May 25, 2002

Thoughts on Lothlorien, Gandalf, etc...
Turgon

I read these letters each day with interest, and hope that I may have something to add. When one examines the time spent by the Fellowship in Lothlorien, there are many things to remember. Galadriel wields one of the three great Elven rings here. When the borders of Lothlorien are crossed, the Fellowship steps from under the sun of the Third Age, and into a time long past. Indeed the Hobbits lose all track of time in Lothlorien. They actually spend a month there. We see only small snippets of this..maybe parts of three days...the first meeting with Galadriel and Celeborn, Galadriels Mirror, and the parting of the Fellowship from Lorien. As for the darkness, do not forget that we are again looking back, thanks to the power of Galadriel's Ring, to maybe a time approximating the life among the Elves in the First Age of Middle Earth. The sun did not rise over Middle Earth until well into the First Age, as an aide to the exiled Elves, and a threat to Morgoth. Galadriel ( and Celeborn especially) would be quite at home in the starlit night.