Triumphant Leader
A defense of Galadriel’s depiction as a warrior in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Over the iron forest
He saw Our Lady stand,
Her eyes were sad withouten art,
And seven swords were in her heart–
But one was in her hand.
—G. K. Chesterton, “The Ballad of the White Horse”
A little over a year and a month ago, Vanity Fair published our first comprehensive look at Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And one of the first images that we saw was of Morfydd Clark portraying Galadriel, the mighty Elven lady who is a powerful background presence in both J.R.R. Tolkien’s original trilogy of books and in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of them. But far from the ethereal and angelic sorceress we met there, here she is depicted in a full suit of Gothic plate armor with a sword slung across her back, and with the caption “Commander of the Northern Armies.” Perhaps more of an Eowyn-type figure than the conventional understanding of Galadriel. My personal reaction at the time was somewhat mixed; while I didn't hate this concept, it was certainly not how I had imagined Galadriel up until now. But I had read The Silmarillion several times, and was well aware of how the Noldor aristocracy had been decimated by the Wars of Beleriand, so I could see her stepping up to assist the High King of the remnant of the Noldor, Gil-galad.
My relatively measured initial reaction was, unfortunately, not one shared by everyone. Far too many people on social media and Youtube erupted in fury at how Galadriel was being bastardized and being turned into an Amazon, a woke feminist icon, and a betrayal of the character. And this hatred…never stopped. Even today, when arguments also arise even among fans of the show regarding Galadriel’s character, there are still plenty of people who will pick a fight with anyone who supports this idea of a Warrior Galadriel. Because…this idea does in fact have many supporters. I am one of them, fully and proudly. Rewatching the show four times, and reading more and more about what Tolkien actually wrote about Galadriel, was a great help in changing my mind and warming me up to this concept. Although certain aspects of how she is portrayed might not be an exact match to what Tolkien wrote, the vast majority of what we see here could have charged right out of his pages. And this depiction not only helps give a powerful background character from the original trilogy a more fleshed out character and a meaningful arc, it also helps to explore other aspects of the lore. If anyone has a problem with how Galadriel is depicted as a warrior, perhaps they should take it up with the Professor himself. So join me, please, and let’s discuss further why Galadriel as a warrior is by and large faithful to Tolkien’s conception of her in this time of her life.
The simplest argument against Galadriel as a warrior goes something like this: she was never a warrior but was exclusively a wise mage and sorceress, and if she did any fighting at all, it would have been with magic rather than with a sword. This argument is incredibly simplistic and reductive. Although Magic certainly exists in Middle-earth, when it is used by Elves it more often takes the form of simply being an enhanced knowledge and mastery of the natural world. Galadriel herself explains this to Sam in The Fellowship of the Ring, when discussing her Mirror: "For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy." And Galadriel's persona as a "magic user” only really comes into play in the Third Age, where with the loss of the One Ring to the mud of the Gladden River for 2500 years she is free to use her own Ring of Power, Nenya, to preserve and protect her own realm of Lorien. So…what was Galadriel like in the many millenia leading up to the One Ring being lost? To find the answer to this question, we have to do what Morfydd Clark herself did when preparing for the role, and look to not only to the original trilogy but also The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Tolkien’s letters. And the answer we find…is an interesting one, to say the least.
Much as is the case when trying to learn about Galadriel’s character, The Silmarillion at least initially doesn’t give us much information about her physical appearance or attributes. For that, we have to turn to Unfinished Tales, where we read the following: "Her mother-name was Nerwen (Man-Maiden) and she grew to be tall even beyond the measure of the women of the Noldor [How tall exactly? 6’4” according to an endnote in The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, equivalent to a star center in the WNBA in our world]. 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." We learn even more in Letter 348, where Tolkien wrote to Mrs. Catherine Findlay: “She was then of Amazon disposition and bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats.” So, it’s clear that Galadriel in her youth was a far cry from a static, regal sorceress, but was an athlete, a tomboy, and exceptionally physically powerful even for an Elven lady. In fact, one could say she was heavily inspired by Spartan women, who, though they were not put through the Agoge (the rigorous training regimen by which Spartan boys became powerful soldiers), did practice running, riding, gymnastics and other athletic feats that made them strong, capable mothers and wives not afraid to speak their minds to their husbands. And Elven ladies are already fast and strong, to a degree that we could describe as superhuman. In Morgoth’s Ring, the tenth volume of the History of Middle Earth, we read that "there was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals.” A sentiment that is repeated in the more recent compendium The Nature of Middle Earth. Here Tolkien explains how Elven women expend more of their spirit (Fea) and body (Hroa) in the bearing of children, which is why they did not have more (and why Feanor’s wife, having given birth to so many, finally decided to set aside her Hroa voluntarily and depart to the Halls of Mandos). He also points out that Elves sense time differently than mortals, hence they have to slow their words and movements to make themselves comprehensible. Elves among Elves move and speak so quickly their hands appear like a blur, and their words a constant stream of sound; so, if anything the depiction of Legolas in the Jackson films was not beyond the realm of possibility—though the Mumak and its crew still just count as one.
Some people will argue that this doesn’t necessarily translate to Galadriel actually being a warrior, or having a martial spirit of her own. This is a fair point, and to answer it we need to look more closely at the phrase “Amazon disposition.” Tolkien wasn't just using this as a word for a strong, athletic woman, although Galadriel would certainly count. No, he was using this for an actual warrior woman. Only two other women in his entire legendarium are described using this word, and in both cases they are explicitly warriors. In the essay on the Druedain from Unfinished Tales, we read of Haleth of the Edain that she was “a renowned Amazon with a picked bodyguard of women.” The Silmarillion goes into more detail, telling the story of how when Haleth’s people were attacked by orcs and her father and brother were slain by them, she took up arms and led the defense for seven days until they were relieved by the Sons of Feanor. And in the Book of Lost Tales, we read of Measse, one of the first Vala conceived by Tolkien, who is described as a “war goddess” and an “Amazon of the bloody arms.” Tolkien, let us remember, was a philologist, a student of language, words and their uses. When he refers to Galadriel, Haleth and Measse as Amazons, he had a very specific reason for doing so, and it wasn’t physical appearance; Galadriel was a Noldorin elf, Haleth a mortal woman, and Measse a demigod. Something else links these three women. And since in two of those cases that purpose is to illustrate their martial characteristics, it stands to reason that the third instance would be a warrior as well.
Continuing on with The Silmarillion, we next read that when Feanor rouses the Noldor to join him in the pursuit of Morgoth: "Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and proud among the contending princes, was eager to be gone." So she was seen as equal in dignity and power to her male counterparts. How does this translate to "warrior woman"? Well, because by this time the Noldor had become an intensely martial society, thanks to the schemes and lies of Melkor and the paranoia of Feanor: "And when Melkor saw that his lies were smoldering, and that pride and anger were awake among the Noldor, he spoke to them of weapons, and in that time the Noldor began the smithing of swords and axes and shields. Shields also they made displaying the tokens of many houses and kindreds that vied one with another. And these only they wore abroad, and of other weapons they did not speak, for each believed that he alone had received a warning." Not much use is a weapon, even one made by the High Elves of the West, unless you know how to use it. Here the references to Galadriel’s physical strength and athletic prowess from UT and Letter 348 come once again into focus. What sort of athletic events would help train one in the use of weapons? Why, fencing, riding, archery, javelin, and all manner of endurance and muscle reflex exercises to accustom one to fighting and wearing armor. And if we fast-forward a bit to the actual Wars of Beleriand, we can see that the Noldor were practically invincible for 500 years when they first arrived in Beleriand, even if on many battlefields they were outnumbered at least 3 to 1 by Morgoth’s legions. Only with the introduction of dragons and the offensive deployment of Balrogs at the Battle of Sudden Flame did Morgoth start dominating the battlefield. And how is one invincible on the battlefield? Not just through the quality of your weapons, but also in the skill with which you use them and deploy them. So with a little common sense, one can deduce that Galadriel's athletic ability extended to the use of arms, which helped her both physically and socially.
Galadriel’s story picks up again in Unfinished Tales, and here we find the most explicit mention of her fighting. After the Teleri elves refused to give Feanor ships for passage to Middle-earth, he attacked their anchorage at Alqualonde, taking the ships he needed by force of arms. Unfortunately, although Galadriel's father was Feanor's younger brother Finarfin, her mother was Earwen of the Teleri. And Galadriel didn't take kindly to this assault on her mother's people. "Even after the merciless assault upon the Teleri and the rape of their ships, though she fought fiercely against Fëanor in defense of her mother’s kin, she did not turn back. Her pride was unwilling to return, a defeated suppliant for pardon, but now she burned with desire to follow Fëanor with her anger to whatever lands he might come, and to thwart him in all ways that she could." Some people will argue that this means she fought Feanor with words, and it never sounds any less silly to me when this argument is used. I don’t honestly think Tolkien would reference her physical and martial prowess if he didn't intend for her to use it. The very trees have backstories. And Tolkien in fact doubles down, even more explicitly, in his notes on Galadriel scribbled down towards the end of his life and included in UT by Christopher: “Indeed she with Celeborn fought heroically in defense of Alqualonde against the assault of the Noldor, and Celeborn’s ship was saved from them.” Which is ironic to say the least, given that most of Tolkien’s last thoughts on Galadriel were committed to retconning her entire story to make her more perfect and explicitly Marian, in what many scholars refer to as “Galadriel Unstained”; despite this, he still speaks of her as a warrior.
In part because of this defiance, when Feanor had gotten his own people across the sea to Middle earth, rather than send the ships back for the remainder led by his other brother Fingolfin, he burned them. Fingolfin chose to press on, for much like Galadriel he wanted very much to "see" Feanor again. Despite the fact that this would involve going on foot across the icy wasteland known as the Helcaraxe. "The fire in their hearts was young, and led by Fingolfin and his sons, and by Finrod and Galadriel, they dared to pass into the bitterest north; and finding no other way they endured at last the terror of the Helcaraxe and the cruel hills of ice.” For self-preservation, one can interpret this as Fingolfin organizing his followers along military lines, and dividing them into groups lead by his two sons Fingon and Turgon, his nephew Finrod, and his niece Galadriel. Now why would Galadriel be given responsibilities of a leadership and military nature, not given to any other Noldorin woman or even to some malefolk, if by now she hadn't proved herself capable of commanding and leading in a military capacity? It is also worth noting that while Galadriel is named as one of the leaders of this “reverse retreat from Moscow”, there are some people who are not, in particular her younger brothers Angrod and Aegnor and Orodreth (either another brother or her nephew, the matter still causes debate among Tolkienists). And finally, although he didn’t know it existed when he was first compiling The Silmarillion, Christopher Tolkien would later find mention of yet one more battle fought by Fingolfin’s people on their march to Middle earth, and would include it in Volume XII of The History of Middle earth. When they finally reached Beleriand, Fingolfin’s people were attacked by orcs at a place called Lammoth; they would win the day, at the cost of Argon, the youngest of Fingolfin’s sons. And since this Battle of Lammoth does not contradict what is in the previously published works, we can say with some certainty that Galadriel fought here as well.
Now we come to the next argument that many people present who may grudgingly admit that Galadriel was indeed a warrior in the Elder Days. All the arguments that I have shared might be well and good for the beginning of the First Age, but once Galadriel got to Middle Earth she became the friend and pupil of Melian the Maia, Queen of Doriath, which softened her harder edges. Yes and no. It is true that Galadriel spent much time as Melian's friend and pupil in Doriath, about 500 years or so, learning much lore and wisdom. But this argument doesn't account for how her time in Doriath ended. For this we have two versions. In the book of The Fellowship of the Ring, she tells Frodo "Ere Nargothrond or Menegroth fell, I passed over the mountains and came to Middle Earth." We learn from UT that in this version, Galadriel despaired of the Eldar and Edain being able to defeat Morgoth alone, so she left Melian before the fall of Doriath and traveled east to raise resistance in Middle-earth proper, alone and unaided by the other Elves. For the second version, she is still in Beleriand around the time the sons of Feanor destroyed Doriath while trying to fulfill their hateful oath to reclaim the Silmarils. Although Christopher notes that it’s not a certain thing, he does say that one version has Celeborn, Galadriel’s husband and a Sindarin prince of Doriath, fleeing from the sack of the kingdom; so he states that it’s reasonable to imagine Galadriel and Celeborn fighting at the Second Kinslaying and facilitating the escape of Elwing, granddaughter of Beren and Luthien.
Fast forward to the end of the Age, to the War of Wrath where the Valar finally came in majesty and saved the Eldar and Edain, at the cost of the whole continent of Beleriand being destroyed. There is some debate about whether Galadriel was there. On the one hand, we have what she tells Frodo in Fellowship, which would seem to indicate that she left Beleriand altogether long before the War of Wrath. On the other hand, this account is overturned within the context of the trilogy itself, for part of it hinges on Celeborn being a Nandorin elf of Lorinand. Which is decidedly not the case when Appendix A at the end of The Return of the King identifies him as he is more traditionally known, as a Sindarin Prince of Doriath. This in itself doesn’t necessarily translate to Galadriel being in Beleriand at this time, her passage over the Mountains could have happened with Celeborn at some point after the Second Kinslaying. However, Unfinished Tales includes this concerning her: “Pride still moved her when, at the end of the Elder Days after the final overthrow of Morgoth, she refused the pardon of the Valar for all who had fought against him, and remained in Middle-earth (emphasis added)." From everything else that we know of this version of Galadriel, we can assume that we are meant to take this literally. Indeed, if she was anywhere near Beleriand at the time of the War of Wrath, it stands to reason that Galadriel would have assumed command and led the remnant of the Noldor of Beleriand into battle alongside Gil-galad, the current High King. Unfinished Tales may be something of a confusing mess, reflecting Tolkien’s evolving conception of Galadriel and her importance in the legendarium, but one thread that runs true is her ultimately heroic nature, including her courage and her sense of duty; a heroine like Galadriel would never have sat idly by while friends and kin were in harm’s way.
So, the information that we have concerning Galadriel would indicate that there is plenty of justification to interpret her as a warrior in the First Age. And the naysayers and detractors may grudgingly agree with this interpretation. But then they will respond by pointing out that this is the First Age, while Rings of Power is set in the Second. And is there anything about Galadriel in the Second Age that would indicate she was the sort of aggressive battlefield commander and armored knight that we see in the show? Not really, no. But, there is plenty of reason to see her as being still very much making use of the arts of war, and not necessarily of magic. By necessity, in fact; there’s really no way she could have settled down and focused on the arts of peace until after the War of the Last Alliance, when Sauron appeared vanquished and the Elven Rings were unshackled.
Having either rejected the pardon of the Valar or having been explicitly banned from returning home to Valinor until she proved herself worthy, by SA 750 she was established in a realm of her own in Eregion. In stark contrast to the account that we read in The Silmarillion, where Celebrimbor founds this realm primarily to facilitate trade relations with the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum who have just discovered mithril, Galadriel in UT founds this realm because she has been hearing whispers and rumors of a new shadow rising in the East and wants to be in a better geographic position to watch it and challenge it. This decision has many happy side effects, among them the establishment of an alliance with Durin’s folk that is both economic and military in nature: "She looked upon the Dwarves with the eyes of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the Orcs." A relatively safe and straight passage under the Misty Mountains also puts Galadriel in contact with the Nandorin elves of Lorinand, a place better known as Lorien and strategically located on the banks of the Great River and close to one of only two places where an army can pass the Misty Mountains. These two alliances eventually pay off when war breaks out between a resurgent Sauron and the Elves, and a force from Lindon led by Elrond to relieve Eregion is caught out in the open by Sauron’s numerically superior forces. Elrond is in serious danger of being annihilated, until Sauron is attacked from the rear by a joint Dwarvish/Lorinand force led by Prince Durin of Khazad-Dum and Prince Amroth of Lorinand. Now, who would be the person who had the diplomatic ties to both these peoples and would therefore have been in the best position to get these two races to assemble a joint force? The same person who, when a power vacuum opened up in Lorinand in 1981 of the Third Age, moved in and established herself as a “guardian of this fair realm” specifically for its strategic location, heightened by its proximity to the new dark stronghold of Dol Goldur in the south of the great forest of Greenwood. This person was, of course, Galadriel, who would also go on to play a key role in two separate assaults on this dark tower in the Third Age; indeed she one who first summons the White Council and who motivates them to attack Dol Guldur at the time of The Hobbit. She may not have been a warrior fighting on the front lines, but as befitted her age and status she was still very much a soldier and a general, using the military knowledge that she had gained over many centuries to play her role in the long struggle against Sauron. In this, Galadriel is much like many other “warrior queens” of history who may not have fought on the front lines but still played an active role in other necessary parts of waging war, such as Aethleflaed of Mercia, Olha of Kyiv, Matilda the Empress, Isabella of Castile, Marguerite of Anjou, or Maria Theresa of Austria.
So, in summary, what do we have about Galadriel the warrior from Tolkien's works? We have a physically powerful athlete, tomboy and battle commander, who has actually experienced combat; her time with Melian did not actually temper her martial spirit all that much, and she was still actively fighting after her time in Doriath came to an end; and well into the period covered by Rings of Power, she was still making use of her experience and skills not as a sorceress or mage, but as a military thinker and geopolitical strategist; with the broadening of her responsibility comes a change in behavior and her means of exercising command, not an abandonment of it. What we see in Rings of Power isn’t an exact match, of course. For one thing, the impression one gets is that Galadriel only became a warrior after Finrod died, not that she was one before the Wars of Beleriand had even begun. Also, the implication that one gets from the expanded lore is that while Elven women were more than capable of being fierce warriors at need, they did not necessarily seek battle as aggressively as Galadriel does in the show. One example of this would be Princess Idril of Gondolin, Galadriel’s second cousin. In the most complete narrative we have of the fall of her city, dating from 1917, she is depicted as arming herself with sword and mail to defend her young son Earendil and to hold open the road to the secret tunnel that she has had built to allow some of her people to escape. But this is depicted as a desperate measure; there’s no indication even in this story that she’s ever fought before, and in later writings when the host of Gondolin goes to war, most notably at the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, she does not appear as one of the captains of Gondolin. But “this is not an exact match” is not the same as “this has no basis in the lore.” And many of the arguments in favor of the latter position betray at best a serious misunderstanding of the lore they purport to defend, and at worst prejudice and misogyny disguised as defending Tolkien’s work.
Now, if I was writing this essay back in late September of 2022, when I first wrote the Twitter thread that inspired this essay, I’d probably wrap it up here. But since that time, I’ve not only learned so much more about the place a warrior Galadriel occupies in the legendarium, but I’ve also noticed how this depiction not only gives the opportunity for Galadriel to have a character arc, but can also do justice to two characters who were somewhat shortchanged by the Peter Jackson films. Because for all their massive runtimes, their attention to detail, and their love for the source material, there are some things that had to be left out in the interests of translating the books to the screen and staying focused on the characters Jackson chose to focus on. One of the characters who suffered as a result of this was Faramir, and this is something everyone can agree on who has read the trilogy; they differ only on whether their reaction is reluctant understanding or blinding hatred. Another character is Eowyn, not a character who many people think is dramatically different from the books but in some ways actually is.
I don’t think there’s a LOTR fan alive who isn’t familiar with Eowyn, at least as we meet her in the Peter Jackson trilogy. A daughter of kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan, who rides to battle disguised as a man and fulfills a prophecy by striking down the mighty and terrifying Witch-King of Angmar. There is even a strong subset of fans of her who will unfavorably compare Galadriel from Rings of Power to Eowyn, as though Galadriel has been reduced to a stand-in. But owing to his decision to focus more on the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen, there was so much more about Eowyn that Jackson ended up having to leave out. How she knew orphanage and grief at a very young age with the loss of both her parents. How she suffered years of emotional abuse from the evil Grima Wormtongue and had to watch her uncle Theoden age literally before her eyes. How when at last the king was saved by Gandalf the White, she fell in love with Aragorn as a young knight will fall for a great captain. How when he sadly had to let her down, she spiraled into essentially suicidal depression. How, despite this, she at 25 and being a woman of one of the races of Middle Men struck down one of the greatest evils of all Third Age Middle-earth. How she finally found healing and peace, and not solely in the love of Faramir but also in transcending the sword. “The hands of a king are the hands of a healer” as an old Gondorian prophecy told, and thus did none other than Aragorn prove himself as king to the people of Minas Tirith, not through his rescue of the city. And Eowyn chose to be a healer; she did not diminish herself, but rose in dignity and joy. If anyone “diminished” it would be Faramir, who rather than falling in love with a lady of Numenor chose instead “a wild shieldmaiden of the North” and refused to care what his people would say.
Which brings me to Faramir. Ah, Faramir. As I alluded to earlier, his depiction in the films elicits a wide range of reactions from people who have read the books, running the gamut from acceptance to blinding fury. And not without reason. He was one of Tolkien’s favorite characters, perhaps because he was the closest thing to an author self-insert: a brave and peerless soldier loved by everyone except his father (even Boromir, regarded by all Gondor as the greatest knight in the realm, truly and genuinely loves Faramir), but also a quiet, perceptive and intelligent individual who soaks up wisdom from Gandalf, who judges people with mercy and understanding, who fights not out of any particular love of battle but because it is his duty, and who is tempted by the Ring just as his brother was but masters himself in short order, remembering a promise and his brother’s fate. There’s a line he gives to Frodo that has become iconic as demonstrating a true soldier’s understanding of his duty: “War there must be, while there is yet a devouring enemy who would destroy us all. Yet I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I only love what they defend.” In place of this heroic archetype, Peter Jackson gave us a more…conventional hero, whose quiet and thoughtful nature is only hinted at and whose arc for most of The Two Towers is dominated by a far more aggressive temptation for the Ring. Faramir was to a large extent salvaged by the Extended Editions, which gave us more thoughtful and poignant moments from him and an understanding of his father’s emotional abuse, but the damage had already been done.
How does Galadriel in Rings of Power call back to and evoke the full stories of Eowyn and Faramir from the original texts? Regarding Faramir: when do we see Galadriel smiling? Never when in battle. But always when she is with friends and loved ones, notably Elrond; while engaging in the athletic feats that caused her mother to call her Nerwen, such as riding and fencing; in providing good counsel and encouragement to those who need it such as Miriel, Halbrand, Theo and Isildur; and in remembering past joys, especially her husband Celeborn who she believes died in the Wars of Beleriand. Strong shades of Faramir here, a brave and capable soldier who derives less joy in battle than in what she is fighting for. And a far cry from the bloodthirsty psychopath that Galadriel’s haters have conjured. And as for Eowyn? In the pilot, when Elrond urges her to lay aside her sword and try to find peace in the West, she responds: “Without it, what am I to be?” But in Episode 7, in the course of her long retreat to friendly lines she gives Theo her sword, and before she goes off on another mission she refuses to take it back: “Keep it, soldier.” And in the finale, despite the undoubted emotional pain, she sacrifices her brother Finrod’s dagger which she has carried since the Elder Days for the greater good. While her journey is just beginning, these are two concrete instances of Galadriel, like Eowyn, not so much giving up the sword as transcending it and not being defined solely by it.
It is something of a misconception to say that Tolkien was trying to craft a Marian figure in Galadriel, at least for the majority of his life. But that’s not to say that Galadriel doesn’t have some Marian characteristics, or that some Marian attributes can’t apply to her. For example, the title of this very essay comes from the Kontakoion of the Annunciation, a hymn to Mary from the Byzantine Christian East that comes from at least the fourth century. I believe it is fitting for Rings of Power’s Nerwen; although the season ends at a moment of doubt and heartbreak, there is still hope and resolve in our last look at Galadriel in Season 1. And Morfydd Clark has made clear that she knows what the end is going to be: the Galadriel who finally triumphed and proved herself worthy to come home to Valinor, even if she had to earn her peace and victory. And as for the quote from Chesterton, this is not the only time Mary appears in his Christian saga of Alfred the Great against the Danes at Ethandun; way back in the beginning, she appears to him in exile at Athelney and inspires him to rise from his despair and fight for his kingdom. Galadriel the Amazon of Rings of Power is inspiring; her boarding the flagship of the Numenorean expedition to Middle-earth, clad head to toe in that glittering steel, the sun shining in her hair and a look of resolve on her face, was worthy of Wonder Woman entering the fray in No Man’s Land way back in 2017. So let nobody make you feel guilty about loving Warrior Galadriel. Please, keep drawing your pictures, assembling your music videos, putting together your cosplay armor, writing your fanfic, reading more about this fascinating heroine, and talking about her. I think it would make Tolkien very happy to see how his heroic warrior princess of the Noldor is still inspiring people to this day.
For Further Reference:
G. K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse
Darth Gandalf, “‘Warrior Galadriel’—Is it canon?”
Megan Fontentot, "Wisdom and Grace: Galadriel's Path to Redemption"
In Deep Geek, "What was Young Galadriel Like?"
Nerd of the Rings, "The Complete Travels of Galadriel"
Susanna Polo, "Galadriel’s fearless, untold story comes to life in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"
Joshua Scott, “Elrond and Galadriel: Who Was Actually More of a Warrior?”
Daniel Stride, “Addressing the One-Note Whingers: Weighing in on Warrior Galadriel”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
—The Two Towers
—The Return of the King
—The Silmarillion
—Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth
—The Nature of Middle Earth
—The Book of Lost Tales, Part I(The History of Middle-earth, Volume I)
—The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-earth, Volume III)
—The Peoples of Middle-earth (The History of Middle-earth, Volume XII)
—The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien Gateway, "Galadriel"
This is excellent work and thank you for writing it! (And great use of Chesterton's 'Ballad of the White Horse' - I know Chesterton had his issues, but when he's good, he's good.)
I always found it odd that anyone would claim Galadriel didn't physically fight at Alqualonde, given a) we know there was physical fighting (of course!) and b) what other kind of 'fighting' could she have had, given that? Feanor was not going to listen to a stern talk and a PowerPoint presentation. She fought in defence of her mother's kin - she was trying to save lives!
Tolkien didn't glorify war and saw what it could do, to the soul as well as the body, but did see it as necessary for people to fight, sometimes. I think TROP Galadriel fits perfectly in that space - while her quest is entirely reasonable and justified, she's losing herself to it through all it's done to her already by seeing it as the only way forward. And I love that even at her most fight-y in TROP, and when she feels effectively like she's the only person left to fight the war she still sees as vitally necessary for the sake of Middle-earth, we still see who she is underneath it. (Like when Halbrand tells her how to manipulate Miriel through her fears, and she ends up sympathising with Miriel's fears instead of using them against her.)
I notice where you quoted from Laws and Custom of the Eldar, and from The Druedain essay.
When you did that, did you notice that Laws and Customs states that elven-women (while they will fight desperate defense) abstain from war? And that the Druedain essay says that the Eldar considered the 'warrior-women' practice to be "strange"?
You also claim:
"Although Christopher notes that it’s not a certain thing, he does say that one version has Celeborn, Galadriel’s husband and a Sindarin prince of Doriath, fleeing from the sack of the kingdom; so he states that it’s reasonable to imagine Galadriel and Celeborn fighting at the Second Kinslaying and facilitating the escape of Elwing, granddaughter of Beren and Luthien."
No, he does not state that it is "reasonable to imagine". He says that it is "a natural assumption" that Galadriel & Celeborn were there and "perhaps aided the escape of Elwing". He then says "this is nowhere stated."