Galadriel's gift to Gimli has deeper meaning behind it, like most things in this movie & reflects the expanded lore of the middle earth universe. She is one of the 2-3 most powerful & wise elves remaining in Middle Earth since the time the land was young. She was born in a place called Valinor, or the Undying land... which is basically the place of residence of the Valar, the local pantheon, the local "gods" as you may call them. (Essentially the land that be untouched by Morgoth and where the holy ones still yet reside.) Back then, the world was not illuminated by the sun&moon, (only the stars, but rather by 2 trees of gold and silver, Telperion and Laurëlin that lit the world before the sun & moon were born from their last flower & fruit as they were basically killed by Melkor when he struck them with his Lance and Ungoliant the primordial Eldrich Terror vampirized the life force of the two trees. Ungoliant she was named by the Eldar/Elves). It is said that Galadriel's hair had enmeshed some of the shine and power of those two trees within her tresses. Her uncle Fëanor, who was a great king of the Elven people after his father Finwë was slain by Morgoth(Formally known as Melkor). Fëanor arguably was their greatest craftsman & warrior to ever live (besides the father of his wife Nerdanel who mentored him since he was born), asked if she could give him a lock of hair, so that he could use it to fashion 3 gems that would shine of the same light as the trees. Sensing his pride & a shadow that wasn’t exactly belonging to him brewing from within, she refused his request 3 times. He stopped asking and made the gems anyway, managing to complete the task he had set for himself even without her hair. Around these 3 gems, the possession of which became the driving force for many of the great events in the world, entire wars that lasted for centuries exploded, and other events. The gems actively shaped the fate of the races of middle earth to the point that the aforementioned Valar got involved directly. During these times, events surrounding the gems brought about the traditional enmity between Dwarves and Elves... the same enmity that Gimli still feels towards them. That enmity however does not survive his encounter with the wise Galadriel, whom Gimli basically falls platonically in love with. By giving him 3 of her hair, Galadriel is opening a door, offering an olive branch that might one day close the gap that divides these two races. Legolas, himself being an Elven prince and centuries old, knows of the story through his father Thranduil & grandfather Oropher, as it shaped the lives of all Elves, and his subtle smile is possibly the first act of acknowledgment and reconciliation. it is also a way for Peter Jackson, the director of the film, to give a nod to all of the fans who know these facts and backstories... a way to make us feel seen, and to make us appreciate just how deeply the makers of the film respect the books and larger universe created by Tolkien. The thing with the hair may seem weird, but there is a significance to it in real life as well as in the lore of the story. In real life, it was not uncommon for wives, fiancés, or even girlfriends to give their men (who were going off to war), a lock of their hair as a keepsake, particularly in WWI, which Tolkien fought in. The lore part of it comes into play in The Silmarillion, Tolkien's tales of the creation of Arda, the Undying Lands of Valinor, and Middle Earth. Galadriel is many, many thousands of years old, & was born in Valinor before the sun & moon were even created. At the time, the world was lit by two trees, one gold and one silver which would shine at different times from each other, but would shine together once a day when one would fade and the other brighten. Galadriel's hair was said to look like the light of the mingled light from the two trees, which may have inspired Feanor, a master craftsman and heir to the high king of the Ñoldor, to craft the Silmaril's which were three jewels that captured the light of the two trees, one golden light, one silver light, & one co-mingled light. Fëanor had a bit of a thing for Galadriel and begged her for her hair three different times, which she rejected because she could perceive the inner darkness of his heart and rejected him, which made them "un-friends" after that. There is a lot more to the lore than that, so this is the super crib-notes version. But the point is, it was VERY significant that she granted Gimli three of her hairs to a dwarf, when she would not to the son of her king (great uncle) over 20,000 thousand years ago of which she is related to all three kings who were brothers and Elu Thingol of Doriath was one of the brothers that didn’t stay in Valinor even though he was one of the elven ambassadors along with his three brothers and that king I mentioned was VERY close friends with Elu Thingol.)
Elrond Half Elven was one of Two Noble Brothers. The other being Elros, First King of Numenor and forbear by many generations of Aragorn. Elrond chose an Elven life of longevity and Elros chose a mortal (albeit long lived) life, founding a new nation of the Good Men. The faithful remnants' that fought the Final Battle of the previous Age. Middle Earth is a Mythic cycle,
Galadriel’s Gift To Gimli part 2 - ever wondered how old Galadriel is during the War of the Ring? I have looked in many different sources and depending on where you look, she’s anywhere from 17,000-20,000 elf-years old. 6,000 seems too young as it would make her close in age to Elrond, who I know is much younger than her even though he’s 6000-8000 by the third age, which wouldn’t make sense for her at all even if she was (“690 elf-years older” as some kept repeating on the internet making 6960!)As she was around long before Elrond was even born and time was experience differently to say the LEAST as there is a lot to go into on that subject lol.) She was born during the Years of the Trees & back then the years were something like 9X longer than a solar year so I understand the math is hard, especially since she isn’t given an exact birth year. But it is said that Finarfin, her father, was born in Y.T. 1230, so I would assume she was born sometime within 1000 years of then (being generous). Basically, I’m wondering what the most accurate range is for her age during the events of Lord of the Rings. I’ll also add that Galadriel is was around before the ents even existed (of which Treebeard is 15,000 years old so she’s OLDER than Treebeard/Fangorn) or very close to when they were “created” by Yavannah and probably had much knowledge to do with such things and or direct knowledge of what happened. Probably through an early prototype of her mirror or simply another dream that made her long for middle earth all over again ontop of the yearning she already had to go there and explore. Nothing to do with Fëanor’s oath and all that jazz. (So by this current era in HUMAN solar years she’s like. 150,000 to 180,000 years old. Now that makes more sense if she’s going to be older than the sun and moon. Tolkien was always reiterating his manuscripts with the growing scientific discoveries.) though Treebeard/Fangorn in the deeper writings is older than Galadriel as he was one of first brought into life by Yavanna to help protect nature while it was put into enhanced hibernation by Yavanna to protect them from Morgoth’s Ring (the poisoning of the world itself which caused it to bleed its magic away over the ages called The Long Defeat by the elves.) Just going from the Appendices (and maybe Silmarillion) she would have to be at least 9000+ years older than Elrond, Elrond was born near the end of the First Age, Galadriel was adult before the destruction of the Trees. Actually, more than that: I just checked, and the Second Age ended in SA 3441. So an elf born literally at the end of the First Age (FA 590) is 3441+3018 = 6459 years old when Frodo leaves for Rivendell. Elrond was born in FA 532, so adds 58 years to get 6517. Elves are mature at 100, so Galadriel adds at leas 632 to Elrond's age, to be at least 7149, and possibly quite a bit more (as attested by other comments.) One fic had Maglor(Elrond’s Adoptive Father, Maedhros was also adoptive father alongside Maglor, they were the eldest sons of Fëanor) - One fic had as much older than Galadriel; I wondered how we knew, and it was pointed out to me that Maglor was the second oldest son of the first son of Finwë, while Galadriel is the youngest child of the third son of Finwë. So, yeah. Note that the second age was the LONGEST & again time was experienced very differently back then too aside from the internal clock of elves working very differently, she’s definitely older as far as the world and the other beings that age far faster around her. I also remind you all that she’s older than the sun and the moon and witnessed & most likely even helped in the Valar’s crafting what would be the vessels of the last fruit & flower of the two trees of Valinor. She was the most involved with learning everything possible from them and it was stated that she learned all there was to learn from ALL of the Valar that they could teach and she mastered all at a deep level. (Wow hey?) She’s 25th generation from Tata one of the elven forefathers to wake to the stars. Their birth was rather shrouded in mist. Only those of her grandfathers ilk have a chance of knowing the origins a bit better as they are closer to that culture that stemmed from the beginning. The Years of the Trees were the second of the three great time periods in Arda that followed the Years of the Lamps and preceded the Years of the Sun&Moon. They were known to be comprised of several Ages and lasted in total around 1500 Valian Years or 14,373 solar years. Time flowed differently back then and time flowed differently within them too for the elves live as long as the world does. Epic hey?❤❤ The Dúnedain said that Galadriel’s height was two rangar, or "man-high" - some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm). However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair. The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves. Galadriel was said to be the tallest female in Middle Earth, at 6'4”. But then Thingol was the tallest elf ever to live, and he's estimated to be almost 9' (274 cm) Thingol was also a very very prominent figure within the Silmarillion and other books. He’s the great ancestor of Elrond+Arwen and through Aragorn being directly but distantly related to Elronds Twin Brother Elros it makes him loosely connected to Thingol as well. Let’s just say he died a tragic death long long ago. In a continent that doesn’t exist anymore. The events I spoke of in my earlier story of Elrond about his fathers deeds, which lead to the Valar helping with putting a Stop to Morgoth for good so to say and that War Of Wrath lasted 80 years straight and it left the landmass torn asunder from the clash of gods and the holy host of Vanyar elves that were closest to the Valar than all other elves so you can imagine what a bunch of mighty elves men and Maiar fighting a bunch of fowl creatures and beings for 80 years would do to a continent. It all fell into the sea. Galadriel barely made it over the mountain before that part of the story officially broke out.
For movies like this you’re more than allowed to split them into three much larger parts. RichieNicksGeeking provided tips within his LOTR extended scenes video explanations regarding how to avoid LOTR copyright issues.
The voice at the beginning of this film was Galadriel - Older than the sun & moon, learned all from ALL the Valar (beyond angels), that was possible to be taught from them. she always knew there was more to know, to learn and more to create and had a drive to visit the homeland of her forefathers. To the hitherlands. Middle Earth. Where the elves truly were meant to live and mentor mankind for thousands of years so men could be fully ready to take the reigns in being the stewards of the world.
Even better in the extended editions of both one and two! Even better in the books. He’s almost done dirty. Even Aragorn aligns with boromir’s thinking often. And by then did fellowship movie lines up with the book anyway as they planned on splitting up anyway or all going to Minas Tirith anyways!
He’s even better in the books. So much so Aragorn emulates many of his decisions. Even had already planned with hun to go to Minas Tirith and split up anyways. Long story
“There lie woods of Lothlórien! That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people!" - Legolas. "There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. - “The grass in this clearing is as green as Springtime in the Elder Days,” and it seemed to Frodo “he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world.” This is the what the world is like for elves; the flowers and trees, re-enchanted, recall the very real wonder of the world.”
Gandalf says "there are few who can" not there are five who can. I think you went up a false rabbit trail there. Anyway, I liked your reaction, particularly the second part, and I look forward to the next two movies.
“I shall NOT be Dark. (All evil) will despair”, The elves (Galadriel especially is one of the few remaining that existed before the sun & moon. They pre-existed day & night.) How utterly, completely terrifying do you think it would be for your whole world to irrevocably change in a matter of an hour? For the thousands of years of (what you would come to know as twilight to be abruptly ended in a profundity of genuinely painful light and an infinity of colour? Of the joy, wonder and terror of distinguishing the difference between green and blue for the very first time in your whole life?) She is talking about the immediate, majestic sublimity of reality that one experiences in it's totality for the very first time. How on earth could that not be so terrifying as to threaten one's sanity? Galadriel with the ring would be exactly as beautiful and horrifying. I personally would not know whether to weep bitterly and perfectly, or claw my eyes out through the sheer, unutterable terror of her being in such a circumstance. But know this: she was showing Frodo what would happen if someone else got the ring. She wasn’t tempted at all. Gandalf tells. Galadriel shows. See the difference now. Two sides of the same coin. Both were needed. (But yes there was a more fluid beauty full of colour before the rise of the sun. Her uncle, Fingolfin, whilst in middle earth beheld the first rising of the sun and to see this wide field before him in even more definition than before while he was in Middle Earth. This was also the beginning of the dominion of men.) - • “Beautiful & Terrible as the dawn” Galadriel was quite correct to call the morning and night both “beautiful and terrible…”. In truth the physical and metaphysical natures of morning and night were both by turns beautiful and terrible. First the morning. Physically the morning is the result of the golden fruit of Laurëlin, transformed into a vessel by Aulë’s craftsmen, hallowed by Varda and piloted by the fiery Maiarin spirit Arien. The sun was so terrifyingly powerful that its radiance instilled fear even into Melkor’s heart and defied the assault of his minions. She literally gave up her physical form to take her original form and enveloped the sun; becoming its flames we see today. Physically the sun is a beautiful golden orb yet it is simultaneously terrifying in its intensity and cannot be observed directly for more than an instant without pain. Metaphysically the morning is beautiful because it diminishes the evil power of those creatures who haunt the night, gives strength to the righteous and because it illuminates the serene loveliness of Valinor and Middle-earth. Metaphysically the morning is terrible because it obscures the light of the stars and sheds light on the ugly reality of Arda Marred, whose very substance is corrupted by the power of Melkor. Last the night. The night is the Void surrounding the globe of Arda, which existed even before the creation of the Ainur at the beginning of time itself. Physically the beauty of the night lies in the fact . Physically the terror of the night is that it conceals the beauty of Arda and limits the senses of the elves and gives strength to the creatures of evil such as orcs, trolls and the Ringwraiths. Metaphysically the night is beautiful because it is during the hours of darkness that the stars of Varda, the most beloved creations for the elves, shine most brightly. Metaphysically the terror of the night for elves, who are irretrievably bound to the world of Arda, is that the Void represents the interstellar coldness which is the prison of Morgoth. Terrible in its more original archaic form didn’t always mean “bad” (the sun stuff was to move it into a place where Melkor couldn’t go by virtue of how the Valar and Maiar are bound to the world until it’s ending; (which isn’t the true end either. It’s deep stuff. There ends up another song of creation which all kindreds take part in and working with the powers of that long ago past of our world to rebuild everything. Even the Mountains too, healing it after Dagor Dagorath, Also known as the final battle, the worlds ending. Becoming the greater version of the original form before Melkor’s discord into the first music and so forth which dictated eventually what all ended up ensuing when they entered the world the first time which also was interesting because when they entered it after seeing the complete version it hadn’t been done yet so that was millions of years of work which lead to Middle Earth and the other lands being the remnants of it. Including Valinor being the only remnant of an even older world. At that time of building and tending to the world when the world was young.)
The current ages of the characters: Frodo Baggins is 53. Samwise Gamgee is 38. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) is 36. Peregrin Took (Pippin) is 28. Gandalf (Olòrin) - is 15,000 (in his current form. Aragorn is (won’t say, you’ll find out). Legolas is 2,131-2731, still quite young but a prodigy of his time. Gimli is 139. Boromir son of Denethor II is 41! Elves aged differently than men and dwarves. They did not suffer from old age or disease, and their lives were not limited by a fixed number of years. Instead, they aged very slowly, remaining youthful and vigorous for much longer than mortals. Though they could voluntarily leave their bodies and the ultimate thing that can kill them is grief or Sorrow that’s palpable enough for them to just not wish to live anymore. Here are the ages of some of the main Elves of the Third Age, as of the War of the Ring: 1. Elrond Half-elven - over 8,586 while his daughter is around 3000 old! And is said to be the last elf to ever be born upon Arda. Yet again marking the ending of the age of the firstborn (Elves). 2. Galadriel - around 20,000(180.000 in solar human years [1 elf year is one lifetime of man] but time is counted, felt & experienced very differently before the birth of the sun and moon. ❤) 3. Celeborn - 20,000; (he may have been alive before her birth or around the same time as his lineage that he lived amongst his forefathers and kin might suggest he is older but they are both very ancient.) 4. Glorfindel (replaced scenes with Arwen in the movies but it helped prop up Aragorn’s Film character progression. I still think they could have incorporated them both in the scenes somehow and included the other important stuff that went on in that forest meeting Glorfindel and his company of elves)- he’s over 2,000 (although he had been re-embodied after dying in the First Age which means his Fëa {spirit} is far older than 2000.) 5. Thranduil - over 8000, (as he was born in the First Age and lived in Doriath with his father Oropher; Thranduil is also the father of Legolas. (As Haldir mentioned him when speaking to Legolas in Lothlòrien during the first movie’s extended scene. He shares the same kindred elven clan as to Celeborn(Galadriel’s husband). It's worth noting that Elves could choose to die voluntarily, usually when they grew weary of life or when they had fulfilled their purpose in the world. However, their spirits would then depart to the Halls of Mandos and could eventually be re-embodied in a new body I meant to add that Frodo was 51 when he left due to the whole Gandalf coming back to the shire after many years. that explains why his youthful appearance didn’t change much throughout the entire film! - One source is 2931 years old. Legolas was portrayed by Orlando Bloom. In the "official movie guide" for The Lord of the Rings, a birthdate for Legolas is set to 87 of the Third Age. This would make him 2931 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. - Unfortunately, Legolas’ age remains a mystery, which is a shame as Tolkien detailed the age of all the other Fellowship members, and even that of less famous Elves as Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. But we can use various other methods to get the closest estimate! I provide the books used below! There is reason to believe based on what we know about the Elves' life and about his father Thranduil that Legolas may have been very old, just that old, or very young. He may have been as old as the sons of Elrond who were just a century younger than all the 3000 years old Third Age, far older, or younger. His estimated age varies very much. There are several mentions of his father Thranduil in the annals of the Second Age. Although it is said that was his grandfather Thranduil's father Oropher the leader of the Silvan Elves in the Last Alliance, Thranduil is mentioned as one of the princes of Sindar who established realms amid the Silvan Elves before Barad-dûr was founded. 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. We're talking about some 6000 years here, and Thranduil himself was older as he was already a prince of Doriath and Father Oropher was a cousin or nephew of Elu Thingol, King of Doriath (One Of Galadriel’s Uncles). He was very likely born still in Beleriand in the First Age, which was until its destruction the home of the Sindar - Oropher we know for sure came from Doriath. However, even If Thranduil was indeed that old, Legolas was not necessarily a little less ancient. About Elvish fatherhood: But except in the first three generations the begetting of children by Elfmen did not usually follow immediately on attaining “age 24” (though “betrothal” often did, or even “marriage”). It was by degrees postponed, until soon “age 48” became regarded as the optimum age for the beginning of fatherhood, though it was often delayed until 60 (sc. 24 years of growth + 36 life-years). [4] Of course, begetting of further children could happen later than this. It could occur up to about a male age of 96 - later than this age (96) a first-begetting seldom occurred. In 24 years when they reached maturity, the rate was of growth or 12x (288 years). Thranduil may have fathered Legolas when that young (if Legolas was his only and oldest son). But it was usually at 48 which is an additional of 24 life-years of 144x (288+3456 = 3744 years) so Legolas was probably born-depending on Thranduil's and his unknown spouse age- in the end of the Second Age (maybe before) or in the beginning of the Third Age. It is possible though unlikely, however, that he was only some three hundred years younger than his father. Or If Thranduil did delay until 60 (5472 years) as often happened he was born well after the beginning of the Third Age making Legolas younger than the sons of Elrond. It is very unlikely but not impossible that he was younger than that, we know for certain that he was already mature, so at the very least he was 288 years old. To sum up in extremes, Legolas could have been so old as to be born at the end of the First Age or so young as to be only a handful of centuries-old at the end of the Third. The most reasonable estimate is of some 3000 years old, with 2000 years not being unlikely either. Reference to his old age can be seen when he says that the 500 years of Rohan were of little amount for him, and when he refers to Aragorn and Gimli as children. As for his experience, impossible to say as he is an unusual known and mysterious character. But given his age it must have been great. Sources: (1) The Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King (2) The Nature of Middle-earth - we can give a highly educated guess regarding his age. I'm not here to disagree or agree with anyone. He's not ANCIENT. Nor is he young AF. He's a bit younger or older than Arwen. The last of the Eldar to ever be born save maybe the rest of the Avari clan. Hope I made sense and it was enjoyable to read. We can deduce which elves were the last to ever be born upon Arda. Thranduil himself & Celeborn literally lived in Dortiath. Legolas was born near the beginning of the third age or near end of the second age. He's not young. He's around the same age as Elladan and Elrohir.
Extended scenes at risk of being missed: 1• Frodo/Sam's first meeting with the elves, providing context for Valinor and the elves journey there, as referenced throughout the films and seen at the end of the Return of the King(connects to the passing of the elves in the beginning of their leaving the shire when Frodo and Sam are near the Old Forest by the Shire which leads them to eventually bumping into Merry And Pippin! (An epic scene with Gandalf in Rivendell was also removed as well.) 2. Aragorn singing the Lay of Luthien, providing a parallel between the events of the Beren and Luthien and Aragorn's relationship with Arwen of which every reactor channel I’ve seen makes the connection and it pulls them into a deeper understanding of their relationship every single time. 3. Aragorn kneeling at his mother's grave, giving him some additional backstory for the viewer. 4. Gandalf explaining to Frodo about the corruptive power of the Ring, and how it will strain the Fellowship from the inside, foreshadowing Boromir's downfall. 5. Sam singing a lament for Gandalf, providing more emotional weight to Gandalf's death, referencing the start of the movie and strengthening the connection between him and the Hobbits ( also highlights Tolkien's love of song and poetry in the books). 6. Galadriel giving the gifts to the Fellowship, providing context for their appearance in later films, as well as drawing a parallel between Gimli's gift and the events of the Silmarillion (Fëanor & Galadriel). That’s just the beginning. Including several removed scenes between Aragorn & Galadriel and Aragorn with her husband Celeborn! 7• also the opening explaining Hobbits & their culture to the viewers, so they have a better understanding of these peoples we will be following which also was the direct full chapter called Concerning Hobbits.
“I shall NOT be dark, all EVIL will despair” part 2 - All creatures whose flesh are nourished by the matter of Arda have a tendency towards Melkor AKA Morgoth, for greater or lesser. Since Melkor poured his evil power into the very existence and essence of the world(Morgoth’s Ring” book explains a lot including how and when he put a portion of his remaining power into the earth itself. Sure, Galadriel was born in the Undying Lands where there was supposed to be no evil (souls of the Elves are greatly less subject to making faulty decisions), but Galadriel & the rest of her father's kin were directly targeted by the Evil Lord himself. Melkor corrupted a decent portion of the Noldor, basically telling them things along the lines of “My Valarin kin are cooping you all up in Valinor.”, which wasn’t their ancestral homeland to begin with, like Middle Earth was, Some were affected little, most were affected to greater degrees, and Galadriel was the least affected woman by the lies of Melkor, which were “sweet but poisoned honey" as she’d call his words. Her natural pious tendency towards goodness & kindness as shown by her ability to read the hearts of everyone and all living beings around her which aids her to provide what anyone truly needs. Due to the magic bleeding from the world as the ages went on; thanks to Morgoth’s Ring poisoning the earth long ago; lead to a what if scenario in her mind as she’d be the only living creature left with the skills & power to even use the ring. She didn’t need her ring at all to block him out of her realm telepathically as well as read his mind from afar without him knowing. But there is a difference between good people who are a bit morally challenged and the evil people. The evil folk act upon their impulses and unlawful desires, while the good folk overcome such flaws within themselves (and for some not always they can masterfully do this). Galadriel WOULD NEVER listen to Melkor and tread the path of toxic pride and ambition. Galadriel has a Fëa spirit that’s only grown larger as the ages passed on and on. Enough to channel into an effect that threw down fortress walls, without tiring her at all. And with that much Fëa, she is capable of holding her own against Maiar for a good long while, much like her brother Finrod did against Sauron, or her uncle Fëanor did against Balrogs. Fëanor effectively lost all claim to the crown when he rebelled and dragged his entire house to Middle Earth. Where he promptly died a heroic death after slaying several Balrogs at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; The Elves first encountered Lord Of Balrogs named Gothmog in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; (meaning “the battle fought under stars”) before the first rising of the Moon. In that battle, Fëanor's fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard left around him that rushed so deep into enemy territory. Fëanor slayed 2 or 3 balrogs at once & Gothmog slayed him after one bound him suddenly with its primordial flame whip when he was supposed to have an uninterrupted “one on one” duel with Gothmog but one wasn’t wanting to play fair. But he was fatally wounded and so his sons and host moved him away to a safe place where his body burned up from the fires of his own spirit. Even with a lesser ring like Nenya, Galadriel had enough of a boost in her Fëa(spirit) , that she could sustain an unassailable magical realm against Maiar and virtually anything on Middle-Earth. Only problem was when Sauron wore the one ring, she had to take off Nenya, and had to lose that Maia level Fëa spirit from the modernly termed “boosted power up” With the one ring, Galadriel would have such a boost in her Fëa spirit, that she’d literally become stronger than the foundations of the Earth. She never once is called queen or desires to be called such a thing, she and her husband Celeborn became the wiseman and wisewoman of that realm; after the previous elven lord Amroth died, (how he died is shown in a wonderful song by Tolkien that was brought to life by Brociliande) and his wife Nimrodel disappeared ontop of the fact Amroth’s Successor later died as well in the “Last Alliance” where Amdir died, (same battle shown in the prologue to Fellowship Of The Ring), All Evil Despairs at her presence let alone hearing her name on the wind. (They even founded Eregion together. she gracefully left after Annatar>Sauron sowed seeds of rebellion against anyone that had any level of lineage connected to the Noldor.) The Nazgûl themselves avoid her realm every chance they get to the point of choosing to go the long way around for over 100 miles just to avoid her. (So she’s definitely scary to foul entities that have turned away from Eru Îlluvatar the one AllFather.) She’s a totally good character. Aragorn even says to the Fellowship as they enter Lothlórien, “There is in her and this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware!” If you’re going by her portrayal in the movies, you might think she has an evil element to her character, but that came from Peter Jackson’s portrayal of the addictive, coercive power of the Ring. When Frodo offered her the Ring, it presented her with visions of herself as the all-powerful Goddess of Middle-Earth. Luckily, she was smart & intuitive enough to realize that the Ring was totally evil, and despite the best of intentions, it would have turned her evil in the end-but she still would have appeared to be beautiful and good. I don’t agree with Jackson’s “drowned Galadriel” portrayal of her being tempted by the Ring-I think she’d have appeared as a supernatural being of divine beauty, and her regular appearance was close to that already, but how do you show that in a movie? Apparently, in her youth in Valinor, she was somewhat of a rebel, but that’s not necessarily evil. She certainly could have fallen into the same trap as her uncle Fëanor did, of thinking that everyone was entitled to her opinion-but she kept her ego in check. (If you’re not sure what I’m referring to there; please read The Silmarillion and “Unfinished Tales”.) No matter how noble her reason was to use the ring as a last resort, especially if said fellowship fell off the “edge of the knife” as she called it. she had a change of heart which happened in the middle of talking to Frodo. Galadriel left Valinor(The Undying Lands) for a reason - and it was different from most of the other elves. She wasn’t with her uncle Fëanor, who wished to make war against Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils - she was not wishing to go to war, and had no interest in the Silmarils in which Melkor stole from Fëanor which was the surviving light of the two trees of Valinor within them that the only Fëanor; the master of all elven smiths could have accomplished but it could not be done a second time as is any pure creation of one’s heart, especially in regards to the elves and Valar alike. Though she traveled with her other uncle, Fingolfin, her goals were not aligned completely with his either despite her full support of her noble and regal uncle Fingolfin in general. - They both wished to keep an eye on Fëanor and make sure the Noldor were in good hands - Galadriel wasn’t interested in Fëanor and wanted her own realm. After spending some time in Doriath, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn passed to the east out of Beleriand and passed eastward through Eriador and over the Misty Mountains; to where she founded her own realm in what became renamed as Lothlórien. Her motivation and goal was to preserve her realm, possibly at any means necessary. With Sauron’s return in the Third Age, Galadriel was forced to ask herself how far she would go to preserve her realm. If Frodo failed, she must forsake her own ring & her realm. If he succeeds, her ring will lose power and her realm will fade. Would she seize the ring, taking Sauron’s power for her own, to save her realm? She decided she would not. She had decided to “test” the Fellowship, to find some flaw that would allow her to justify seizing the ring, and she did find a flaw - in herself. She stated to Frodo, that by telling her that he would offer her the ring if she asked, that she had come to test his heart, but found that he was testing hers. She had a change of heart, she would pass into the West, and remain Galadriel. Which one is better? Being born completely good and living your whole life without any evil inside, or having a character growth ?
An interesting fact- In the scene where the Uruk-Hai throws Aragorn's dagger at him that dagger was real! The actor was supposed to throw it far to Aragorn's left and a separate scene with him throwing a rubber dagger at Aragorn would be inserted in post production. When the Actor threw the real dagger towards Aragorn , the forehead piece of his makeup/costume slipped over his' eyes and he threw it directly at Viggo! Viggo actually blocked it with his sword.! Peter Jackson was so impressed that they never filmed the rubber dagger scene and used the actual take!
Just a quick warning about the books: it’s written in very old style of English that’s pretty tough to read and he spends a LONG time world building. If you can though, find a version with Peter Tolkiens maps in it, it helps a lot to visualize.
You may want to watch if not react to the making of the movie appendices videos. So much amazing detail and craftsmanship went into them, it was truly a labor of love.
Galadriel's gift to Gimli has deeper meaning behind it, like most things in this movie & reflects the expanded lore of the middle earth universe. She is one of the 2-3 most powerful & wise elves remaining in Middle Earth since the time the land was young. She was born in a place called Valinor, or the Undying land... which is basically the place of residence of the Valar, the local pantheon, the local "gods" as you may call them. (Essentially the land that be untouched by Morgoth and where the holy ones still yet reside.)
Back then, the world was not illuminated by the sun&moon, (only the stars, but rather by 2 trees of gold and silver, Telperion and Laurëlin that lit the world before the sun & moon were born from their last flower & fruit as they were basically killed by Melkor when he struck them with his Lance and Ungoliant the primordial Eldrich Terror vampirized the life force of the two trees. Ungoliant she was named by the Eldar/Elves).
It is said that Galadriel's hair had enmeshed some of the shine and power of those two trees within her tresses. Her uncle Fëanor, who was a great king of the Elven people after his father Finwë was slain by Morgoth(Formally known as Melkor).
Fëanor arguably was their greatest craftsman & warrior to ever live (besides the father of his wife Nerdanel who mentored him since he was born), asked if she could give him a lock of hair, so that he could use it to fashion 3 gems that would shine of the same light as the trees. Sensing his pride & a shadow that wasn’t exactly belonging to him brewing from within, she refused his request 3 times. He stopped asking and made the gems anyway, managing to complete the task he had set for himself even without her hair.
Around these 3 gems, the possession of which became the driving force for many of the great events in the world, entire wars that lasted for centuries exploded, and other events. The gems actively shaped the fate of the races of middle earth to the point that the aforementioned Valar got involved directly. During these times, events surrounding the gems brought about the traditional enmity between Dwarves and Elves... the same enmity that Gimli still feels towards them.
That enmity however does not survive his encounter with the wise Galadriel, whom Gimli basically falls platonically in love with. By giving him 3 of her hair, Galadriel is opening a door, offering an olive branch that might one day close the gap that divides these two races. Legolas, himself being an Elven prince and centuries old, knows of the story through his father Thranduil & grandfather Oropher, as it shaped the lives of all Elves, and his subtle smile is possibly the first act of acknowledgment and reconciliation.
it is also a way for Peter Jackson, the director of the film, to give a nod to all of the fans who know these facts and backstories... a way to make us feel seen, and to make us appreciate just how deeply the makers of the film respect the books and larger universe created by Tolkien.
The thing with the hair may seem weird, but there is a significance to it in real life as well as in the lore of the story. In real life, it was not uncommon for wives, fiancés, or even girlfriends to give their men (who were going off to war), a lock of their hair as a keepsake, particularly in WWI, which Tolkien fought in.
The lore part of it comes into play in The Silmarillion, Tolkien's tales of the creation of Arda, the Undying Lands of Valinor, and Middle Earth. Galadriel is many, many thousands of years old, & was born in Valinor before the sun & moon were even created.
At the time, the world was lit by two trees, one gold and one silver which would shine at different times from each other, but would shine together once a day when one would fade and the other brighten. Galadriel's hair was said to look like the light of the mingled light from the two trees, which may have inspired Feanor, a master craftsman and heir to the high king of the Ñoldor, to craft the Silmaril's which were three jewels that captured the light of the two trees, one golden light, one silver light, & one co-mingled light.
Fëanor had a bit of a thing for Galadriel and begged her for her hair three different times, which she rejected because she could perceive the inner darkness of his heart and rejected him, which made them "un-friends" after that. There is a lot more to the lore than that, so this is the super crib-notes version.
But the point is, it was VERY significant that she granted Gimli three of her hairs to a dwarf, when she would not to the son of her king (great uncle) over 20,000 thousand years ago of which she is related to all three kings who were brothers and Elu Thingol of Doriath was one of the brothers that didn’t stay in Valinor even though he was one of the elven ambassadors along with his three brothers and that king I mentioned was VERY close friends with Elu Thingol.)
They don't mention it in the movie but it was 17 years from when Bilbo left originally to when he and Frodo met again.
Yes. 17 years was how long Frodo waited before leaving the Shire.. after the meeting with Gandalf
@@tonyusa5509and a lot of that and the many details from the books and letters of Tolkien will cover some of the hunt for Gollum films. ❤
This is my favorite movie of my favorite trilogy. I'm glad you liked it.
Fellowship has a very special place in my heart as well ❤
I love it all, obviously :)
Viggo (Aragorn) bought the horse that Arwen's stunt double rode in the chase to Rivendale and gifted it to that stuntwoman!
Loved the rx! Cant wait to see the next 2 films. I think you will enjoy them 😊
Elrond Half Elven was one of Two Noble Brothers. The other being Elros, First King of Numenor and forbear by many generations of Aragorn. Elrond chose an Elven life of longevity and Elros chose a mortal (albeit long lived) life, founding a new nation of the Good Men. The faithful remnants' that fought the Final Battle of the previous Age. Middle Earth is a Mythic cycle,
I’ll tell her all about this in fuller detail in two towers extended edition.
Galadriel’s Gift To Gimli part 2 - ever wondered how old Galadriel is during the War of the Ring? I have looked in many different sources and depending on where you look, she’s anywhere from 17,000-20,000 elf-years old. 6,000 seems too young as it would make her close in age to Elrond, who I know is much younger than her even though he’s 6000-8000 by the third age, which wouldn’t make sense for her at all even if she was (“690 elf-years older” as some kept repeating on the internet making 6960!)As she was around long before Elrond was even born and time was experience differently to say the LEAST as there is a lot to go into on that subject lol.)
She was born during the Years of the Trees & back then the years were something like 9X longer than a solar year so I understand the math is hard, especially since she isn’t given an exact birth year. But it is said that Finarfin, her father, was born in Y.T. 1230, so I would assume she was born sometime within 1000 years of then (being generous).
Basically, I’m wondering what the most accurate range is for her age during the events of Lord of the Rings.
I’ll also add that Galadriel is was around before the ents even existed (of which Treebeard is 15,000 years old so she’s OLDER than Treebeard/Fangorn) or very close to when they were “created” by Yavannah and probably had much knowledge to do with such things and or direct knowledge of what happened.
Probably through an early prototype of her mirror or simply another dream that made her long for middle earth all over again ontop of the yearning she already had to go there and explore. Nothing to do with Fëanor’s oath and all that jazz.
(So by this current era in HUMAN solar years she’s like. 150,000 to 180,000 years old. Now that makes more sense if she’s going to be older than the sun and moon. Tolkien was always reiterating his manuscripts with the growing scientific discoveries.)
though Treebeard/Fangorn in the deeper writings is older than Galadriel as he was one of first brought into life by Yavanna to help protect nature while it was put into enhanced hibernation by Yavanna to protect them from Morgoth’s Ring (the poisoning of the world itself which caused it to bleed its magic away over the ages called The Long Defeat by the elves.)
Just going from the Appendices (and maybe Silmarillion) she would have to be at least 9000+ years older than Elrond, Elrond was born near the end of the First Age, Galadriel was adult before the destruction of the Trees.
Actually, more than that: I just checked, and the Second Age ended in SA 3441. So an elf born literally at the end of the First Age (FA 590) is 3441+3018 = 6459 years old when Frodo leaves for Rivendell.
Elrond was born in FA 532, so adds 58 years to get 6517. Elves are mature at 100, so Galadriel adds at leas 632 to Elrond's age, to be at least 7149, and possibly quite a bit more (as attested by other comments.)
One fic had Maglor(Elrond’s Adoptive Father, Maedhros was also adoptive father alongside Maglor, they were the eldest sons of Fëanor) - One fic had as much older than Galadriel; I wondered how we knew, and it was pointed out to me that Maglor was the second oldest son of the first son of Finwë, while Galadriel is the youngest child of the third son of Finwë. So, yeah.
Note that the second age was the LONGEST & again time was experienced very differently back then too aside from the internal clock of elves working very differently, she’s definitely older as far as the world and the other beings that age far faster around her.
I also remind you all that she’s older than the sun and the moon and witnessed & most likely even helped in the Valar’s crafting what would be the vessels of the last fruit & flower of the two trees of Valinor.
She was the most involved with learning everything possible from them and it was stated that she learned all there was to learn from ALL of the Valar that they could teach and she mastered all at a deep level. (Wow hey?)
She’s 25th generation from Tata one of the elven forefathers to wake to the stars. Their birth was rather shrouded in mist. Only those of her grandfathers ilk have a chance of knowing the origins a bit better as they are closer to that culture that stemmed from the beginning.
The Years of the Trees were the second of the three great time periods in Arda that followed the Years of the Lamps and preceded the Years of the Sun&Moon. They were known to be comprised of several Ages and lasted in total around 1500 Valian Years or 14,373 solar years.
Time flowed differently back then and time flowed differently within them too for the elves live as long as the world does. Epic hey?❤❤
The Dúnedain said that Galadriel’s height was two rangar, or "man-high" - some 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm). However, Galadriel's most striking feature was her beautiful long silver-golden hair.
The Elves of Tirion said it captured the radiance of the Two Trees Laurelin and Telperion themselves. Galadriel was said to be the tallest female in Middle Earth, at 6'4”. But then Thingol was the tallest elf ever to live, and he's estimated to be almost 9' (274 cm)
Thingol was also a very very prominent figure within the Silmarillion and other books. He’s the great ancestor of Elrond+Arwen and through Aragorn being directly but distantly related to Elronds Twin Brother Elros it makes him loosely connected to Thingol as well. Let’s just say he died a tragic death long long ago.
In a continent that doesn’t exist anymore. The events I spoke of in my earlier story of Elrond about his fathers deeds, which lead to the Valar helping with putting a Stop to Morgoth for good so to say and that War Of Wrath lasted 80 years straight and it left the landmass torn asunder from the clash of gods and the holy host of Vanyar elves that were closest to the Valar than all other elves so you can imagine what a bunch of mighty elves men and Maiar fighting a bunch of fowl creatures and beings for 80 years would do to a continent. It all fell into the sea.
Galadriel barely made it over the mountain before that part of the story officially broke out.
For movies like this you’re more than allowed to split them into three much larger parts. RichieNicksGeeking provided tips within his LOTR extended scenes video explanations regarding how to avoid LOTR copyright issues.
The voice at the beginning of this film was Galadriel - Older than the sun & moon, learned all from ALL the Valar (beyond angels), that was possible to be taught from them. she always knew there was more to know, to learn and more to create and had a drive to visit the homeland of her forefathers. To the hitherlands. Middle Earth. Where the elves truly were meant to live and mentor mankind for thousands of years so men could be fully ready to take the reigns in being the stewards of the world.
Poor Boromir. Despite his giving into the temptation of the Ring he fully redeemed himself in death. Tragic Heroism
Even better in the extended editions of both one and two! Even better in the books. He’s almost done dirty. Even Aragorn aligns with boromir’s thinking often. And by then did fellowship movie lines up with the book anyway as they planned on splitting up anyway or all going to Minas Tirith anyways!
He’s even better in the books. So much so Aragorn emulates many of his decisions. Even had already planned with hun to go to Minas Tirith and split up anyways. Long story
You need the extended edition. Over an hours worth of missing content
“There lie woods of Lothlórien! That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people!" - Legolas. "There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold.
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“The grass in this clearing is as green as Springtime in the Elder Days,” and it seemed to Frodo “he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world.” This is the what the world is like for elves; the flowers and trees, re-enchanted, recall the very real wonder of the world.”
Gandalf says "there are few who can" not there are five who can.
I think you went up a false rabbit trail there.
Anyway, I liked your reaction, particularly the second part, and I look forward to the next two movies.
“I shall NOT be Dark. (All evil) will despair”, The elves (Galadriel especially is one of the few remaining that existed before the sun & moon. They pre-existed day & night.) How utterly, completely terrifying do you think it would be for your whole world to irrevocably change in a matter of an hour? For the thousands of years of (what you would come to know as twilight to be abruptly ended in a profundity of genuinely painful light and an infinity of colour? Of the joy, wonder and terror of distinguishing the difference between green and blue for the very first time in your whole life?)
She is talking about the immediate, majestic sublimity of reality that one experiences in it's totality for the very first time. How on earth could that not be so terrifying as to threaten one's sanity?
Galadriel with the ring would be exactly as beautiful and horrifying. I personally would not know whether to weep bitterly and perfectly, or claw my eyes out through the sheer, unutterable terror of her being in such a circumstance.
But know this: she was showing Frodo what would happen if someone else got the ring. She wasn’t tempted at all. Gandalf tells. Galadriel shows. See the difference now. Two sides of the same coin. Both were needed.
(But yes there was a more fluid beauty full of colour before the rise of the sun. Her uncle, Fingolfin, whilst in middle earth beheld the first rising of the sun and to see this wide field before him in even more definition than before while he was in Middle Earth. This was also the beginning of the dominion of men.)
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“Beautiful & Terrible as the dawn” Galadriel was quite correct to call the morning and night both “beautiful and terrible…”. In truth the physical and metaphysical natures of morning and night were both by turns beautiful and terrible.
First the morning. Physically the morning is the result of the golden fruit of Laurëlin, transformed into a vessel by Aulë’s craftsmen, hallowed by Varda and piloted by the fiery Maiarin spirit Arien. The sun was so terrifyingly powerful that its radiance instilled fear even into Melkor’s heart and defied the assault of his minions. She literally gave up her physical form to take her original form and enveloped the sun; becoming its flames we see today.
Physically the sun is a beautiful golden orb yet it is simultaneously terrifying in its intensity and cannot be observed directly for more than an instant without pain. Metaphysically the morning is beautiful because it diminishes the evil power of those creatures who haunt the night, gives strength to the righteous and because it illuminates the serene loveliness of Valinor and Middle-earth. Metaphysically the morning is terrible because it obscures the light of the stars and sheds light on the ugly reality of Arda Marred, whose very substance is corrupted by the power of Melkor.
Last the night. The night is the Void surrounding the globe of Arda, which existed even before the creation of the Ainur at the beginning of time itself. Physically the beauty of the night lies in the fact . Physically the terror of the night is that it conceals the beauty of Arda and limits the senses of the elves and gives strength to the creatures of evil such as orcs, trolls and the Ringwraiths.
Metaphysically the night is beautiful because it is during the hours of darkness that the stars of Varda, the most beloved creations for the elves, shine most brightly. Metaphysically the terror of the night for elves, who are irretrievably bound to the world of Arda, is that the Void represents the interstellar coldness which is the prison of Morgoth.
Terrible in its more original archaic form didn’t always mean “bad”
(the sun stuff was to move it into a place where Melkor couldn’t go by virtue of how the Valar and Maiar are bound to the world until it’s ending; (which isn’t the true end either. It’s deep stuff. There ends up another song of creation which all kindreds take part in and working with the powers of that long ago past of our world to rebuild everything. Even the Mountains too, healing it after Dagor Dagorath, Also known as the final battle, the worlds ending.
Becoming the greater version of the original form before Melkor’s discord into the first music and so forth which dictated eventually what all ended up ensuing when they entered the world the first time which also was interesting because when they entered it after seeing the complete version it hadn’t been done yet so that was millions of years of work which lead to Middle Earth and the other lands being the remnants of it. Including Valinor being the only remnant of an even older world. At that time of building and tending to the world when the world was young.)
The current ages of the characters: Frodo Baggins is 53. Samwise Gamgee is 38. Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) is 36. Peregrin Took (Pippin) is 28. Gandalf (Olòrin) - is 15,000 (in his current form. Aragorn is (won’t say, you’ll find out). Legolas is 2,131-2731, still quite young but a prodigy of his time. Gimli is 139. Boromir son of Denethor II is 41!
Elves aged differently than men and dwarves. They did not suffer from old age or disease, and their lives were not limited by a fixed number of years. Instead, they aged very slowly, remaining youthful and vigorous for much longer than mortals. Though they could voluntarily leave their bodies and the ultimate thing that can kill them is grief or Sorrow that’s palpable enough for them to just not wish to live anymore.
Here are the ages of some of the main Elves of the Third Age, as of the War of the Ring:
1. Elrond Half-elven - over 8,586 while his daughter is around 3000 old! And is said to be the last elf to ever be born upon Arda. Yet again marking the ending of the age of the firstborn (Elves).
2. Galadriel - around 20,000(180.000 in solar human years [1 elf year is one lifetime of man] but time is counted, felt & experienced very differently before the birth of the sun and moon. ❤)
3. Celeborn - 20,000; (he may have been alive before her birth or around the same time as his lineage that he lived amongst his forefathers and kin might suggest he is older but they are both very ancient.)
4. Glorfindel (replaced scenes with Arwen in the movies but it helped prop up Aragorn’s Film character progression. I still think they could have incorporated them both in the scenes somehow and included the other important stuff that went on in that forest meeting Glorfindel and his company of elves)- he’s over 2,000 (although he had been re-embodied after dying in the First Age which means his Fëa {spirit} is far older than 2000.)
5. Thranduil - over 8000, (as he was born in the First Age and lived in Doriath with his father Oropher; Thranduil is also the father of Legolas. (As Haldir mentioned him when speaking to Legolas in Lothlòrien during the first movie’s extended scene. He shares the same kindred elven clan as to Celeborn(Galadriel’s husband).
It's worth noting that Elves could choose to die voluntarily, usually when they grew weary of life or when they had fulfilled their purpose in the world. However, their spirits would then depart to the Halls of Mandos and could eventually be re-embodied in a new
body
I meant to add that Frodo was 51 when he left due to the whole Gandalf coming back to the shire after many years. that explains why his youthful appearance didn’t change much throughout the entire film!
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One source is 2931 years old.
Legolas was portrayed by Orlando Bloom. In the "official movie guide" for The Lord of the Rings, a birthdate for Legolas is set to 87 of the Third Age. This would make him 2931 years old at the time of the War of the Ring.
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Unfortunately, Legolas’ age remains a mystery, which is a shame as Tolkien detailed the age of all the other Fellowship members, and even that of less famous Elves as Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. But we can use various other methods to get the closest estimate! I provide the books used below!
There is reason to believe based on what we know about the Elves' life and about his father Thranduil that Legolas may have been very old, just that old, or very young. He may have been as old as the sons of Elrond who were just a century younger than all the 3000 years old Third Age, far older, or younger.
His estimated age varies very much.
There are several mentions of his father Thranduil in the annals of the Second Age. Although it is said that was his grandfather Thranduil's father Oropher the leader of the Silvan Elves in the Last Alliance, Thranduil is mentioned as one of the princes of Sindar who established realms amid the Silvan Elves before Barad-dûr was founded.
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.
We're talking about some 6000 years here, and Thranduil himself was older as he was already a prince of Doriath and Father Oropher was a cousin or nephew of Elu Thingol, King of Doriath (One Of Galadriel’s Uncles). He was very likely born still in Beleriand in the First Age, which was until its destruction the home of the Sindar - Oropher we know for sure came from Doriath.
However, even If Thranduil was indeed that old, Legolas was not necessarily a little less ancient.
About Elvish fatherhood:
But except in the first three generations the begetting of children by Elfmen did not usually follow immediately on attaining “age 24” (though “betrothal” often did, or even “marriage”). It was by degrees postponed, until soon “age 48” became regarded as the optimum age for the beginning of fatherhood, though it was often delayed until 60 (sc. 24 years of growth + 36 life-years). [4] Of course, begetting of further children could happen later than this. It could occur up to about a male age of 96 - later than this age (96) a first-begetting seldom occurred.
In 24 years when they reached maturity, the rate was of growth or 12x (288 years). Thranduil may have fathered Legolas when that young (if Legolas was his only and oldest son). But it was usually at 48 which is an additional of 24 life-years of 144x (288+3456 = 3744 years) so Legolas was probably born-depending on Thranduil's and his unknown spouse age- in the end of the Second Age (maybe before) or in the beginning of the Third Age.
It is possible though unlikely, however, that he was only some three hundred years younger than his father. Or If Thranduil did delay until 60 (5472 years) as often happened he was born well after the beginning of the Third Age making Legolas younger than the sons of Elrond. It is very unlikely but not impossible that he was younger than that, we know for certain that he was already mature, so at the very least he was 288 years old.
To sum up in extremes, Legolas could have been so old as to be born at the end of the First Age or so young as to be only a handful of centuries-old at the end of the Third. The most reasonable estimate is of some 3000 years old, with 2000 years not being unlikely either. Reference to his old age can be seen when he says that the 500 years of Rohan were of little amount for him, and when he refers to Aragorn and Gimli as children.
As for his experience, impossible to say as he is an unusual known and mysterious character. But given his age it must have been great.
Sources:
(1) The Lord of the Rings. The Return of the King
(2) The Nature of Middle-earth
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we can give a highly educated guess regarding his age. I'm not here to disagree or agree with anyone. He's not ANCIENT. Nor is he young AF.
He's a bit younger or older than
Arwen. The last of the Eldar to ever be born save maybe the rest of the Avari clan.
Hope I made sense and it was enjoyable to read. We can deduce which elves were the last to ever be born upon Arda. Thranduil himself &
Celeborn literally lived in Dortiath.
Legolas was born near the beginning of the third age or near end of the second age. He's not young. He's around the same age as Elladan and Elrohir.
Extended scenes at risk of being missed: 1• Frodo/Sam's first meeting with the elves, providing context for Valinor and the elves journey there, as referenced throughout the films and seen at the end of the Return of the King(connects to the passing of the elves in the beginning of their leaving the shire when Frodo and Sam are near the Old Forest by the Shire which leads them to eventually bumping into Merry And Pippin!
(An epic scene with Gandalf in Rivendell was also removed as well.)
2. Aragorn singing the Lay of Luthien, providing a parallel between the events of the Beren and Luthien and Aragorn's relationship with Arwen of which every reactor channel I’ve seen makes the connection and it pulls them into a deeper understanding of their relationship every single time.
3. Aragorn kneeling at his mother's grave, giving him some additional backstory for the viewer.
4. Gandalf explaining to Frodo about the corruptive power of the Ring, and how it will strain the Fellowship from the inside, foreshadowing Boromir's downfall.
5. Sam singing a lament for Gandalf, providing more emotional weight to Gandalf's death, referencing the start of the movie and strengthening the connection between him and the Hobbits ( also highlights Tolkien's love of song and poetry in the books).
6. Galadriel giving the gifts to the Fellowship, providing context for their appearance in later films, as well as drawing a parallel between Gimli's gift and the events of the Silmarillion (Fëanor & Galadriel).
That’s just the beginning. Including several removed scenes between Aragorn & Galadriel and Aragorn with her husband Celeborn!
7• also the opening explaining Hobbits & their culture to the viewers, so they have a better understanding of these peoples we will be following which also was the direct full chapter called Concerning Hobbits.
“I shall NOT be dark, all EVIL will despair” part 2 - All creatures whose flesh are nourished by the matter of Arda have a tendency towards Melkor AKA Morgoth, for greater or lesser. Since Melkor poured his evil power into the very existence and essence of the world(Morgoth’s Ring” book explains a lot including how and when he put a portion of his remaining power into the earth itself.
Sure, Galadriel was born in the Undying Lands where there was supposed to be no evil (souls of the Elves are greatly less subject to making faulty decisions), but Galadriel & the rest of her father's kin were directly targeted by the Evil Lord himself. Melkor corrupted a decent portion of the Noldor, basically telling them things along the lines of “My Valarin kin are cooping you all up in Valinor.”, which wasn’t their ancestral homeland to begin with, like Middle Earth was, Some were affected little, most were affected to greater degrees, and Galadriel was the least affected woman by the lies of Melkor, which were “sweet but poisoned honey" as she’d call his words.
Her natural pious tendency towards goodness & kindness as shown by her ability to read the hearts of everyone and all living beings around her which aids her to provide what anyone truly needs. Due to the magic bleeding from the world as the ages went on; thanks to Morgoth’s Ring poisoning the earth long ago; lead to a what if scenario in her mind as she’d be the only living creature left with the skills & power to even use the ring.
She didn’t need her ring at all to block him out of her realm telepathically as well as read his mind from afar without him knowing. But there is a difference between good people who are a bit morally challenged and the evil people.
The evil folk act upon their impulses and unlawful desires, while the good folk overcome such flaws within themselves (and for some not always they can masterfully do this). Galadriel WOULD NEVER listen to Melkor and tread the path of toxic pride and ambition.
Galadriel has a Fëa spirit that’s only grown larger as the ages passed on and on. Enough to channel into an effect that threw down fortress walls, without tiring her at all. And with that much Fëa, she is capable of holding her own against Maiar for a good long while, much like her brother Finrod did against Sauron, or her uncle Fëanor did against Balrogs.
Fëanor effectively lost all claim to the crown when he rebelled and dragged his entire house to Middle Earth. Where he promptly died a heroic death after slaying several Balrogs at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; The Elves first encountered Lord Of Balrogs named Gothmog in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath; (meaning “the battle fought under stars”) before the first rising of the Moon.
In that battle, Fëanor's fury had caused him to draw forward of the main force of the Noldor, and so he came upon Gothmog with only a small guard left around him that rushed so deep into enemy territory.
Fëanor slayed 2 or 3 balrogs at once & Gothmog slayed him after one bound him suddenly with its primordial flame whip when he was supposed to have an uninterrupted “one on one” duel with Gothmog but one wasn’t wanting to play fair. But he was fatally wounded and so his sons and host moved him away to a safe place where his body burned up from the fires of his own spirit.
Even with a lesser ring like Nenya, Galadriel had enough of a boost in her Fëa(spirit) , that she could sustain an unassailable magical realm against Maiar and virtually anything on Middle-Earth. Only problem was when Sauron wore the one ring, she had to take off Nenya, and had to lose that Maia level Fëa spirit from the modernly termed “boosted power up”
With the one ring, Galadriel would have such a boost in her Fëa spirit, that she’d literally become stronger than the foundations of the Earth.
She never once is called queen or desires to be called such a thing, she and her husband Celeborn became the wiseman and wisewoman of that realm; after the previous elven lord Amroth died, (how he died is shown in a wonderful song by Tolkien that was brought to life by Brociliande) and his wife Nimrodel disappeared ontop of the fact Amroth’s Successor later died as well in the “Last Alliance” where Amdir died, (same battle shown in the prologue to Fellowship Of The Ring), All Evil Despairs at her presence let alone hearing her name on the wind.
(They even founded Eregion together. she gracefully left after Annatar>Sauron sowed seeds of rebellion against anyone that had any level of lineage connected to the Noldor.)
The Nazgûl themselves avoid her realm every chance they get to the point of choosing to go the long way around for over 100 miles just to avoid her. (So she’s definitely scary to foul entities that have turned away from Eru Îlluvatar the one AllFather.)
She’s a totally good character. Aragorn even says to the Fellowship as they enter Lothlórien, “There is in her and this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware!” If you’re going by her portrayal in the movies, you might think she has an evil element to her character, but that came from Peter Jackson’s portrayal of the addictive, coercive power of the Ring. When Frodo offered her the Ring, it presented her with visions of herself as the all-powerful Goddess of Middle-Earth.
Luckily, she was smart & intuitive enough to realize that the Ring was totally evil, and despite the best of intentions, it would have turned her evil in the end-but she still would have appeared to be beautiful and good. I don’t agree with Jackson’s “drowned Galadriel” portrayal of her being tempted by the Ring-I think she’d have appeared as a supernatural being of divine beauty, and her regular appearance was close to that already, but how do you show that in a movie? Apparently, in her youth in Valinor, she was somewhat of a rebel, but that’s not necessarily evil.
She certainly could have fallen into the same trap as her uncle Fëanor did, of thinking that everyone was entitled to her opinion-but she kept her ego in check. (If you’re not sure what I’m referring to there; please read The Silmarillion and “Unfinished Tales”.)
No matter how noble her reason was to use the ring as a last resort, especially if said fellowship fell off the “edge of the knife” as she called it. she had a change of heart which happened in the middle of talking to Frodo.
Galadriel left Valinor(The Undying Lands) for a reason - and it was different from most of the other elves.
She wasn’t with her uncle Fëanor, who wished to make war against Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils - she was not wishing to go to war, and had no interest in the Silmarils in which Melkor stole from Fëanor which was the surviving light of the two trees of Valinor within them that the only Fëanor; the master of all elven smiths could have accomplished but it could not be done a second time as is any pure creation of one’s heart, especially in regards to the elves and Valar alike.
Though she traveled with her other uncle, Fingolfin, her goals were not aligned completely with his either despite her full support of her noble and regal uncle Fingolfin in general.
- They both wished to keep an eye on Fëanor and make sure the Noldor were in good hands -
Galadriel wasn’t interested in Fëanor and wanted her own realm. After spending some time in Doriath, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn passed to the east out of Beleriand and passed eastward through Eriador and over the Misty Mountains; to where she founded her own realm in what became renamed as Lothlórien. Her motivation and goal was to preserve her realm, possibly at any means necessary.
With Sauron’s return in the Third Age, Galadriel was forced to ask herself how far she would go to preserve her realm. If Frodo failed, she must forsake her own ring & her realm. If he succeeds, her ring will lose power and her realm will fade. Would she seize the ring, taking Sauron’s power for her own, to save her realm? She decided she would not. She had decided to “test” the Fellowship, to find some flaw that would allow her to justify seizing the ring, and she did find a flaw - in herself. She stated to Frodo, that by telling her that he would offer her the ring if she asked, that she had come to test his heart, but found that he was testing hers.
She had a change of heart, she would pass into the West, and remain Galadriel.
Which one is better? Being born completely good and living your whole life without any evil inside, or having a character growth ?
The distance Frodo and Sam walk from the Shire to Mt. Doom is equal to walking from Omaha, Nebraska to Jacksonville, Florida
That's oddly specific, yet appreciated...
An interesting fact- In the scene where the Uruk-Hai throws Aragorn's dagger at him that dagger was real! The actor was supposed to throw it far to Aragorn's left and a separate scene with him throwing a rubber dagger at Aragorn would be inserted in post production. When the Actor threw the real dagger towards Aragorn , the forehead piece of his makeup/costume slipped over his' eyes and he threw it directly at Viggo! Viggo actually blocked it with his sword.! Peter Jackson was so impressed that they never filmed the rubber dagger scene and used the actual take!
Just a quick warning about the books: it’s written in very old style of English that’s pretty tough to read and he spends a LONG time world building. If you can though, find a version with Peter Tolkiens maps in it, it helps a lot to visualize.
Aragorn was ready to relieve a steward of office. lol.
Great reaction!
You may want to watch if not react to the making of the movie appendices videos. So much amazing detail and craftsmanship went into them, it was truly a labor of love.
Flowstate reacts is loving the behind the scenes and posted her reactions to all of it. She should too
Show flowstate some love
8:30 "My security sucks...."
Ned Stark* you mean? Rob was his son :)
Say oh my gosh instead please