She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 'I pass the test,' she said, 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'
- J.R.R. Tolkien
Lady Galadriel is considered to be one of the most powerful elves ever. This is actually very surprising in a Tolkien book, when you consider how few female characters there are. Then again, of the few female characters in the books, many are strong personalities.
Lady Galadriel plays a long part in the history of MIddle-Earth, having lived there for around 7,000 years. At times, the stories about her and the details they contain conflict or are not quite in line with each other. But when you consider that Tolkien was trying to create an entire mythology, this too is not so surprising. Whether done accidentally or intentionally, the inconsistancies in Lady Galadriel's stories help to give the whole mythology a more realistic existance. Real written history has a hard time not conflicting with itself, so the fact that Tolkien's pretend written history does as well lends itself credit.
In Jackson's version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Lady Galadriel is mostly accurately depicted. Cate Blanchett plays The Lady Galadriel and does a very nice job of it. In the movies, Jackson seems to make an interesting choice in that he has Lady Galadriel's husband playing almost second fiddle. Lord Celeborn seems more of a well-kept house husband than a co-leader of an Elven kingdom.
In the books, Lord Celeborn is more of an equal to his wife, ruling (and fighting) along side his powerful wife.
Some Trivia Details about Lady Galadriel:
Born: Aprox. 1362 - Years of Trees
Father: Finarfin
Mother: Eärwen
Maternal Grandmother: Unknown
Maternal Grandfather: Olwë
Paternal Grandmother: Indis
Paternal Grandfather: Finwë
Number of Brothers: 4 (Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor)
Number of Sisters: 0
Husband: Lord Celeborn (AKA Teleporno)
Married: Near the begining of the First Age
Number of sons: 0
Number of daughters: 1 (Celebrían)
Left for Valinor: 3021 T.A.
Click here to view links to other sites about Lady Galadriel
Click here to read more about Nenya, Lady Galadriel's Ring
Click here for a listing of the Gifts of Galadriel
Click here to read more about why Gimli, a dwarf, fell in love with Galadriel, an elf.