Was Galadriel Wearing Armor In the Second Age?

 In case you can't tell, I'm really not happy about this upcoming series. When some of the creators say it doesn't matter what Tolkien would have wanted, I see no reason to be hopeful or optimistic, and very little that Amazon has said has swayed my mind. 

Yes, I cringe at the idea of turning Galadriel into a "warrior" instead of a magic-user, and I cringe especially strongly at some of the justification for it. 

First, this lady from Decider has made an explanation for why she's happy to see a warrior Galadriel, and here is the part of her writing that I thought was most key to understanding her position: 

So what do we know for sure about Galadriel in the Second Age? Not much, as Tolkien drafted some contradictory stories in his notes. However, throughout The Silmarillion, Tolkien depicts Galadriel as unique amongst elven women. She is not only name-checked alongside her brothers in accounts of her family’s arduous journey out of the West, across the frigid North into Middle-earth, but Tolkien describes her thusly: “But Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldar to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled in her heart; for she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm at her own will.”

If you take anything from that passage, it’s that Galadriel was ambitious in her youth. She was willing to take risks if it meant great reward. Oh, and she was “the only woman” of her ilk to behave like this. So, yeah, it’s totally conceivable that a younger Galadriel would happily battle her way through Middle-earth in pursuit of some great evil that she believes still lingers. She would probably do it in, I don’t know, proper armor!

Let me start off by commending her. I think she's the only journalist who's cited the books, and not some letter that Tolkien wrote that was only released after his death. So as far as arguments in favor of the show goes, she stands head and shoulders above most of the others. 

However, I too have read The Silmarillion, and I have read and reread everything about Galadriel in that book, so allow me to share my own point of view. 

First off, it is unquestionably true that Galadriel is described alongside her brothers, and described more than most elven ladies in Silmarillion. There is another Noldor lady--Aredhel, Galadriel's cousin, who isn't named in the exit scene but who does come up later in the story (and, by the way, does more in the Silmarillion than Galadriel does)--but yes, Galadriel gets special treatment. By the way, what is this "throughout the Silmarillion" line? I have the Kindle ebook, so I did a search for Galadriel's name. In the second edition of The Silmarillion, her name appears 39 times, including the prologue, the letter at the beginning, the glossary, the epilogue that summarizes what happened in the trilogy, and phrases like "their son Dior Eluchil had to wife Nimloth, kinswoman of Celeborn, prince of Doriath, who was wedded to the Lady Galadriel". For comparison, Melian's name shows up 109 times, and Luthien's 157 times. But let's not get off topic--the point is that Galadriel being shown as special and tall and proud among the princes still doesn't mean she's a warrior. It just means that she's influential among them. It is absolutely possible to influence warriors without being a warrior yourself. 

Same for being ambitious--you can be ambitious and still be a magic-user rather than a warrior. 

As for Galadriel battling evil in armor, why? Why would she probably use armor? She would depend on her magic. And if you think I'm making that up, consider: Luthien went to battle against Sauron with no armor. All she had was her magic cloak woven out of her hair. Or, at another time, when Aredhel was riding to join the sons of Feanor, Eol the dark elf "saw Aredhel Ar-Feiniel as she strayed among the tall trees near the border of Nan Elmoth, a gleam of white in the dim land" (126). Unless the "gleam of white" somehow means armor, it sounds like Aredhel was wearing a white dress while she was going to see the sons of Feanor, and given that "she was never arrayed but in silver and white" (51), it sounds to me like she was wearing a white dress. In other words, the lady elves wore a lot of dresses even when leaving the safety of their cities and traveling abroad and joining the warrior sons of Feanor or combatting Sauron. 

Think of the...

The...

*pauses to facepalm*

Think of the scene from Battle of Five Armies when Galadriel takes on Sauron and the nine Ringwraiths, and while yes, I know fully well that Peter Jackson made that scene and not Tolkien, it clearly demonstrates the power that magic has in a battle. (The rabbits are still stupid and what is with this attempt at making a relationship between Galadriel and Gandalf, yuck!) But if we were to see Galadriel fighting orcs--even in The Silmarillion--there is nothing or no hint to suggest she wouldn't fight as a sorceress. 

(I'm defending that movie. Good grief, I'm actually defending that movie. What is the world coming to...)

One point that I agree with but that is still pointless in the series, though, is this: Galadriel was clearly not always the wise Elven queen that she was in the trilogy. Fair enough. Therefore, the question is when she became the wise Elven queen of the trilogy. The TV series wants to make it be during the Second Age, but I disagree strenuously. I would argue that it most likely happened during The Silmarillion. 

You see, that passage cited in the above article happens early in the story--page 74 in my version--and much of what Galadriel does is later. After crossing into Middle-earth, Galadriel lived in Doriath with Thingol and Melian, and Galadriel spent time with Melian (120-121). Melian even confides in Galadriel when she predicts Beren's coming into Doriath, rather than in her husband (139). Granted, that scene is the last we hear of Galadriel actually doing anything in The Silmarillion besides not returning to Valinor, and I don't know that I would describe her earlier interaction with Melian as particularly penitent, but still, we can see that Galadriel and Melian develop a bond. Galadriel stays with Melian. The Maia. The wise, eternal, Maia. The Maia who gives her counsel to Thingol. 

If I had to guess, I would say that the mentorship from a Maia probably had a pretty big impact on Galadriel's temperament, wouldn't you say? 

Even if it didn't, The Silmarillion is a tragedy of the Noldor, not just a story about defeating evil. The Noldor are clearly culpable for so much of what happened. And, if I'm not much mistaken, Galadriel was stuck in not one, but two of the Noldors' kinslaying, both at Doriath and later at... at... I can't remember what it's called, but it's the place where Elwing ruled and threw herself off the cliff rather than give the Silmaril to the sons of Feanor. My point is, why do we need more to change Galadriel into the wise elf queen that we all recognize from the trilogy? We have enough. The Silmarillion gives plenty of reasons for Galadriel to have grown up and wised up. 

I do have a few more articles about Galadriel that I want to go through, but it's late, tomorrow is Good Friday, and this post is already pretty long. Let me finish up by saying that the article I referenced in this post quoted this article from Vanity Fair, which clarifies my question in my earlier post--which brother? It is indeed going to be Finrod Felagund, the one who died in the saga of Beren and Luthien. I maintain my worry--even if Amazon properly respected the iconic story (and I don't believe for a moment that they do), how can they possibly do it justice without all the rights to the First Age? Even if they're allowed to reference it, what else can they do? I mean, can you make that a focal point of a character and still not develop it fully? I'm... I'm skeptical.