We continue with J.R.R. Tolkien and his marvelous  Legendarium . Let’s take a  look  at  “The Lord of the Rings”  to encourage you to delve deeper and  enjoy  the beauty of his impressive legacy. A whole mythical world, real, desirable, that comforts and illuminates our reality.

In one of his Letters he writes: “Mine is not an ‘imaginary’ world, but an imaginary historical moment in ‘Middle-earth,’ which is the place where we live.” (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Minotauro Edition, Letter 18.)

Frodo, a simple hobbit from the Shire, is on a journey to retrieve the Ring, found by his uncle Bilbo, from the Shire. They pass through  Rivendell , where many encounters take place between characters of various races, including some Elves from ancient Ages. There, the Council of Elrond is convened, and stories from each people are told to consider and deliberate what to do with the Ring. And the Fellowship of the Ring is formed: nine companions for this purpose. They will protect Frodo, the Ring-bearer.

When the time comes, they leave that fascinating place and head south toward Mount Doom, for destroying the One Ring is the only solution. They enter the Forest of Lothlórien, where an elven sorceress is believed to dwell. They proceed with great caution, but are surprised…

This is the realm of  Lord Celeborn and the Lady of the Wood :  Galadriel . Her name means “maiden garlanded with brilliant radiance.” Galadriel is a Noldor Elf, daughter of Finarfin and Eärwen, a protagonist in the Silmarillion, possessing great beauty, wisdom, and power. For the Elves, power means preserving the beauty of the created world and embellishing it.

She was already there, in Middle-earth, with the Firstborn: the Elves, for whom the Valar created the Stars… to illuminate them. Specifically Varda, or Elbereth.

The Professor links the stars and light with hope: “Estel”…

In the First Ages, Galadriel journeys to  Beleriand , though not with Fëanor, the creator of the Silmarillion, and in Thingol’s realm, she meets Celeborn.  They fall in love and marry. And they found the land of Lothlórien, a haven of unspoiled nature, of great beauty, where time passes calmly.

A quote from The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien, Minotaur:

“On two seats leaning against the tree trunk, and under the canopy of a branch, sat Lord Celeborn and Galadriel”…

“They were very tall, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord, and so beautiful and dignified. They were dressed in white, the Lady’s hair was of gold and the Lord Celeborn’s hair was of silver, long and shining; but there was no sign of old age in them, except perhaps in  the depths of their eyes , for these were piercing as lances in starlight and yet deep,  like wells of memory .”

They will be  the Lords of Lothl órien ,  and they will have a daughter: Celebrían, who will marry the knight Elrond, descendant of Beren and Lúthien, the Lord of Rivendell, the last home of the elves, who treasures the wisdom and traditions of his people, around a warm hearth where the fire crackles, and beautiful songs and traditions are heard.

We are now in the  Third Age , in The Lord of the Rings, in the Golden Forest. A quote that immerses us in the atmosphere of the Forest:

“…beautiful and dangerous (is the Golden Forest), but only evil can have any reason to fear it, or those who carry evil within themselves.” That is why some said that a sorceress lived there whom they feared…

Lady Galadriel is one of those who guard an Elven Ring. Hers is  Nenya,  the White Ring or Diamond Ring.  It was forged from mithril by Celebrimbor, and its powers are  protection :  it is able to preserve beautiful things, unblemished, despite the passage of time, and to beautify the world through the works of her hands.

Her power was great, and time seemed to stand still in Lorien as it did elsewhere in Middle-earth. With it, Galadriel maintained  a realm exuberant in beauty, perceived things even from afar, and was able to protect herself from the dark forces  of Sauron, the Dark Lord. And she healed the wounds of time.

After greeting each member of the Fellowship of the Ring individually, and speaking to them in thought, he calls Frodo and leads him to the Mirror, for he considers him wise enough to look into it.

Quote from The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, in Minotauro:

“ Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,”  she said. “I have brought you here to look into, if you wish.” The air was very still and the valley dark, and the Lady was tall and pale.

“What shall we look for and what shall we see?” asked Frodo with awe.

“I can command the mirror to reveal many things,” she replied, “and some I can show you what you wish to see. But the mirror also shows things  that are not asked of it, and  these are often stranger and more profitable than those we wish to see.  What you will see, if you let the mirror be free, I cannot say. For it shows things that were, things that are, and things that perhaps will be. But what it sees, not even the wisest can say. Do you wish to look?”

“Remember that the mirror shows many things, and some have not yet happened. Some will never happen unless those who look at the visions turn away from the path that leads to  preventing them . The mirror is  dangerous as a guide to conduct .”

When Frodo peeks out, a few fragmented things begin to happen. He sees Bilbo, nervously pacing back and forth. He sees something that draws him in, though he doesn’t yet recognize it:  the sea.  He sees  a Western ship  through the wisps of cloud, and  a white city with two towers … another ship, this time at dawn, and finally something dark and empty… and in the distance  an Eye  that grows larger and more glassy, ​​searching back and forth. Then he knows it’s searching for him. He’s frightened and freezes to the spot, but he senses he can’t see him… unless he chooses to reveal himself.

It’s like  a glimpse of what might happen  if the bearer embarks on their journey, their mission, and indeed, many things will happen. There are oppressive moments, and others that break that tension, and Tolkien, “the wizard of words,” as the little book I recommend says, achieves  that hopeful balance , despite the hardships and shadows that loom…

Galadriel knows them all well, and she encourages each member of the Fellowship in whatever they specifically need. She speaks with Aragorn, with Boromir, seeing his heart filled with impatience, with Gimli, tough, strong, and sensitive to beauty… He did not fear pain or darkness, but light and beauty… And he experiences a kind of dazzling light in Lorien.

When the Fellowship of the Ring leaves the forest of Lothlórien, God gives each of them a gift. Something that will help them in their future. To Aragorn, he gives an “elfstone” with healing powers:  Elessar,  whose name will be very significant to him and which he will use in times to come. He will be a healer…

To Frodo, he gives  the light of Eärendil, the most precious Star,  refracted in the mirror and collected in a small crystal vial,  “the starglass!”, with the story it holds from Eärendil. That light will illuminate him in dark and dreadful places, where the heart shrinks, grieves, and is overcome with sorrow…  “A light when all other lights have gone out!”

Light and stars hold significant meaning in his work and life. For example, Tolkien writes in a letter to his wife, Edith, that nothing should prevent them from following the light…  “I firmly believe that no shrinking of the heart, nor any worldly fear, should turn us away from always following the light.”  And this is said by someone who has known death since a very young age…

Eärendil  is another character from the Silmarillion, a descendant of Idril—an Elf—and Tuor—a Man—and therefore half-Elf, half-Man. He ventures across the sea to Valinor to seek forgiveness and aid from the Valar for the despicable deeds of the past of Elves and Men, related to the Silmarillion.

His name means  “lover of the sea”  in Quenya. He learned the art of navigation from Círdan of the Havens, and he intervened in the struggle of the Edain (men) and Elves against the Dark Lord. Eärendil was the one who guarded that Silmaril, sailing the skies in his ship Vingilot, “the Foamflower.”

To give some context, Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, whose name means “star vault,” is the son of Eärendil. In the Council, he recounts that  Eärendil was his father , born in Gondolin before its fall, and that his mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Lúthien of Doriath. His genealogy reaches back to the Elder Days of The Silmarillion. He continues: “I have witnessed three ages in the world of the West, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories.”  

A short excerpt from Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring, Farewell to Lórien, about Eärendil’s gift of light in his farewell to Frodo:

“ And you, Ring-bearer  ,” said the Lady, turning to Frodo, “I come to you last, though you are not last in my thoughts. For you I have prepared this.” She held up  a small crystal flask,  which glittered when she moved it, and rays of light sprang from her hand. “In this flask,” she said, “  I have gathered the light of Eärendil’s star, just as it appeared in the waters of my fountain.  It will shine brightest at night. May it be  a light to you in dark places , when all other lights have faded. Remember Galadriel and the mirror!”

Frodo took the flask, and the light shone between them for a moment, and he saw her again, standing tall like a queen, large and beautiful, but no longer terrible. He bowed, not knowing what to say.

The Lady of the Golden Wood had placed  the light of the Silmaril of Eärendil within that crystal flask to guide the  Ring- bearer  on his journey to the dying lands of Mordor. Later, in Shelob’s lair, steeped in a dense, terrifying darkness, it would aid him in his fight, both in Sam’s attempt to defeat her and in the tower of Cirith Ungol… Its  light  counteracts the power of evil.

However, in her farewell to Frodo , Galadriel tells him: ”  Your arrival in Lothlórien is like a bell announcing the end of time .” This is a reality that our author reiterates often: the mortality of humankind, and the yearning for immortality, to endure, to “remain.” The awareness that time runs out, but also the certainty that humankind is not made to die… 

Because, “whatever fate the war brings us”…  whether Frodo triumphs in his mission,  and the Rings are destroyed,  or he is defeated  by the Dark Lord, sowing hatred everywhere, and the songs and memorable stories worth treasuring and remembering come to an end… time runs out.

Galadriel senses that many of Middle-earth’s beauties and wonders will vanish forever. And she sings the poem Namárië! A farewell.

Tolkien’s “Legendarium” contains many stories. He wanted to tell tales, which unfold from the meaning of words, in which  each reader would use their imagination and “look” as if into a mirror  , seeing what the story suggested to them, according to their own thoughts and experiences, rather than a predetermined or fixed message, as in allegories. As he calls it, it is  personal applicability  , based on the  reader’s freedom.

Galadriel’s mirror and all her mythology are like a “mirror” for each of us, reflecting the beauty of the created world. A reflection of Middle-earth in our world,  illuminating it with its light and beauty,  breaking down the simple White (of Truth) into many shades, “continuing endlessly in living forms  that pass from mind to mind ,” as she says in her poem Mythopoeia.

That pure white of Truth, “refracted” in mythical stories thanks  to the art  of the skilled artist, the “sub-creator,” allows us to glimpse some light and color in our lives. And comfort, and healing…

At the end of the chapter “The Mirror of Galadriel”, there is a dialogue that I recommend you read slowly, and I think it is beautiful to get to know the Lady… who “measures” herself with the power of the Ring.

“I know what you saw at the end, because it’s in my mind too. Don’t be afraid!”

She displays her freedom in the face of this trial. And she will journey west, and she will still be Galadriel…

Wisdom,  humility, simplicity,  beauty, overcoming… And with these qualities,  the Curse of Mandos  that hung over her, and over the Noldor Elves of the line of Fëanor,  is broken : the goldsmith who created the Silmarillion with the primordial light of the trees of Valinor.  The precious jewels for which everything went wrong, when he tried to seize them, forgetting that this light was not his, and dragging all his descendants into a gradual decline and death. 

Applying this text to our own lives, perhaps it could be said that the unique Mirror also shows what one carries  in their head and heart , and what one can achieve with those thoughts, goals, talents, mission, effort and work… The past, the future, all changing with one’s own  freedom  and ability to  fight  for those ideals.

It’s not so much about what one wants to see, but about  glimpsing horizons  and possibilities… Because sometimes we want to see everything, know everything, miss nothing, but often that’s neither necessary nor beneficial. And you can’t force yourself to do what you want…

Let’s focus on what’s important, on what we have to do: on  our mission.  We only have the time necessary for our task: don’t waste it, make the most of it. Thinking about  “what to  do with the time we’ve been given”  is Gandalf’s advice, for he knows how to warm hearts. And what we don’t do with our  freedom,  no one else will…