Finduilas, actually
Rune wasn't joking about Galadriel's powerful butt-kicking temptress. Tolkien says Galadriel is the most powerful of the Noldor save for Feanor...must be a pretty good butt-kicker to get that award....
Quote:
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'Galadriel was the greatest of the Noldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he, and her wisdom increased with the long years...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.'~Unfinished Tales; History of Galadriel and Celeborn
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This might be inconsistant with what is in The Silmarillion, because Christopher remarks that his father revised Galadriel and Celeborn's story a bit more and made them 'more important.'
Now as far as Gimli's fatuation with Galadriel...I think it is a classic example of
'amour courtois' or
'courtly love.' The amour courtois was a popular style of poetry starting in France around the 12th century and going on for nearly 200 years. It is the classical story of a lowly, or 'inferior' person's admiration for an aristocratic lady who he knows is unobtainable. The amour courtois is actually seen as one of the truer love, as it is about the love and admiration between two people. It is not someone who only falls in love with another, because of another term of the time...
'chanson de geste' (or
'songs of war.')...meaning someone falls in love because of another person's 'greatness' or 'feets of courage in war.'
Interesting as we can apply Eowyn's 'love' for Aragorn falling under 'chanson de geste.' Eowyn doesn't love Aragorn because of Aragorn himself, she loves what Aragorn is, not who he is. She sees Aragorn as this great man that could give her what she wants...and that is getting her out of
'her cage.' But, as all happy endings go Eowyn finds her own boy toy Faramir.
Where Gimli's admiration for Galadriel is sparked because of Galadriel's beauty and kindness to Gimli, not because he sees Galadriel as someone who could be used to his own glory/benefit. Hence why Galadriel gives Gimli three strands of her hair when he asks, and why she sends Feanor packing.