I know that Amazon's Rings of Power show is rather... controversial. And while it can't hold a flame to Peter Jackson's incredible trilogies, I do appreciate the fact the Middle-Earth is back and popular again. One thing that really stands out to me about the show, even a year later, is Galadriel. She's the main character of the TV show, and most of the show follows her journey.
But what stood out to me about her was the way in which they chose to portray her. There are many sides to Galadriel, as seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and then again in The Hobbit. She is the grace and light of Valinor, at the same time, she has suffered through unimaginable grief and pain and proves that she is a very capable and strong character.
In the TV show, we first meet her as a warrior, roughened by the wild and wearing armor. But one of the things that I loved from the start was that she still had long pretty hair. Now, think about this, writers! Long pretty hair is not functional or useful for a warrior. Believe me. I speak from experience when I say, having waist length hair can be a pain in the neck. Just imagine fighting with it!
Then later she appears in dresses. Sure, they aren't ultra sparkly or anything. But they are dresses. She has a distinctly feminine flare to her look and dress code, no matter the fact that she's a seasoned warrior as well. I think all too often these days, we get caught up in the 'she's a girl, but she's a fighter' mentality and that makes us believe that she can't like nice things or have long hair or wear a pretty dress and totally rock it. That's just not true.
Your female character might be a fighter. She could be the very best swordswoman there is! But that doesn't mean she has to hate wearing dresses, or lack some sweet, innocent qualities. Feminine strength, I feel, needs to be that of character. I'm totally not saying they can't have muscles, or can't help fight the bad guys, but I am saying that we need to remember that they are still girls.
Take a hint from Galadriel. She loses her brother, but not her principles. She's a warrior, but she also cares. There's a scene in the TV series where she's helping some villagers track down Adar, a remnant of Morgoth's influence in Middle Earth. She's hiding with this boy named Theo. She starts telling him a story, because they're both lost and scared.
The story Galadriel tells is about herself and her husband, Celeborn. She tells Theo that she was dancing in a field of flowers when she met her future husband. Theo is incredulous, as well he might be. He's only ever seen the warrior side of Galadriel.
But what I love about this scene is what it reveals about Galadriel. Her wall cracks a little when she's talking about Celeborn. We come to find out that she's lost her husband (spoiler folks, I don't think he's dead), and that was hard on her. She loved him very much, we can tell, and she's lost so many others she cared about. Those losses have made her into a tough warrior... but haven't made her forget how to be who she is: a daughter of kings. Literally. She has her faults, as we see throughout the series. But she, like any other, loved and lost and grieves her beloved. She didn't just bury the grief deep down and try to forget that Celeborn existed, because she was willing to tell Theo about it even though she didn't know him that well.
In the words of Lemuel in Proverbs 31:25-27, "Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue." Galadriel is a great example of this not just to writers, but to Christian women as well. You can be both strong and feminine at the same time, just as Galadriel was both a warrior... and a loving wife born from a lineage of kings.
Please make sure to drop a comment, as I always love to hear from you! What were your thoughts on this week's post? If you haven't already, you can hop on over to my last post and share what you think would be cool to see more of on the blog! Until next time, Ad Lucem.
-L.E. Levens
This is so encouraging 💗