Galadriel is absent from the Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which makes complete sense, even if it isn’t totally clear why to some viewers. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies were based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s eponymous novel, released in three parts between 1954 and 1955. The landmark fantasy novel took the notion of fairies from fairytales like those of the Brothers Grimm and transposed it onto Elves. Galadriel’s role was key in this changing literary landscape, yet her presence at the Council of Elrond would have changed it.
Adapting a part of the novel per movie, Jackson launched The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, showing Galadriel in all her saintly glory. Cate Blanchett’s haunting Galadriel is achingly flawless, embodying the mystical purity of Tolkien’s character perfectly. Galadriel fluctuates a lot throughout the legendarium, but her symbolism here is as a witch and a Virgin Mary figure, embodying sacred femininity. This plays into her role in the movies and why she isn’t at the council of Elrond in the trilogy’s first venture.
The Council Of Elrond Brought The Fellowship Together By Fate
Elrond’s Council Met By Chance, If Chance You Call It
The participants of the Council of Elrond are coincidentally in Rivendell at the same time in the book, which isn’t clear in the movie. Galadriel wasn’t missing an invite, she just didn’t show up. Meanwhile, Galadriel meets Sauron by chance in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Prime Video’s TV show. This continued Tolkien’s thread of incredibly significant chance meetings but subverted Galadriel’s character somewhat by having her befriend her enemy. Erstwhile, the Galadriel of Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring was subject to no major coincidental run-ins, as per the book.
When the Hobbits are in trouble in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novel, Tom Bombadil is nearby by chance, “if chance you call it“— in Tom’s words. Likewise, Gandalf ᴀsserts that Bilbo finding the ring represented “something else at work” beyond Lord of the Rings’ One Ring. These wise old owls are referring to fate, as dictated by Middle-earth’s God, Eru Ilúvatar. So, Galadriel’s absence at the coincidental Council of Elrond was no coincidence. Legolas was the representative Elf needed in the Fellowship, and Galadriel had to be a mystery at that point.
Galadriel Didn’t Need To Be At The Council Of Elrond
Galadriel’s Role Was Elsewhere In The Lord Of The Rings
Galadriel wasn’t destined to attend the Council of Elrond from a narrative and thematic perspective. The Fellowship is a battle-ready conglomerate representing each of Middle-earth’s key races, making it a diplomatic mission of world leaders as well as a military operation. These were also men’s roles in the world that Tolkien was writing in at the time. Lord of the Rings’ most powerful Elf is probably Galadriel, but her role is domestic in the version of the character explored by Jackson. She fights in the Kinslaying in other versions, but Jackson’s vision is evident.
Jackson chose the Lady of the Wood as his Galadriel, rather than the warrior. She is perfectly beautiful, symbolizing nature itself and the sacred feminine. Often seen in the light of the moon (a female symbol), Jackson’s syncretic vision of Galadriel marries pagan and Christian imagery, sensitively capturing Tolkien’s inner conflict with the character. Galadriel’s powers in Lord of the Rings also let her speak to Elrond telepathically. She didn’t need to attend the Council physically and wasn’t destined to join the Fellowship. Both Virgin Mary and Mother Nature, she is instead meant to show the Fellowship who they really are.
Galadriel Not Being At The Council Works Better For The Story
Galadriel’s Introduction Was One Of The Best Parts Of The Trilogy
Although it may seem as if Galadriel’s input in the Council of Elrond would be logical, given her great experience, wisdom, and royal lineage, it made more sense for the story to keep her wisdom for a later point. Galadriel has been argued to be the embodiment of the anima, the primordial idea that psychologist Carl Jung said exists in all cultures. This fairylike woman shows a man who he is, simultaneously reflecting his expectations of women and his potential to use his feminine side or subvert gender expectations. However, the Fellowship must grow individually before being judged by Galadriel.
In his darkest hour, Frodo dispenses with the male symbol of the sword and fights with the female symbol of the phial.
As the anima guide toward a female vision of nature, Galadriel uses ósanwe (telepathy in Middle-earth) to ᴀssess the Fellowship and gift accordingly when they arrive in Lothlórien. In his darkest hour, Frodo dispenses with the male symbol of the sword and fights with the female symbol of the phial, invoking the name of the highest female Vala, Elbereth, using starlight itself to fight Shelob. Galadriel gifts no-one a sword, but pointedly gives Aragorn a sheath for his sword in the book. With Galadriel’s domestic gifts of rope and soil, Sam rebuilds the Shire.
Sam is only given soil in the book, but still receives his hithlain rope in the movie.
Taught by Yavanna, the female Vala of earth, Galadriel works as a woodland wonder introduced later for both Tolkien and Jackson. Tolkien built the fantasy genre around a hero approaching fulfillment with each section of a quest. Both on the page and screen, dramatic execution of this adventure requires suspense and mystery concerning the next section. Fellowship of the Ring courts this mystery as the Fellowship swaps fireside stories of Galadriel, spouting misguided idealizations that belie insufficiencies in themselves. Finally confronting her (and themselves), they find their impulses tempered and emerge stronger.
