For the Love of Galadriel (Middle-earth’s Ultimate Muse?)

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Esty

Interestingly, the first other male who desired Galadriel was her uncle Fëanor, offspring of the only Elven marriage that did not last forever. In the Unfinished Tales, ‘The History of Galadriel and Celeborn’, we read:

Quote:
Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful, and her hair was held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, had been snared in her tresses. Many thought that this saying first gave to Fëanor the thought of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees that later took shape in his hands as the Silmarils. For Fëanor beheld the hair of Galadriel with wonder and delight. He begged three times for a tress, but Galadriel would not give him even one hair.

One can’t help but wonder what would happened – or been prevented – if Galadriel has granted his request, but apparently she was right not to do so. After all, in folklore the possession of a piece of one’s body was thought to give the owner power over the person involved! Fëanor’s possessiveness hints at an admiration that could possibly have been lustful – in that case, an incestuous, adulterous passion, Ms. Russell said. And this possessiveness, whether of his father’s love, the light of the Trees, or Galadriel’s hair, was his downfall.

I think that maybe it was a good thing that Galadriel refused Feanor her hair, as if he had not been refused it, would he have then gone on to create the Silmarils? Yes, their creation, or rather, the desire of them, caused so much conflict, but they also preserved the Light of the Two Trees which were then destroyed. The other instance of the Light being preserved was in the form of the Sun and Moon; the silmarils were therefore an earthly or earthbound version of these.

I note that it is a saying amongst the Eldar that Galadriel's hair held the Light of the Two Trees; that it was a saying, hints that it was not necessarily a fact. Feanor was clearly inspired by the sight of Galadriel's hair and he wanted some of it; that he was refused it may have caused him to go on and create the Silmarils instead. Or perhaps he simply wished to have some of her hair in order to work out exactly how to capture the Light from the Trees?

For myself, I do not see anything sinister or untoward in his desire for a few strands of her hair. He was clearly inspired by the beauty of it, and I can imagine that Galadriel even when young may have wished to be admired for something other than her beauty; her power later in life does not rest on her looks, it rests on what she can do and on her leadership. This makes me think of the Yeats poem:

FOR ANNE GREGORY

``Never shall a young man,
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-colored
Ramparts at your ear,
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.''

``But I can get a hair-dye
And set such color there,
Brown, or black, or carrot
That young men in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair.''

``I heard an old religious man
But yesternight declare
That he had found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.''

William Butler Yeats

I note that it is much later in her life that she encounters Gimli. She is now secure in her own strengths and capabilities and has little to 'prove'; she is accepted as incredibly powerful. It is at this stage in her life that she can accept the worship given to her beauty with good grace.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I note that it is much later in her life that she encounters Gimli. She is now secure in her own strengths and capabilities and has little to 'prove'; she is accepted as incredibly powerful. It is at this stage in her life that she can accept the worship given to her beauty with good grace.

And, going along with your general theme, although Gimli admires Galadriel's beauty, it is NOT the beauty which first made him love her. It was her kind words, and repudiation of the general Elven antipathy towards the Dwarves. Note that we only hear Gimli speaking of her beauty AFTER she wins his heart, so to speak.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Lalwende

they also preserved the Light of the Two Trees which were then destroyed. The other instance of the Light being preserved was in the form of the Sun and Moon; the silmarils were therefore an earthly or earthbound version of these.

And yet the Silmarils were lost forever.

I note that it is a saying amongst the Eldar that Galadriel's hair held the Light of the Two Trees; that it was a saying, hints that it was not necessarily a fact.

I would take it as a fact. In Gimli's crystals the memory of the light of the Two Trees was preserved in Middle-earth forever, & in the White Tree of Gondor & the Mallorn of the Shire, so was their form.