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."
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."