[Findegil]

As I mentioned in personal discussion with ArcuCalion, I think that before I prepare my first draft of the chapter ‘Of the Flight of the Noldor’ for posting here, we need to discuss Galadriel’s story during this time. Since when ever we go on to the Second Age material, we would need to discuss as one of the most important issues as well the actions of the couple Galadriel and Celeborn, I will collect in these post the relevant sources and start the discussion. But I will not drive it to the end. The Second Age stuff is even more complex then the First Age stuff. Therefore it will be enough now to bring out the truth about Galadriel behavior during the process of Exiling the Noldor.

This research was started as response to the critic my post in this thread in 'The Books' Forum: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn. But since this analyses is based heavely on the priority rules of this project which are quiet diffrent from that of 'The Books'-Forum I found it not appropirate to post it in that thread as an answer. Nonetheless that thread is worth reading, at least to get some additional opinions.

Let’s first have look at the source. I try to order them from higher to lower priority. I will number the source text A) to X) (hopefully not really to X) for easier reference. The fist to look at is RGEO, since it is the last source published by JRR Tolkien himself in which we find information about the pair. The Next is then clearly the Appendices to LotR since they were changed in the second edition of the book and last of the first priority sources is then the text of the LotR itself. I will not go into the large field of draft texts or even older additions for LotR and its Appendices. They might be very interesting for the development of the history of the pair, but that is not the goal here.
I will give first only the sources and follow then with my interpretation.
A) RGEO; Notes and Translations, Namárië; published 1968, written by Tolkien supposedly about that time:

The question Sí man i yulman nin enquantuva? And the question at the end of her song (Vol. I, p. 389), What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?, refer to the special position of Galadriel. She was the last survivor of the princes and queens who had led the revolting Noldor to exile in Middle-earth. After the overthrow of Morgoth at the end of the First Age a ban was set upon her return, and she had replied proudly that she had no wish to do so. She passed over the Mountains of Eredluin with her husband Celeborn (one of the Sindar) and went to Eregion. But it was impossible for one of the high-Elves to overcome the yearning for the Sea, and the longing to pass over it again to the land of their former bliss. She was now burdened with this desire. In the event, after the fall of Sauron, in reward for all that she has done to oppose him, but above all for her rejection of the Ring when it came within her power, the ban was lifted, and she returned over the Sea, as is told at the end of The Lord of the Rings.

B) LotR, Appendix B; preface for the 2. Age; second edition from 1966 revised supposedly about that time:

In the beginning of this age many of the High Elves still remained. Most of these dwelt in Lindon west of the Ered Luin; but before the building of the Barad-dûr many of the Sindar passed eastward, and some established realms in the forests far away, where their people were mostly Silvan Elves. Thranduil, king in the north of Greenwood the Great, was one of these. In Lindon north of the Lune dwelt Gil-galad, last heir of the kings of the Noldor in exile. He was acknowledged as High King of the Elves of the West. In Lindon south of the Lune dwelt for a time Celeborn, kinsman of Thingol; his wife was Galadriel, greatest of Elven women. She was sister of Finrod Felagund, Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to save Beren son of Barahir.
Later some of the Noldor went to Eregion, upon the west of the Misty Mountains, and near to the West-gate of Moria. This they did because they learned that mithril had been discovered in Moria. The Noldor were great craftsmen and less unfriendly to the Dwarves than the Sindar; but the friendship that grew up between the people of Durin and the Elven-smiths of Eregion was the closest that there has ever been between the two races. Celebrimbor was lord of Eregion and the greatest of their craftsmen; he was descended from Fëanor.

C) LotR; Chapter 7, Second edition published in 1966, but I have not researched when the text posted here was written:

'Your quest is known to us,' said Galadriel, looking at Frodo. `But we will not here speak of it more openly. Yet not in vain will it prove, maybe, that you came to this land seeking aid, as Gandalf himself plainly purposed. For the Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.
'I it was who first summoned the White Council. And if my designs had not gone amiss, it would have been governed by Gandalf the Grey, and then mayhap things would have gone otherwise. But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be. But this I will say to you: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true.'

The rest of the sources are from posthumous publications and with that of lower priority. I will try to order them as good as possible chronological with the newest first:

D) Unfinished Tales; Part 2: The Second Age; Chapter IV: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, very late and partly illegible note; written 1973:
This is the story of Galadriel taking ship alone with Celeborn in a ship they had build and saved from the Feanorians.

E) Unfinished Tales; Part 2: The Second Age; Chapter IV: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Amroth and Nimrodel; written 1969 or later:

I have said earlier (p. 245) that if Amroth were indeed thought of as son of Galadriel and Celeborn when The Lord of the Rings was written, so important a connection could hardly have escaped mention. But whether he was or not, this view of his parentage was later rejected. I give next a short tale (dating from 1969 or later) entitled "Part of the Legend of Amroth and Nimrodel recounted in brief."
...
The essay continues with a brief explanation of how Amroth as King of Lórien related to the rule there of Celeborn and Galadriel:

The people of Lórien were even then [i.e. at the time of the loss of Amroth] much as they were at the end of the Third Age: Silvan Elves in origin, but ruled by princes of Sindarin descent (as was the realm of Thranduil in the northern parts of Mirkwood; though whether Thranduil and Amroth were akin is not now known.) 15 They had however been much mingled with Noldor (of Sindarin speech), who passed through Moria after the destruction of Eregion by Sauron in the year 1697 of the Second Age. At that time Elrond went westward [sic; probably meaning simply that he did not cross Misty Mountains] and established the refuge of Imladris; Celeborn went at first to Lórien and fortified it against any further attempts of Sauron to cross the Anduin. When however Sauron withdrew to Mordor, and was (as reported) wholly concerned with conquests in the East, Celeborn rejoin¬ed Galadriel in Lindon.
Lórien had then long years of peace and obscurity under the rule of its own king Amdír, until the Downfall of Númenor and the sudden return of Sauron to Middle-earth. Amdír obeyed the summons of Gil-galad and brought as large a force as he could muster to the Last Alliance, but he was slain in the Battle of Dagorlad and most of his company with him. Amroth, his son, became king.

This account is of course greatly at variance with that contained in "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn." Amroth is no longer the son of Galadriel and Celeborn, but of Amdír, a prince of Sindarin origin. The older story of the relations of Galadriel and Celeborn with Eregion and Lórien seems to have been modified in many important respects, but how much of it would have been retained in any fully written narrative cannot be said. Celeborn's association with Lórien is now placed much further back (for in "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn" he never went to Lórien at all during the Second Age); and we learn here that many Noldorin Elves passed through Moria to Lórien after the destruction of Eregion. In the earlier account there is no suggestion of this, and the movement of "Beleriandic" Elves into Lórien took place under peaceful conditions many years before (p. 248). The implication of the extract just given is that after Eregion's fall Celeborn led this migration to Lórien, while Galadriel joined Gil-galad in Lindon; but elsewhere, in a writing contemporary with this, it is said explicitly that they both at that time "passed through Moria with a considerable following of Noldorin exiles and dwelt for many years in Lórien." It is neither asserted nor denied in these late writings that Galadriel (or Celeborn) had relations with Lórien before 1697, and there are no other references outside "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn" to Celebrimbor's revolt (at some time between 1350 and 1400) against their rule in Eregion, nor to Galadriel's departure at the time to Lórien and her taking up rule there, while Celeborn remained behind in Eregion. It is not made clear in the late accounts where Galadriel and Celeborn passed the long years of the Second Age after the defeat of Sauron in Eriador; there are at any rate no further mentions of their agelong sojourn in Belfalas (p. 251).
The discussion of Amroth continues:

But during the Third Age Galadriel became filled with foreboding, and with Celeborn she journeyed to Lórien and stayed there long with Amroth, being especially concerned to learn all news and rumours of the growing shadow in Mirkwood and the dark stronghold in Dol Guldur. But his people were content with Amroth; he was valiant and wise, and his little kingdom was yet prosperous and beautiful. Therefore after long journeys of enquiry in Rhovanion, from Gondor and the borders of Mordor to Thranduil in the north, Celeborn and Galadriel passed over the mountains to Imladris, and there dwelt for many years; for Elrond was their kinsman, since he had early in the Third Age [in the year 109, according to the Tale of Years] wedded their daughter Celebrían.
After the disaster in Moria [in the year 1980] and the sorrows of Lórien, which was now left without a ruler (for Amroth was drowned in the sea in the Bay of Belfalas and left no heir), Celeborn and Galadriel returned to Lórien, and were welcomed by the people. There they dwelt while the Third Age lasted, but they took no title of King or Queen; for they said that they were only guardians of this small but fair realm, the last eastward outpost of the Elves.

Elsewhere there is one other reference to their movements during those years:

To Lórien Celeborn and Galadriel returned twice before the Last Alliance and the end of the Second Age; and in the Third Age, when the shadow of Sauron's recovery arose, they dwelt there again for a long time. In her wisdom Galadriel saw that Lórien would be a stronghold and point of power to prevent the Shadow from crossing the Anduin in the war that must inevitably come before it was again defeated (if that were possible); but that it needed a rule of greater strength and wisdom than the Silvan folk possessed. Nevertheless, it was not until the disaster in Moria, when by means is beyond the foresight of Galadriel Sauron's power actually crossed the Anduin and Lórien was in great peril, its king lost, its people fleeing and likely to leave it deserted to likely occupied by Orcs, that Galadriel and Celeborn took up their permanent abode in Lórien, and its government. But they took no title of King or Queen, and were the guardians that in the event brought it unviolated through the War of the Ring.

F) The History of Middle-earth; vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth; part 2: Late Writings; Chapter XI: The Shibboleth of Feanor, written after 1968:

So it came to pass that when the light of Valinor failed, for ever as the Noldor thought, 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. 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. 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. It was not until two long ages more had passed, when at last all that she had desired in her youth came to her hand, the Ring of Power and the dominion of Middle-earth which she had dreamed, that her wisdom was full grown and she rejected it, and passing the last test departed from Middle-earth for ever.
…
Galadriel was chosen by Artanis ('noble woman') to be her Sindarin name; for it was the most beautiful of her names, and, though as an epesse, had been given to her by her lover, Teleporno of the Teleri, whom she wedded later in Beleriand. As he gave it in Telerin form it was Alatariel(le). The Quenyarized form appears as Altariel, though its true form would have been Naltariel. It was euphoniously and correctly rendered in Sindarin Galadriel.

G) Letters, No. 297 Drafts for a letter to ‘Mr. Rang’; written 1967:

The Exiles were allowed to return – save for a few chief actors in the rebellion, of whom at the time of The Lord of the Rings only Galadriel remained. At the time of her Lament in Lórien she believed this to be perennial, as long as the Earth endured. Hence she concludes her lament with a wish or prayer that Frodo may as a special grace be granted a purgatorial (but not penal) sojourn in Eressëa, the solitary isle in sight of Aman, though for her the way is closed. Her prayer was granted – but also her personal ban was lifted, in reward for her services against Sauron, and above all for her rejection of the temptation to take the Ring when offered to her. So at the end we see her taking ship.

H) Unfinished Tales; Part 2: The Second Age; Chapter IV: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn; written after 1965 but before 1969:

The earlier story (apart from the question of the ban and the pardon), to which the statements in The Silmarillion, The Road Goes Ever On, and Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings refer, is fairly clear: Galadriel, coming to Middle-earth as one of the leaders of the second host of the Noldor, met Celeborn in Doriath, and was later wedded to him; he was the grandson of Thingol's brother Elmo – a shadowy figure about whom nothing is told save that he was the younger brother of Elwë (Thingol) and Olwë, and was "beloved of Elwë with whom he remained." (Elmo's son was named Galadhon, and his sons were Celeborn and Galathil; Galathil was the father of Nimloth, who wedded Dior Thingol's Heir and was the mother of Elwing. By this genealogy Celeborn was a kinsman of Galadriel, the grand-daughter of Olwë of Alqualondë, but not so close as by that in which he became Olwë's grandson.) It is a natural assumption that Celeborn and Galadriel were present at the ruin of Doriath (it is said in one place that Celeborn "escaped the sack of Doriath"), and perhaps aided the escape of Elwing to the Havens of Sirion with the Silmaril – but this is nowhere stated. Celeborn is mentioned in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings as dwelling for a time in Lindon south of the Lune; 2 but early in the Second Age they passed over the Mountains into Eriador. Their subsequent history, in the same phase (so to call it) of my father's writing, is told in the short narrative that follows here.

Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn

The text bearing this title is a short and hasty outline, very roughly composed, which is nonetheless almost the sole narrative source for the events in the West of Middle-earth up to the defeat and expulsion of Sauron from Eriador in the year 1701 of the Second Age. Other than this there is little beyond the brief and infrequent entries in the Tale of Years, and the much more generalised and selective account in Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (published in The Silmarillion). It is certain that this present text was composed after the publication of The Lord of the Rings, both from there being a reference to the book and from the fact that Galadriel is called the daughter of Finarfin and the sister of Finrod Felagund (for these are the later names of those princes, introduced in the revised edition: see p. 268, note 20). The text is much emended, and it is not always possible to see what belongs to the time of composition of the manuscript and what is indefinitely later. This is the case with those references to Amroth that make him the son of Galadriel and Celeborn; but whenever these references were inserted, I think: it is virtually certain that this was a new construction, later than the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Had he been supposed to be their son when it was written, the fact would surely have been mentioned.
It is very notable that not only is there no mention in this text of a ban on Galadriel's return into the West, but it even seems from a pas¬sage at the beginning of the account that no such idea was present; while later in the narrative Galadriel's remaining in Middle-earth after the defeat of Sauron in Eriador is ascribed to her sense that it was her duty not to depart while he was still finally unconquered. This is a chief support of the (hesitant) view expressed above (p. 240) that the story of the ban was later than the writing of The Lord of the Rings, cf. also a passage in the story of the Elessar, given on p. 261.
What follows here is retold from this text with some interspersed comments, indicated by square brackets.

Galadriel was the daughter of Finarfin, and sister of Finrod Felagund. She was welcome in Doriath, because her mother Eärwen, daughter of Olwë, was Telerin and the niece of Thingol, and because the people of Finarfin had had no part in the Kinslaying of Alqualondë and she became a friend of Melian. In Doriath she met Celeborn, grandson of Elmo the brother of Thingol. 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), …
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In its concluding passage the narrative returns to Galadriel, telling that the sea-longing grew so strong in her that (though she deemed it her duty to remain in Middle-earth while Sauron was still unconquered) she determined to leave Lórinand and to dwell near the sea. She committed Lórinand to Amroth, and passing again through Moria with Celebrían she came to Imladris, seeking Celeborn. There (it seems) she found him, and there they dwelt together for a long time; and it was then that Elrond first saw Celebrían, and loved her, though he said nothing of it. It was while Galadriel was in Imladris that the Council referred to above was held. But at some later time [there is no indication of the date] Galadriel and Celeborn together with Celebrían departed from Imladris and went to the little-inhabited lands between the mouth of the Gwathló and Ethir Anduin. There they dwelt in Belfalas, at the place that was afterwards called Dol Amroth; there Amroth their son at times visited them, and their company was swelled by Nandorin Elves from Lórinand. It was not until far on in the Third Age, when Amroth was lost and Lórinand was in peril, that Galadriel returned there, in the year 1981. Here the text "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn" comes to an end.

It may be noted here that the absence of any indication to the contrary in The Lord of the Rings had led commentators to the natural assumption that Galadriel and Celeborn passed the latter half of the Second Age and all the Third in Lothlórien; but this was not so, though their story as outlined in "Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn" was greatly modified afterwards, as will be shown below.

I) The History of Middle-earth; vol. 10: Morgoths Ring; part 2: The Annals of Amman, written about 1958:

Thus spoke Maedhros and Maglor and Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir, Amrod and Amras, princes of the Noldor; and many quailed to hear the dread words. For so sworn, good or evil, an oath may not be broken, and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end. Fingolfin and Turgon his son therefore spoke against Fëanor, and fierce words awoke, so that once again wrath came near to the edge of swords. 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 at her own will. Of like mind with Galadriel was Fingon Fingolfin's son, being moved also by Fëanor’s words, though he loved him little; and with Fingon stood as they ever did Angrod and Aegnor, sons of Finarfin. But these held their peace and spoke not against their fathers.
…
… Therefore led by Fingolfin and his sons, and by Inglor and Galadriel the valiant and fair, they dared to pass into the untrodden North, and finding no other way they endured at last the terror of the Helkaraxe and the cruel hills of ice. Few of the deeds of the Noldor thereafter surpassed that desperate crossing in hardihood or in woe. …

J) The History of Middle-earth; vol. 11: The War of the Jewels; part 1: The Grey Annals, written about 1958:

52.
$75. In this year Inglor and his sister Galadriel were long the guests of Thingol their kinsman. And Inglor was filled with wonder at the beauty and strength of Menegroth, and he desired greatly to make for himself a strong place in like manner. Therefore he opened his heart to Thingol, telling him of his dreams; and Thingol spoke to him of the caves under the High Faroth on the west-bank of Narog, and when he departed gave him guides to lead him to that place of which few yet knew. Thus Inglor came to the Caverns of Narog and began there to establish deep halls and armouries, after the manner of Menegroth; and that stronghold was called Nargothrond. Wherefore the Noldor named him Felagund, Lord of Caves, and that name he bore until his end. But Galadriel did not depart [added later: from Doriath], and remained long with Melian, for there was much love between them.
...
66.
$91. Now Galadriel Finrod's daughter, as hath been told, dwelt with Melian, and was dear to her. And at times they would speak together of Valinor and the bliss of old; but beyond the dark hour of the death of the Trees Galadriel would not go, but fell ever silent.
$92. And on a time Melian said: 'There is some woe that lies upon thee and thy kin. That I can see in thee, but all else is 'hidden from me; for by no vision or thought can I perceive aught that passed or passes in the West: a shadow lies over all the Land of Aman, and reaches far out over the Sea. [Wilt thou not >] Why wilt thou not tell me more?'
'For that woe is past,' answered Galadriel; 'and I would take what joy is here left untroubled by memory. And maybe there is woe enough yet to come, though still hope may seem bright.'
$93. Then Melian looked in her eyes, and said: 'I believe not that the Noldor came forth as messengers of the Valar, as was said at first: not though they came in the very hour of our need. For lo! they speak never of the Valar, nor have their high lords brought any message to Thingol, whether from Manwe, or Ulmo, or even from Olwe the king's brother and his own folk that went over the Sea. For what cause, Galadriel, were the high people of the Noldor driven forth as exiles from Aman? Or what evil lies on the sons of Feanor that they are so haughty and fell? Do I not strike near the truth?'
$94. 'Near, lady,' answered Galadriel, 'save that we were not driven forth, but came of our own will, and against that of the Valar. And through great peril and in despite of the Valar for this purpose we came: to take vengeance upon Morgoth, [or >] and regain what he stole.' Then Galadriel spoke to Melian of the Silmarils, and of the slaying of King Finwe. But still she said no word of the Oath, nor of the Kinslaying, nor of the burning of the ships.
$95. But Melian, who looked still in her eyes as she spoke, said: 'Now much thou tellest me, and yet more I perceive. A darkness thou wouldst cast still 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.'
$96. And Melian spoke then no more of these matters with Galadriel; but she told to King Thingol all that she had heard of the Silmarils. ...
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67.
...
$101. And it chanced that at that time the sons of Finrod were again the guests of Thingol, for they wished to see their sister Galadriel. Then Thingol, being greatly moved, spake in ire to Inglor, saying: 'Ill hast thou done to me, kinsman, to conceal so great matters from me. For behold! I have learned of all the evil deeds of the Noldor.'
...
$107. Then the sons of Finrod departed from Menegroth with heavy hearts, perceiving how the words of Mandos would ever be made true, and that none of the Noldor that followed after Feanor could escape from the shadow that lay upon his house. ...
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102.
$108. About this time it is recorded that Nargothrond was full-wrought, and Finrod's sons were gathered there to a feast and Galadriel came from Doriath and dwelt there a while. Now King Inglor Felagund had no wife, and Galadriel asked him why this was; but foresight came upon Felagund as she spoke, and he said: 'An oath I too shall swear, and must be free to fulfill it and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of all my realm endure that a son should inherit.'
$109. But it is said that not until that hour had such cold thoughts ruled him; for indeed she whom he had loved was Amarie of the Vanyar, and she was not permitted to go with him into exile.
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420.
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$130. It is said that in these matters none save Inglor took counsel with King Thingol. And he was ill pleased, for that reason and because he was troubled with dreams concerning the coming of Men, ere ever the first tidings of them were heard. Therefore he commanded that Men should take no lands to dwell in save in the north, in Hithlum and Dorthonion, and that the princes whom they served should be answerable for all that they did. And he said, Into Doriath shall no Man come while my realm lasts, not even those of the house of Beor who serve Inglor the beloved.'
$131. Melian said naught to him at that time, but she said after to Galadriel: 'Now the world runs on swiftly to great tidings. And lo! one of Men, even of Beor's house, shall indeed come, and the Girdle of Melian shall not restrain him, for doom greater than my power shall send him; and the songs that shall spring from that coming shall endure when all Middle-earth is changed.'

K) As exception I give here on draft version. It will be seen in the commentary why: The history of Middle-earth; Volume 12: The People of Middle-earth; Part 1: The Prolog and Appendices to the Lord of the Rings; Chapter VI: The Tale of the Years of the second Age; T4, written about 1956:

750. Foundation of Imladris (or Rivendell) and of Eregion (or Hollin) as dwellings of the Noldor or High Elves. Remnants of the Telerian Elves (of Doriath in ancient Beleriand) establish realms in the woodlands far east ward, but most of these peoples are Avari or East-elves. The chief of these were Thranduil who ruled in the north of Greenwood the Great beyond Anduin, but Lorien was fairer and had the greater power; for Celeborn had to wife the Lady Galadriel of the Noldor, sister of Gil-galad [> sister of Felagund Gil-galad's sire].(10)
Note 10: With this entry compare the headnote to the Second Age in Appendix B. - The words 'the Lady Galadriel of the Noldor, sister of Gil-galad' were not, as might be thought, a slip, but record a stage in her entry into the legends of the First Age. In one of the earliest texts of the work Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age my father wrote of Galadriel: 'A Queen she was and lady of the woodland elves, yet she was herself of the Noldor and had come from Beleriand in the days of the Exile.' To this he added subsequently: 'For it is said by some that she was a hand- maid of Melian the Immortal in the realm of Doriath'; but striking this out at once he substituted: 'For it is said by some that she was a daughter of Felagund the Fair and escaped from Nargothrond in the day of its destruction.' In the following text this was changed to read: 'And some have said that she was the daughter of Felagund the Fair and fled from Nargothrond before its fall, and passed over the Mountains into Eriador ere the coming of Fionwe'; this in turn was altered to: 'For she was the daughter of Felagund the Fair and the elder sister of Gil-galad, though seldom had they met, for ere Nargothrond was made or Felagund was driven from Dorthonion, she passed east over the mountains and forsook Beleriand, and first of all the Noldor came to the inner lands; and too late she heard the summons of Fionwe.' - In the Annals of Aman and the Grey Annals she had become, as she remained, the sister of Felagund.

Now to my interpretation of these sources:
About A): At first glance there seems not much space for interpretation here. Galadriel is one of the Noldor and Celeborn of the Sindar and both are already married when they cross the Ered Luin together. That this crossing of the Ered Luin might not occur immediately after Galadriels reply to the ban on her return to Valinor is clear from the statement that they went to Eregion, which was founded later. But then it might as well be that they did not go directly to Eregion after the crossing of the mountains, or both.
Together with A) text B) gives a bit more to think about. They still fit together nicely, as is to be expected with texts that were written only a short time apart. Here it is made clear that Celeborn at least stayed for a considerable time in south Lindon and since we know from A) that the pair crossed the Ered Luin together the natural interpretation is that Galadriel was with him during his time as Lord of South-Lindon. But then it is only the natural first guess, that the ‘for a time’ means the time immediately at the beginning of the Second Age. At a second glance it could as well mean any later time period. We also get some more family background for both: Celeborn is akin to Thingol and Galadriel the sister of Finrod Felagund.
In text C) we come to the first real issue. The famous sentence will give us a hard time to reconcile with A) and B): He [Celeborn] has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I [Galadriel] have dwelt with him years uncounted; for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I [Galadriel] passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat. The first part is not that difficult: The ‘days of dawn’ should refer to the first rising of the sun at the beginning of the First Age. ‘In the West’ might refer to any think west of the River Anduin or even west of the River Celduin. It does include Doriath, Lindon, Nenuial, Eregion, Imladirs, Lorien and Dol Amroth (all places that have been recorded in one or another source to have been a dwelling place of Celeborn). The second half sentence is more interesting for what it does not directly say, Galadriel does here witness that she had not dwelt all that time since ‘the day of dawn’ together with her husband. Okay, that seems obvious, since she is an Exil and entered ME in the days of dawn while Celeborn a Sinda was already there, and we do not expect the pair to join up at once when Galadriel landed on the shore. But the interesting thing is that Galadriel gives another explanation: ‘for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains’. The most natural interpretation would be that Galadriel crossed the mountains (Ered Luin or Hithaeglir) to join Celeborn on the other side (and we know that at first, when the sentence was written, that was exactly what was meant, since at that time Celeborn was a Silvain Elf of Lorien). But that natural interpretation would be a contradiction to A) where it is attested that (probably a considerable long time) ‘After the overthrow of Morgoth at the end of the First Age’ both together crosses the Ered Luin. Since Galadriel made a difference between ‘the days of dawn’ and ‘ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin’ it is clear that the crossing of the mountains can not mean the Pelori, since these Galadriel crossed before ‘the days of dawn’. One could take the Ered Wethrin or the Ered Grogoroth as these crossed mountains, but that I also find very much forced, since we have to expect Galadriel at the Merteh Aderthad 20 FA or at least in 52 FA when she is recorded to visit Doriath with her brother and stayed there. To nominate such an early time by ‘ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin’ seems strange, since both cities were at that time not yet founded. In addition that would as well state just the obvious fact that Celeborn did not wait for Galadriel on the shore.
Here a look into one of the drafts text K) might be useful; even so I dismissed them earlier. But I will show that the idea that I want to point out was long living since it will reoccur in a very late text. We have in text K) for the first time the idea of an early passage of Galadriel over the Ered Lindon. And that idea seems to have been stable, so nearly everything around that changed. We find it again in the very late text D). At least the idea of an early journey of Galadriel and Celeborn to Eraidor was a returning one, but probably it was long-lasting. Together with text C) in which there is made a clear distinction between ‘he’[Celeborn], ‘I’[Galadriel] and ‘we’[Galadriel and Celeborn] and text A) that attested that both crossed the Ered Luin together at some time in the Second Age, I would assume that Galadriel alone left Beleriand in the Frist Age ‘ere the Fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin’. To pinpoint the time of that departure a bit more: The last mention of Galadriel in GA is in the 420 FA where it is reported that Melian foretold to Galadriel that Beren would not be kept out of Doriath by the girdle of Melian. The Fall of Nargothrond occurred in 495 FA. In between there occurred many events to show how right Galadriels motives as reported in text D) were: The orc raid over the Ered Luin that pushed the Folk of Haleth out of Dor-Caranthir in 421 FA, the Dagor Bragolach in 455 FA, the coming of the Swarthy Men in 463 FA or the Ninaeth Arnoediad in 472 FA.
That Galadriel returned at the end of the First Age is obvious, since attested by text A) she received a sentence from the Valar with a ban on her return and answered to that sentence. We have to assume that such communication was done during the sojourn of Eönwë in ME after the War of Wrath.
But let us consider first the ban a bit longer: In text G) it said ‘The Exiles were allowed to return – save for a few chief actors in the rebellion, of whom at the time of The Lord of the Rings only Galadriel remained.’ Who could be these other ‘few chief actors in the rebellion’ that were still around after the War of Wrath? Of the first generation Finweans only Finarfin was left and he was already pardoned more then 600 years before. Of the second generation beside Galadriel only Maedros and Maglor were left and they were summoned by Eönwë to come to Aman and wait there the judgment of the Valar. Nobody else is specially mentioned in the story of the rebellion. So we have to assume that these others were group leaders that probably acted very badly during the fight at Aqualondë. And that might be as well the reason for the ban on Galadriels return. So her motive for the fight was just, since she fought in defense of the Teleri and their ships, the means that she toke maybe not. Is it probable that her heroic and fierce defense was the reason for the escalation up to the point where blood was shed for the protection / usurpation of property? That would very much fit the description of the Second Clan as the most quarrelsome of the Elves. And that would as well warrant a ban on her return as long as she did not repent, which seemed not to be the case looking at here proud answer. Beside that it would not matter at all if she afterwards took the route over the ice or sailed solitary with a ship that she rescued from the host of the Feanorians.
But that is only an aside consideration. The singlehanded ship journey from text D) is out of the picture since text A) names her ‘the last survivor of the princes and queens who had led the revolting Noldor to exile in Middle-earth.’

Up to this point the result is needed for the First Age stuff. Therefore for the time being I will stop here. But the thread should be used for the discussion of the farther story of pair.

Respectfully
Findegil