I own none of the major characters of this story, nor their universe, all of which are the creations of the illustrious JRR Tolkien. This telling is merely an attempt to savor the beauty.
Thank you to Stormyday, Aratlithiel, Trianne, and M. Sabasky for their insightful beta review and comments.
Note: Sam Gamgee does not appear in the Mirror scene because the focus here is exclusively on Galadriel's encounters with the Ring-bearer.
Sources:
Passages and paraphrases come from the Lorien chapters of Fellowship of the Ring. Glimpses into Galadriel’s ancient past come from The Silmarillian and, to a lesser degree, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth.
'Lothlorien, the hidden land between Celebrant and Anduin, where the trees bore flowers of gold and no Orc or evil thing dared ever come.’
JRRT. The Silmarillian, The Rings of Power and the Third Age.
‘The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company and the Council, and only then in gravest need.’
JRRT. LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring Goes South.
‘Yet even so, as Ring-bearer and as one that has borne it on finger and seen that which is hidden, your sight is grown keener. You have perceived my thought more clearly than many that are accounted wise.’
JRRT. LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mirror of Galadriel, Galadriel to Frodo.
‘[Galadriel] had a marvelous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Feanor. 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. …she longed to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm at her own will.’
JRRT,.quoted by Christopher Tolkien in Unfinished Tales, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn.
‘Her personal ban was lifted, in reward for her services against Sauron. And above all for her rejection of the temptation to take the Ring when offered to her. So at the end we see her taking ship.’
Christopher Tolkien. The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter 297
‘A pity beyond all telling/Is hid in the heart of love.’
The Pity of Love by W.B. Yeats:
Spelling:
Regarding the ‘h’ in Caras Galadhon and Galadhrim, different printings of the LOTR reflect JRRT’s evolving opinion on this matter. The ‘h’ is not present in these words in my volume of the text. At that time, apparently, Tolkien felt the ‘dh’ looked awkward in the Common speech and chose not to use it. Furthermore, notes indicate that Sindarin pronunciation was typically ‘d’, not the High Elven ‘dh’ (th). However, Christopher Tolkien in Unfinished Tales explains that his father reversed his decision in later printings and the ‘dh’ was once again appeared in the text. To align with the later printings, the current spelling in this story includes the ‘h’.
Regarding Halfling/halfling, and the like, the capital initial usually indicates the race or a specific important member of that race (the Halfling appeared before us, eg.). The lower case refers to any/all Halflings. In this story, I tried to match Tolkien’s varied usages as closely as possible.