As I’ve said multiple times, my favourite character in the entirety of the Third Age is undoubtedly Galadriel, Lady of Light.
Age Born: Years of the Trees
Age: 7000+
Race: Noldor
Family: Finarfin (Father), Celeborn (Spouse), Celebrian (Daughter)
In the Age of the Trees we have her refusing Feanor her hairs, performing incredible athletic feats, and earning the great Quenya name Altariel, in addition to the Telerin Alatariel, meaning ‘maiden crowned by a radiant garland’, as her preferred hairstyle implies. In the First Age we have her going to Ennor, though apart from Feanor’s war. She fights against Morgoth for her own reasons, and proves herself as a much greater warrior than many a man in Feanor’s ranks. Tolkien descibes her as a ‘woman of Amazon disposition’. Amazons were, as you should know, the denizens of Themyscira, a race of warrior women in greek mythology, and of course the inspiration for the DC superhero Wonder Woman. In the Second Age she is married to Celeborn (this event and her voyage to Ennor are highly disputed among scholars, as Tolkien wrote two separate accounts of her story that contradict each other repeatedly, this is merely one account), and joins the Nandor living in the woods of Lothlorien. Finally, in the Third Age she is a ringbearer and great queen of the heart of elvendom in Middle-Earth, Caras Galadhon.
Galadriel, her Sindarin name (translating more directly to Lady of Light, calad + riel), was chosen when she came to Middle-Earth and the High-Elven tongue was banned by Elu Thingol, king of Doriath. She is often known as Galadhriel, which was a Nandorin joke at heart; Lady of the Forest. She is the last elf in Ennor in the Third Age to speak Quenya as a birth tongue; scholars may have spoken it, but it was learned at an older age. Frodo Baggins, for instance, was among them.
Portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the Jackson films, she performed wonderfully, fulfilling the role of Galadriel within the story. Any gripes I may have with her are from the writing. In Rings of Power, however, she was played by Morfydd Clark, and performed stunningly well. The writing was wonderful, and I can say nothing against her, despite my gripes with the show as a whole.
If I haven’t just bored you all to death, I may do other character biographies such as this one at a later date. Enjoy!