| Galadriel | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
| Created by | J. R. R. Tolkien |
| In-universe information | |
| Race | Elves |
| Spouse | Celeborn |
| Children | Celebrían |
| Book(s) | The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) The Return of the King (1955) The Silmarillion (1977) Unfinished Tales (1980) |
Galadriel (IPA:[ɡaˈladri.ɛl]) is a character created byJ. R. R. Tolkien in hisMiddle-earth writings. She appears inThe Lord of the Rings,The Silmarillion, andUnfinished Tales. She was a royalElf of both theNoldor and theTeleri, being a grandchild of both KingFinwë and King Olwë. She was also close kin of King Ingwë of theVanyar through her grandmother Indis.Galadriel was a leader during the rebellion of the Noldor, and present in their flight fromValinor during the First Age. Towards the end of her stay in Middle-earth, she was joint ruler ofLothlórien with her husband,Celeborn, when she was known as theLady of Lórien, theLady of the Galadhrim, theLady of Light, or theLady of the Golden Wood. Her daughterCelebrían was the wife ofElrond and mother ofArwen, Elladan, and Elrohir. Tolkien describes her as "the mightiest and fairest of all the Elves that remained in Middle-earth" (after the death ofGil-galad)[T 1] and the "greatest of elven women".[T 2]
The Tolkien scholarTom Shippey has written that Galadriel represented Tolkien's attempt to re-create the kind of elf hinted at by surviving references inOld English. He has compared his elves also to those in a ChristianMiddle English source,The Early South English Legendary, where the elves wereangels. Sarah Downey likens Galadriel to a celestial lady of medieval allegory, a guide-figure such asDante'sBeatrice and the pearl-maiden in the 14th-century English poemPearl. Another scholar,Marjorie Burns, compares Galadriel in multiple details toRider Haggard's heroineAyesha, and toTennyson'sThe Lady of Shalott, both being reworked figures ofArthurian legend. Galadriel, lady of light, assistingFrodo on his quest to destroy theOne Ring, opposed toShelob, the giant and evil female spider of darkness, have been compared toHomer's opposed female characters in theOdyssey:Circe andCalypso asOdysseus's powerful and wise benefactors on his quest, against the perils of the attractiveSirens, and the deadlyScylla and Charybdis.
Modern songwriters have created songs about Galadriel; Tolkien'sQuenya poem "Namárië" has been set to music byDonald Swann. Galadriel has appeared in both animated and live-action films and television.Cate Blanchett played her inPeter Jackson's film series, whileMorfydd Clark played her in an earlier age inThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Stories of Galadriel's life before theWar of the Ring appear inThe Silmarillion andUnfinished Tales.[T 3][T 1] She was born inValinor, a member of the royal House ofFinwë. She was the only daughter and youngest child of Finarfin, prince of theNoldor, and of Eärwen, daughter ofOlwë and cousin toLúthien. Her elder brothers wereFinrod Felagund, Angrod, and Aegnor. Galadriel was often called the fairest of all Elves, whether inAman or Middle-earth. She could peer into the minds of others to judge them fairly.[T 3]
According to the older account of her story, sketched by Tolkien inThe Road Goes Ever On and used inThe Silmarillion, Galadriel was an eager participant and leader in the rebellion of the Noldor and their flight from Valinor; she was the "only female to stand tall in those days".[T 4][T 5] She had, however, long since parted ways withFëanor and his sons. InBeleriand she lived with her brother Finrod Felagund atNargothrond and the court ofThingol and Melian inDoriath. She carried some dark secrets from those times; she told Melian part of the violent story of theSilmarils and Morgoth's killing of Finwë, but did not mention thekinslaying of elves by elves.[T 6]
Galadriel and Celeborn travelled first toLindon, where they ruled over a group of Elves, and were themselves ruled byGil-galad. According toConcerning Galadriel and Celeborn, they then removed to the shores ofLake Nenuial (Evendim) and were accounted the Lord and Lady of all the Elves of Eriador. Later, they moved eastward and established the realm ofEregion (Hollin). They made contact with aNandorin settlement in the valley of theRiver Anduin, which becameLothlórien. At some point, Celeborn and Galadriel left Eregion and settled in Lothlórien. According to some of Tolkien's accounts, they became rulers of Lothlórien for a time during the Second Age; but in all accounts they returned to Lórien to take up its rule after Amroth was lost in the middle of the Third Age.[T 3] Celeborn and Galadriel had a daughter,Celebrían, who marriedElrondHalf-elven ofRivendell.[T 2]
During theSecond Age, when theRings of Power were forged, Galadriel distrusted Annatar, the loremaster who taught the craft of the Rings toCelebrimbor. Again according to some of the accounts, Celebrimbor rebelled against her view and seized power in Eregion. As a result, Galadriel departed to Lórien via the gates ofMoria, but Celeborn refused to enter the dwarves' stronghold and stayed behind. Her distrust was justified, for Annatar turned out to be the Dark Lord,Sauron. When Sauron attacked Eregion, Celebrimbor entrusted Galadriel withNenya, one of the Three Rings of the Elves. Celeborn joined up with Elrond, whose force was unable to relieve Eregion but managed to escape back toImladris. Celeborn reunited with Galadriel when the war ended; according to one text, after some years in Imladris (during which Elrond first saw and fell in love with Celebrían) Galadriel's sea-longing became so strong that the couple removed toBelfalas and lived at the place later calledDol Amroth.[T 3]
'And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!' [Galadriel] lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark... Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 'I pass the test', she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel'.
InThe Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel welcomed theFellowship to Lothlórien after their escape fromMoria.[T 7] When she met the Fellowship in her tree-dwelling she gave each member a searching look, testing their resolve—thoughBoromir interpreted this test as a temptation. She was in turn tested whenFrodo Baggins offered to place the Ring in her keeping. Knowing that its corrupting influence would make her "great and terrible", and recalling the ambitions that had once brought her to Middle-earth, she refused the Ring. She accepted that her own ring's power would fail, that her people would diminish and fade with the One Ring's destruction, and that her only escape from the fading of the Elves and thedominion of Men would be to return at last to Valinor.[T 8]
When the Fellowship left Lothlórien, she gave each member a gift and an Elven cloak, and furnished the party with supplies, both as practical support and as a symbol of faith, hope and goodwill. Her gift to Frodo was the magicalPhial of Galadriel, containinga little of the light ofEärendil's star. Her husband Celeborn likewise provided the Fellowship with Elven-boats.[T 9]On the day that the Fellowship left Lórien, but unknown to them,Gandalf arrived, carried by theeagleGwaihir. Galadriel healed his wounds and re-clothed him in white, signalling his new status as head of the Istari, the order of wizards.[T 10]
After Sauron perished, Celeborn led the host of Lórien across the Anduin and captured Dol Guldur. Galadriel came forth and "threw down its walls and laid bare its pits".[T 2] She travelled toMinas Tirith for the wedding of her granddaughter Arwen to KingAragorn. Galadriel passed over the Great Sea with Elrond,Gandalf, and theRing-bearersBilbo and Frodo, marking the end of the Third Age.[T 11] Celeborn remained behind, and Tolkien writes that "there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens".[T 12]
TheDúnedain said that her height was tworangar, or "man-high" – around 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm).[T 13] However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful, long, silver-golden hair.[T 14][T 15] According to the late essayThe Shibboleth of Fëanor (referring to Galadriel's rebellious exile and Celeborn as a Teler), the Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of theTwo Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves.[T 14]
Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful, and her hair is held a marvel unmatched. It is golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold is touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar say that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, has been snared in her tresses.[T 14]
Fëanor greatly admired her hair; it may have inspired him to create theSilmarils.[T 14]
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.[T 14]
Nevertheless, Galadriel never repaid Fëanor's admiration. Fëanor "had begged her thrice for a tress and thrice she refused to give him even one hair. It is said that these two kinsfolk, being considered the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor, remain unfriends forever."[T 14]
Her character was a blend of characteristics of theEldar from whom she was descended. She had the pride and ambition of the Noldor, but in her they were tempered by the gentleness and insight of the Vanyar. She shared the latter virtues of character with her father Finarfin and her brotherFinrod.[T 14]
She was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget. From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Fëanor. In him she perceived a darkness that she hated and feared, though she did not perceive that the shadow of the same evil had fallen upon the minds of all the Noldor, and upon her own.[T 14]
Galadriel's sympathy forGimli the Dwarf, when she rebuked her husband Celeborn for being tempted to regret his decision to admit aDwarf to Lothlórien, completely won him over.[T 8]
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§ These figures appear inUnfinished Tales, but not in the published Silmarillion. The pre-1968 descent of Celeborn (as a Sinda) is shown. In later texts, Celeborn (as a Teler) is specified at various times to be the son of Gilitīro[T 17] and the grandson of Olwë.[T 14] ¶ In the published Silmarillion, Edhellos does not appear, Orodreth is Finarfin's son (and still Finduilas' father), and Gil-galad is Fingon's son (and thus would not be on this tree). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Late in life, Tolkien made several changes to the story of Galadriel and Celeborn. InThe Lord of the Rings, Celeborn is called a "kinsman of Thingol";[T 18] inThe Road Goes Ever On he is described as one of theSindar.[T 19]The Silmarillion adds that Galadriel and Celeborn met inDoriath.[T 20] Tolkien changed his mind in texts dating from c. 1968 onwards, making Celeborn a Telerin Elf of Alqualondë.[T 16][T 21][T 22] This meant that he was still a kinsman of Thingol, but only "afar off".[T 22] In this late conception, the two had met in Aman.[T 16]
Between 1967 and 1971, Tolkien several times mentioned that Galadriel was banned from returning to Valinor, since she had been a leader in the revolt of the Noldor (the only surviving one in the late Third Age).[T 19][T 16][T 23][T 24][T 25] This personal ban was lifted in acknowledgement of her refusal of the Ring and her renunciation of power.[T 1][T 3] Such a ban had not existed at the timeThe Lord of the Rings was written.[T 3]
In August 1973, Tolkien decided to rewrite the story entirely, so that Galadriel did not reach Beleriand with the other rebellious Noldor. Instead, she was "unstained" (having done nothing evil), and had wished to go to Middle-earth to exercise her talents. However, just as she and Celeborn (again a Telerin Elf, and this time Olwë's grandson and thus her first cousin) were about to seek the Valar's permission, Valinor was darkened. She did not take part in Fëanor's rebellion, and (with her brother Finrod) fought against him at the Kinslaying; but she nonetheless despaired of Valinor, and sailed into the darkness with Celeborn.[T 14][T 26][T 27] Tolkien died the next month, and thus never completed this revision.[T 14]
The philologist and Tolkien scholarTom Shippey notes that in creating Galadriel, Tolkien was attempting to reconstruct the kind of elf hinted at by elf references inOld English (Anglo-Saxon) words. The hints are, he observes, paradoxical: whileælfscyne, "elf-beautiful", suggests a powerful allure,ælfsogoða, "lunacy", implies that getting too close to elves is dangerous. In Shippey's view, Tolkien is telling the literal truth that "beauty is itself dangerous", asChaucer did inThe Wife of Bath's Tale where both elves andfriars are sexually rapacious. So whenFaramir says toSam Gamgee inIthilien that Galadriel must be "perilously fair", Shippey comments that this is a "highly accurate remark"; Sam replies that "folk takes their peril with them into Lorien... But perhaps you could call her perilous, because she's so strong in herself."[1]
Shippey also considers the ChristianMiddle English attitude of theSouth English Legendary, ahagiographic work which he supposes Tolkien must have read, that elves wereangels. In his view, Tolkien's elves are much like fallen angels, above Men but below the angelicMaiar and the godlikeValar. He comments at once that Galadriel is in one way certainly not "fallen", as the elves avoided the war on Melkor in the First Age; but all the same, "Galadriel has been expelled from a kind of Heaven, the Deathless land of Valinor, and has been forbidden to return." Shippey suggests that the Men of Middle-earth might have thought the fall of Melkor and the expulsion of Galadriel added up to a similar fallen status;[2] and he praises Tolkien for taking both sides of the story of elves into account.[1]
The Tolkien scholarMarjorie Burns compares Galadriel toRider Haggard's heroine Ayesha in his 1887 novelShe: A History of Adventure, a book that Tolkien acknowledged as an important influence, and toTennyson'sThe Lady of Shalott, which recast theArthurian legend ofElaine of Astolat; she notes that Ayesha was herself an Arthurian figure, transposed to 19th century Africa.[3]
| Attribute | Galadriel | Ayesha (She) | The Lady of Shalott |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image |  Tessa Boronski, 2011 |  Edward Killingworth Johnson, 1887 |  John William Waterhouse, 1888 |
| Life | immortal Elf | immortal human after entering the flame | "fairy" |
| Beauty | very fair long blonde hair | men fall to their knees long raven-black hair | great beauty very long dark hair |
| Wisdom Power | sees more than any man | dangerous and strange | |
| Work | weaving, and overseeing weaver-maidens | weaves continually | |
| Place | isolated realm, sheltered from change | enchanted island | |
| Healing | heals and preserves | enchanted | |
| Magic mirror (dish of water) | sees past, present, "things that may yet be" denies it is magic | sees past and present denies it is magic | "the mirror's magic sights" |
| Ending | her ring loses power Elves leave and diminish | re-enters the flame shrivels up and dies | relinquishes power and dies |
Sarah Downey, inMythlore, likens Galadriel to a medieval guide-figure such asDante'sBeatrice and the pearl-maiden in the 14th-century English poemPearl. Galadriel is "tall and white and fair", while the pearl-maiden appears in white and gold, and Beatrice shimmers "clothed in the colour of a living flame". In Downey's view, Galadriel's colours, and her association with both light and with water, connect her with the celestial ladies of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, those figures areallegorical. Downey notes that Tolkien's protestation that he "cordially dislike[d] allegory" has not spared him from much analysis of his writings to be interpreted, but states that Galadriel appears as a fully-fledged figure of "history, true or feigned", with problems of her own making, rather than being a flat allegorical symbol of goodness and purity. The fact that Galadriel is a "penitent" seeking readmission to Aman, Downey comments, makes it clear, too, that she cannot be straightforwardly equated with a figure of perfection like the Virgin Mary.[4]
| Attribute | Galadriel | Pearl-maiden | Dante'sMatelda | Dante'sBeatrice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image |  |  |  |  |
| Celestial lady who gives guidance | Lady ofLothlórien | yes | yes | yes |
| Earthly Paradise | Lothlórien is likeAman, but inMiddle-earth | Otherworldly garden, Heaven just across the stream | Guides Dante through the Garden of Eden | At top ofMount Purgatory, near but not inHeaven |
| River-as-boundary | Between two rivers | Clear stream, with Heaven on far side | Bathes Dante in riverLethe | Across a pure stream |
| Dreamlike time | Timeless land;Elves are immortal | is dead | is dead | is dead |
| Allegorical | No, she is "penitent", a fully-developed character | yes | yes | yes |
| Ordeal, loss, death | yes,Gandalf has just been lost inMoria | yes | yes | yes |
| Water and light | "tall and white and fair"; light ofEärendil's star,Phial of Galadriel; bearsNenya, the Ring of Water | white and gold | "clothed in the colour of a living flame" | |
| Vision and redemption | Sam sees destruction inthe Shire in Galadriel's Mirror; Frodo glimpses "parts of a great history in which he had become involved", is enjoined not to touch the water; test is for Galadriel (not the narrator), tempted to take theOne Ring | Narrator looks across the stream to the Heavenly Jerusalem; he jumps into stream and wakes up | Dante's vision within a vision, a pageant with Beatrice |
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In Tolkien's August 1973 draft, Galadriel is exonerated and not a penitent. Jane Beal points out that Tolkien's calling her "unstained" and having "committed no evil deeds" makes Galadriel into aMarian figure.[5] Lakowski, writing that "second thoughts aren't always better",[6] quotes Shippey as calling this revision an example of "soft-heartedness" on Tolkien's part,[6][7] but also suggests another possible reason: that Tolkien realised that the narratives with a banned and repentant Galadriel are somewhat inconsistent with Galadriel's characterisation inThe Lord of the Rings. Lakowski writes that Galadriel's pure whiteness indicates that Tolkien modelled her on the Virgin Mary.[6] The theologian Ralph C. Wood writes that Galadriel somewhat resemblesDante Alighieri's portrayal of Mary in hisInferno.[8]
In a 1971 letter, Tolkien wrote both supporting this view, and refuting the suggestion of her total purity:[T 25]
I think it is true that I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teaching and imagination about Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent: in her youth a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians)... She was pardoned...[T 25]
Beal suggests that, at the end of his life, Tolkien may have been influenced by his readers' interpretations of Galadriel as a Marian figure to consider her in that way herself.[5]
The Tolkien scholar Mac Fenwick compares Galadriel and what he sees as her monstrous opposite, the giant and evil spiderShelob, with the struggle between the good and the monstrous female characters inHomer'sOdyssey. Like Galadriel,Circe andCalypso are rulers of their own secluded magical realms, and both offer help and advice to the protagonist. They helpOdysseus to avoid destruction by the female monsters, theSirens who would lure his ship on to the rocks, andScylla and Charybdis who would smash or drown his ship; Galadriel gives Frodo thePhial of Galadriel, which by her powercontains the light ofEärendil's star, able to blind and ward off Shelob in her darkest of dark lairs. Galadriel's gifts, too, are Homeric, including cloaks, food, and wisdom as well as light, just like those of Circe and Calypso.[9]
| Attribute | Galadriel | Circe andCalypso |
|---|---|---|
| Place | own magical realm | |
| Assistance | help and advice | |
| Monstrous opposites | Shelob, giant spider of darkness | |
| Gifts | cloaks, food, wisdom, light | |
Patrick Grant, a scholar ofRenaissance literature, notes the multiplecharacter pairings inThe Lord of the Rings. He interprets the interactions of the characters as fitting the oppositions and other pairwise relationships ofJungian archetypes, recurring psychological symbols proposed by the psychotherapistCarl Jung. He states that thehero's quest can be interpreted as a personal journey ofindividuation. Galadriel functions as Frodo'sanima, opposed by the evil giant female spider Shelob.[10] Grant explains that the anima and animus represent "the feminine side of a man's unconscious, and the masculine side of a woman's, respectively."[10] He adds that in the case of Tolkien's writing, the anima is more important, but also "ambivalent", both supportive and destructive. He gives as examples of the supportive and "nourishing" animaDante'sBeatrice, theMuses of classical mythology who provided creative inspiration, and theVirgin Mary; on the destructive side, she can be symbolised, he writes, by thesiren of mythology who lures a man to disaster, or a "poisonous and malevolent"witch.[10] Grant states that the anima and animus are "further from consciousness" than theshadow archetype.[10] Both the anima/animus and the shadow are presented in conjunction with the hero archetype, signifying an "individuation process which is approaching wholeness".[10] The set of archetypes creates an image of the self.[10] Burns adds that the opposed characters of Galadriel and Shelob are indicated by elements such as the Phial of Galadriel, whose light contrasts with the darkness of the spider.[11][12]
Tolkien wrote a poem "Namárië" that Galadriel sings in farewell to the departing Fellowship, and to Frodo in particular. The song is inQuenya, and "spoke of things little-known in Middle-earth," but Frodo is said to have remembered the words and translated them long afterward. It is a lament in which Galadriel describes her separation from theBlessed Realm and theValar, her longing to return there, and at the end a wish or hope that even though she herself is forbidden (by the Ban) to return, that Frodo might somehow come in the end to the city of Valimar inValinor. The poem was set to music byDonald Swann, using the melody that Tolkien hummed to him. The sheet music and an audio recording are part of the song-cycle ofThe Road Goes Ever On.[13] In a recording, Tolkien sings it in the style of aGregorian chant.[14]
Howard Shore used theArabic maqamHijaz scale to give theLothlórien/Galadriel theme a sense of antiquity.Galadriel's songs are omitted fromHoward Shore'smusic forThe Lord of the Rings film series;[15] instead, Shore created a Lothlórien/Galadriel theme using theArabic maqamHijaz scale to create a sense of antiquity.[a][16]Fran Walsh, Shore, andAnnie Lennox co-wrote the Oscar-winning song"Into the West" for the closing credits ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Originally sung by Lennox, the song was conceived as Galadriel's bittersweet lament for those who have sailed across theSundering Seas. The lyrics include phrases from the final chapter of the original novel. The song has since been covered byYulia Townsend andWill Martin.[17]
On their albumOnce Again, the bandBarclay James Harvest featured a song called "Galadriel". It gained notability because guitaristJohn Lees playedJohn Lennon'sEpiphone Casino guitar on this track, an event later recounted in a song on the band's 1990 albumWelcome To The Show titled "John Lennon's Guitar".[18]Hank Marvin and John Farrar wrote a song "Galadriel", recorded byCliff Richard; the four five-line stanzas include the couplet "Galadriel, spirit of starlight / Eagle and dove gave birth to thee".[19][20] An Australian band namedGaladriel released a self-titled album in 1971 which "became a highly sought-after collectors' item among European progressive rock circles".[21]
Galadriel was voiced byAnnette Crosbie inRalph Bakshi's 1978 animated film ofThe Lord of the Rings,[22] and by Marian Diamond inBBC Radio's1981 serialisation.[23] She did not appear in the 1980 animatedThe Return of the King, but was mentioned by name when Frodo refers to "Galadriel's phial".[24]
In Peter Jackson'sLord of the Rings andThe Hobbit trilogies, Galadriel is played byCate Blanchett.[25] InThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel narrates the prologue that explains the creation of the One Ring, as well as appearing in Lothlórien.[26] While Galadriel does not feature in Tolkien'sThe Hobbit, the story was amended so that she could appear inJackson's films based on the book.[27]
On stage, Galadriel was portrayed byRebecca Jackson Mendoza in the 2006Toronto musical production ofThe Lord of the Rings; Mendoza's dress was hand-embroidered with 1,800 beads.[28] The musical was revised and moved to London'sTheatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2007, withLaura Michelle Kelly in the "glittering" role.[29]
Galadriel appears in video games such asThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, where she is voiced byLani Minella.[30]
In the 2022 television seriesThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Galadriel was portrayed byMorfydd Clark,[31] and her younger version by Amelie Child Villiers.[32]
