LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 07 - The Mirror of Galadriel

[davem]

Originally Posted by Aldarion

There are several scenes that I think PJ captures especially well, and this chapter contains one of them: the tempting of Galadriel after Frodo and Sam look in the mirror. In fact, I remember approaching this section of the chapter last week and wondering to myself if PJ altered it much from the book (been a while since I read the books). I was hoping that this one was true to the original because I enjoyed the scene in the movie so much. I was pleasently surprised that the paragraph in the story and the scene from the movie were so close.

I think this is a perfect example of how fans of the book can differ in the way they 'see' events. I have to say the movie depiction was, for me, all wrong. There's a wonderful analysis of the movie scene in Brian Rosebury's 'Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon:

In the book, Galadriel as she imagines herself transformed by the Ring seems to Frodo 'terrible & beautiful' in the light of her own Ring Nenya, which she holds aloft; the fact that Sam, who is present, does not even see this ('I saw a star through your finger') confirms that Frodo's Ring-heightened perception is at work, & that Galadriel's terrible beauty is grounded in her actual charismatic presence. In the film, Sam is eliminated, & by means of uncharicteristically crude visual & auditory distortions (which make nonsense of her line 'All shall love me & despair!') Galadriel is literally transformed into a roaring seagreen hellhag: she staggers when the effect wears off.

I often wonder how much of what she actually does at that moment is simply aimed at showing Frodo what she would become, & not some overwhelming desire that sweeps over her.

Still, as I say, its all down to each individual's interpretation - as it is with so much else.