanor in defence of her mother's kin, she did not turn back. --Unfinished Tales, "THG&C"
Fingolfin Leads the Host Across the Helcaraxe, by Ted Nasmith
Yes, Galadriel fought at Alqualonde. She also endured the horrors of the Helcaraxë, leading the Noldor along with Finrod, Fingon and his sons. And so she made her way to Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age.

By Moonlight in Neldoreth,
by Ted Nasmith		 Readers who are familiar with The Silmarillion but not Unfinished Tales may be confused at this point, for in the former book Galadriel does not meet Celeborn until she reaches Doriath. The fact is that Tolkien never completely made up his mind about Celeborn's origins. At any rate, Galadriel's first home in Middle-earth was the realm of King Thingol and Melian the Maia. She either met her husband there or brought him with her.

Then Galadriel spoke to Melian of of the Silmarils, and of the slaying of King Finwë at Formenos; but still she said no word of the Oath, nor of the Kinslaying, nor of the burning of the ships at Losgar. But Melian said: 'Now much you tell me, and yet more I perceive. A darkness you would cast over the long road from Tirion, but I see evil there, which Thingol should learn for his guidance.'
    'Maybe,' said Galadriel, 'but not of me.' --The Silmarillion, "Of the Noldor in Beleriand"

Galadriel and Celeborn remained in Doriath through the rest of the First Age. Thus they witnessed the story of Beren and Lúthien firsthand.

The Noldor were pardoned at the close of the First Age, but...
For love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador. When they entered that region there were many Noldor in their following, together with Grey-Elves and Green-Elves; and for a while they dwelt in the country about Lake Nenuial (Evendim, north of the Shire). Celeborn and Galadriel came to be regarded as Lord and Lady of the Eldar in Eriador...But eventually Galadriel became aware that Sauron again, as in the ancient days of the captivity of Melkor, had been left behind. Or rather, since Sauron had as yet no single name, and his operations had not been perceived to proceed from a single evil spirit, prime servant of Melkor, she perceived that there was an evil controlling purpose abroad in the world, and that it seemed to proceed from a source further to the East, beyond Eriador and the Misty Mountains. --Unfinished Tales, "THG&C"
The Shire, by Roger Garland

The Great Tree at Caras
Galadon, by Ted Nasmith		 Just as Tolkien never reached a firm decision about Celeborn's origins, so he never reached a firm decision about Galadriel and Celeborn's movements during the Second Age. In one version of the tale, the two of them founded Eregion, where the Rings of Power were eventually made. Centuries later, Sauron arrived in disguise and turned many of the Elves against them, at which point they relocated to "Lórinand," a pre-existing settlement of Sindarin and Noldorin Elves. In fact, at no time did Tolkien ever consider Lórien to have been founded by Galadriel; in every version of the tale she simply adopted it as her home. Yet she also continued to travel; it was during one of her visits to Rivendell that Elrond fell in love with her daughter Celebrian.
Now Celebrimbor was not corrupted in heart or faith, but had accepted Sauron as what he posed to be; and when at length he discovered the existence of the One Ring he revolted against Sauron, and went to Lórinand to take counsel once more with Galadriel. They should have destroyed all the Rings of power at this time, "but they failed to find the strength." Galadriel counselled him that the Three Rings of the Elves should be hidden, never used, and dispersed, far from Eregion where Sauron believed them to be. It was at that time that she received Nenya, the White Ring, from Celebrimbor, and by its power the realm of Lórinand was strengthened and made beautiful; but its power upon her was great also and unforseen, for it increased her latent desire for the Sea and for return into the West, so that her joy in Middle-earth was diminished. --Unfinished Tales, "THG&C"
Galadriel's Mirror, by Ted Nasmith

image from Classic XF		 Therefore ere the Third Age was ended the Elves perceived that the Ring of Sapphire was with Elrond, in the fair valley of Rivendell, upon whose house the stars of heaven most brightly shone; whereas the Ring of Adamant was in the Land of Lórien where dwelt the Lady Galadriel...But the Red Ring remained hidden to the end, and none save Elrond and Galadriel knew to whom it had been committed. --"Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, The Silmarillion
In the Third Age Sauron took up residence in Dol Guldur and began to threaten the surrounding lands. Galadriel fought back, although her neighbors didn't always understand her purposes. For instance, the great hero Éorl, riding south along the Anduin to Gondor's aid, had this strange encounter near Lórien:
For when at last the host drew near to Dol Guldur, Éorl turned away westward for fear of the dark shadow and cloud that flowed out from it, and then he rode on within sight of Anduin. Many of the riders turned their eyes thither, half in fear and half in hope to glimpse from afar the shining Dwimordene, the perilous land that in legends of their people was said to shine like gold in the springtime. But now it seemed shrouded in a gleaming mist; and to their dismay the mist passed over the river and flowed over the land before them.
    Éorl did not halt. "Ride on!" he commanded. "There is no other way to take. After so long a road shall we be held back from battle by a river-mist?"
    As they drew nearer they saw that the white mist was driving back the glooms of Dol Guldur, and soon they passed into it, riding slowly at first and warily; but under its canopy all things were lit a clear and shadowless light, while to left and right they were guarded as it were by white walls of secrecy.
    "The Lady of the Golden Wood is on our side, it seems," said Borondir. --Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl"
Dol Guldur, by Rob Alexander

The White Council was formed in 2463 -- ironically, the same year the One Ring was found by a pair of halflings in the Gladden Fields.


Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in a
spy pic from lotr.wz.cz		 And then, after all her trials and frustrations, Galadriel found herself faced with the greatest temptation of all: the One Ring was offered to her as a gift.

She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
    'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.' --FotR, "The Mirror of Galadriel"

Once the Ring destroyed and Sauron defeated, Galadriel's work in Middle-Earth was done. She witnessed the coronation of Aragorn and his marriage to her granddaughter Arwen, then returned to Valinor two years later.
detail of Galadriel, by
Ted Nasmith

Arwen and King Elessar,
by Michael Kaluta
Departure at the Grey Havens,
by Ted Nasmith

Then Elrond and Galadriel rode on; for the Third Age was over, and the days of the Rings were passed and an end was come to the story and song of those times....
    ....And when they had passed from the Shire, going about the south skirts of the White Downs, they came to the distant Sea; and so they rode down at last to Mithlond, to the Grey Havens in the long firth of Lune....
    Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam, and went aboard; and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth; and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost. And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. --trotK, "The Grey Havens"


For more on Galadriel, visit the Galadriel and Lórien pages
Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien and the official LotR movie site.