Meara's stable

[meararochand]

Sauron's letter to Galadriel

[cinematv]

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER (2022 - ) Ep. 208 "Shadow and Flame"

[epicallyepicnerdery]

[meararochand]

The "stab" was not an attempted murder, but a bond tighter than a wedding ring, binding them together until the end of time.

[meararochand]

Interesting rumors on X. Do you think Halbrand/Sauron will be the black rider?

[meararochand]

This video is very great.

[moo1982]

Sauron in love

The telling signs of Sauron's state of mind are given to us when nobody is looking, nobody there to be deceived. Like when he lingers in the illusion he has created for Celebrimbor in episode 2.06, observing two young lovers where the man says to his *blond* elf companion: " I have written a poem but I fear your beauty still overshadows anything I could possibly write ". This was a glimpse into Sauron's internal world, his real feelings for Galadriel and his inner fears. Not only is Galadriel clearly on his mind, but it would even suggest his insecurity in terms of being able to do something worthy of her light (like creating the rings). If only he would tell her, like the guy in his illusion.

P.S. of anyone can find the gif I mean please add it.

[testyqwcde]

*Connection established*

Sauron: Wait! She actually loves me… even knowing who I am?? Galadriel: Wait! He genuinely wanted me… as his Queen??

[90shaladriel]

Haladriel, Romance and Redemption

Recently I've been reading some classic fictional love stories, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte etc... and it's been percolating through my Haladriel obsessed brain filter. (seriously it's been about 3 years and I still haven't gotten over it, although I guess it's harder for me to stay as invested).

One thing I found interesting was in the two love stories that I really enjoyed recently, Lizzie and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice as well as Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre, they both had a romance arc that involved the man doing something quite awful and then having a redemption of sorts. One of the aspects of Haladriel that has fascinated me was after the S1 E8 Reveal, how might Sauron ever get forgiven by Galadriel, even outside of his personal repentance? This was even one of the main themes I tried to explore in my fic A Lord and his Builder. He killed her brother*, took over her mind, impersonated her dead brother and then at least simulated drowning her if not outright tried to drown her in the Glanduin. Season 2 ends even worse with them fighting until he stabs her after causing the destruction of Eregion and killing her friend, Celebrimbor. Ouch!

Is there any onscreen redemption possible now, that we as viewers of Haladriel persuasion might accept?

The Original ETL Ship

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Their love story is an amazing template of the slow burn, originally frosty relationship which over time develops into something that neither of them can ignore or resist despite their pride. The particulars of their relationship don't really resemble Haladriel, although there's some of that in the early season 1 banter.

While reading Pride and Prejudice in recent months I was actually shocked by how terrible Darcy was which I had completely forgotten from the TV adaptations. At first he was aloof and kind of a tool bag, but then their forced proximity in Netherfield and later Hunsford it seemed to me that he was polite and while they had their intellectual debates it always seemed that he respected her wit and there was no animosity just civil disagreements.

It was only after Elizabeth learned from Col. Fitzwilliam that Darcy intentionally separated Bingley from Jane, which was a horrible thing to do, did they really get heated especially with what he said at the failure of a proposal. It does remind a little of Sauron on the raft with how Galadriel totally rejects him when he feels like he's giving her this great opportunity 🤣

I honestly felt when reading that, and remembering the vague outlines of the rest of the story that there is No Way that Darcy could come back from that? Especially after he also personally insulted her and her family. Ok, no one was stabbed and he didn't become physically violent but I think Lizzie would have been totally justified in never giving him a second chance.

So how does he redeem himself?

He comes clean (the letter)

Saves her sister from a scandal, at great personal expense

Treats her family with kindness and respect

Encourages Bingley to take Jane back

Opens up some of his heart to her, Pemberly, Georgiana, etc

None of those really erase the actions he did, and without the tragedy of Lydia & Wickham would Darcy have been given an opportunity to "save the day" and prove his worth to Elizabeth?

What would Sauron's equivalents be? He already saved Gal's life. Perhaps other acts of mercy or kindness (which we know the show probably won't allow him).

Reader, I Married Him

Even more dramatic is the redemption arc (?) of Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. Here is a man who made a questionable choice of marriage partner. Locked his insane wife up in the attic and hid her from the world while he slept around the continent and possibly doing much else. Hopeless, alone and aimless then by chance meets a pretty, young governess and falls in love and feels inspired once again but he is hiding a much darker secret that he can't reveal (hmm, sound familiar?).

It seemed Rochester was so moved by Jane's spirit, her goodness and stubborness (one might say he could see her light when no one else did 😉) that he basically wants to do anything to be with her even though their social standing would prevent it.

But he also lies to Jane's face about the mysterious, violent women he is keeping trapped in his mansion that might have easily harmed her. He even tries to go through with a invalid marriage without telling her ANYTHING and the reveal shatters Jane to her core so much that she runs off and nearly starves herself to death.

We know what happens of course but it's very much in question if he should have ever been forgiven or even if he truly loves Jane or it's all another kind of manipulation, although to me it's pretty clearly implied in the text that he is honest with her in the end and I can see his honest love for her seemed to be genuine and I can understand Jane being touched, especially in contrast to Saint John Rivers.

So how is Rochester redeemed?

Heroically saved staff from the Thornfield fire. At great risk to himself he tried to save his insane wife who started the fire

Despite sleeping around Europe, he did take in and care for Adele even if she may not be his own child

After the fire and his injuries he is humbled and has humility about his own failures and loss of Jane

Her return and his honest and open love of her without any more secrets

Has a cute dog named Pilot!

The whole theme of secrecy, betrayal, redemption fit so well with Sauron's character and how he played Galadriel in season 1 especially. We did not get the redemption arc like this in season 2 though, he basically doubled down.

I do wonder if this setup would be perfect for him being humbled and or possibly physically disfigured after the Fall of Numenor. Wouldn't that be the perfect moment for Galadriel to find a defeated, weakend Sauron who has given up on his plans, for now, would she pity him? If he maybe saves someone from the flood? What if Galadriel is on Numenor when it sinks and he's part of the reason she survives?

For a long time I really didn't see how we might ever see a Sauron & Galadriel could be reunited on screen where they wouldn't be fighting to the death. I'm 99% sure that's all the show runners actually plan to do. But as a Haladriel, I can hold out hope. I think if they wanted to appease us, something like the redemption arcs of either Darcy or Rochester would be plausible if it was seen as genuine and perhaps following other acts of benevolence or kindness which we did see him do in Season 1 so we know he is capable of it. Wishful thinking?

[martanis]

AUTUMN MASTERLIST OF TOLKIEN EVENTS WHICH MAY INCLUDE GALADRIEL AND/OR SAURON.

SEPTEMBER

Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang - Artists and Author sign-ups closed. September 6th reveal day.

Ainur Week - Dedicated to the Ainur, including the Valar and the Maiar. Optional prompts (Day 9: Melkor | Mairon) posted. All fanworks welcome. September 1st–9th.

LOTR Week - Share your love and creativity for The Lord of the Rings. Prompts posted. September 22nd-28th.

Silm Smut Week - Celebrating sexually explicit fanworks based on The Silmarillion! Anything goes. September 29th-October 5th.

OCTOBER

Saurondriel Kinktober - Sauron and Galadriel Kinktober event. Prompts posted. Anything goes! October 1st-31st.

Hellghoul Week - Spooky themed fanworks celebrating the Dark Lord, the Lady of Light, and every incarnation in between. Prompts posted! October 26th–31st 🪦

Tolkien Latin American and Caribbean Week - A week dedicated to celebrating Latin American and Caribbean cultures, peoples and traditions through Tolkien's Legendarium. Optional prompts posted. SFW only. October 6th–October 12th.

Tolkien Horror Week - Celebrating the terrifying and unsettling bits of Tolkien's work. Optional prompts posted. October 26th–November 1st.

NOVEMBER

Tolkien Siblings Week - Any original fanworks welcomed. Optional prompts posted. November 23rd–29th.

DECEMBER

Tolkien Fairytale & Folklore Week - Tolkien-inspired stories through the lens of fairytales, mythology, folklore, and epics. All fanworks and adaptations welcome. December 1st–7th.

CLICK THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION! HAVE FUN CREATING :)

(please let me know if i've missed any)

[sauronsghost]

ive been reading everyone's analysis on saurons crying at killing celebrimbor and it made me think about what he must have been feeling in that moment.

on the surface it reads like frustration; frustration at celebrimbor for defying him, not knowing where the rings are etc. but i started to think more about the origins of those emotions. i do this to myself often because it's a skill i had to learn later in life (iykyk).

having that experience, i found that frustration often rises when our behavior contradicts a core belief we have about ourselves. so, i thought to myself, what are saurons core beliefs about himself? what do we know about him? we know he has the great conviction of wanting to "heal" middle earth and he is convinced that he is the only one who can achieve this. it is, in saurons mind, his sole purpose.

i thought then that it it's contradictory for sauron to side with morgoth. but after looking at it through that lense, it made perfect sense to me. sauron saw morgoth as the closest means to achieving his goals. sauron needed to destroy middle earth in order to "remake it" and he would use morgoth to do that. im not well versed enough in the lore to make more detailed arguments and this may seem unrelated, but this is an important detail.

sauron ultimately sees himself as responsible for the entirety of his reality and future. someone who desperately wants control of everything must believe that it's possible to have control of everything in order to achieve this. he is willing to go so far as to side with morgoth to secure this vast amount of power over other beings. sauron cannot bare the thought of not "doing something" about "it" - "it" being the perfection he saw as so desperately absent and needed in the world.

so, we return to eregion.

sauron has spent every waking moment thinking about what he will do next. he more than likely is going over every possibility in his mind, and working it towards his vision as the "road goes ever winding". but he is getting impatient and everything is starting to crumble around him, literally and metaphoricaly.

i wouldn't be surprised if sauron perhaps truly has come to see celebrimbor as an ally or friend in some ways, as he is most likely someone sauron genuinely admired because of his being a smith as well.

So, when sauron kills celebrimbor out of anger and has him hoisted against that pillar, dead; and gone with him the location of the rings, sauron sees a direct contradiction to a core personal belief he has about himself. the belief going something like this:

>i will be the one to heal middle earth because i am the only one who can heal middle earth.

sauron is confronted with the stark truth that, perhaps, this is a lie he's told himself about himself, to make sense of his desperate need for order and control (and perhaps all the evil he had done under morgoths hand). sauron has suddenly found himself in a place of having to accept that there are some things that are completely out of his control.

and it's maddening. not because he sees himself as a victim in this. oh no. no no no. he may play that part in pursuit of manipulating someone, but sauron ultimately sees himself as being capable of achieving anything he wills to be so. when he doesn't get his way, his frustration and fear boil into anger. we see this when adar betrays, losing his temper after the orcs are hesitant to follow him.

but, here, with celebrimbor, there is no one to threaten or torture or scream at any longer. he doesn't see himself as a victim of the circumstances. sauron sees celebrimbors death as a failure on his part to fulfill his goal and retrieve the location of the nine. this further forces him to confront the reality of having to accept that he is, in fact, a being that can fail.

and it all boils out in a single tear; his inability to will himself to succeed, confronting the reality that he may not be as powerful as he believed himself to be, the loss of a friend/ally - it all becomes too much.

that's why i think sauron cried then. saurons entire identity rests on the belief that he is in control and therefore responsible for everything around him. its like the dark, evil, corrupted version of being a people pleaser. and similarly to being a people pleaser, when you have exhausted yourself to the point of burnout because you believe you're responsible for all outcomes, it will absolutely destroy you. and you become a slave to the will of others who you so desperately want to control. hence, the lord of the rings.

[meararochand]

Invitation to "dance"...

[meararochand]

Was it Galadriel's rejection of Sauron's offer that drove Sauron to his final, self-destructive life in despair?

Celebrimbor had predicted to him before his death that the rings would be his undoing. It was common knowledge that elves always tell the truth before their deaths. So Sauron knew that Celebrimbor had spoken the truth then. Galadriel's light was Sauron's last hope for change, for him to turn to good. Interestingly, in The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel tells Frodo that the Dark Lord is constantly trying to get into her mind. This "constantly" means that he is almost obsessed with trying to connect with Galadriel. At least as obsessed as the one that ties him to the One Ring. Sauron is a sick, lovesick, self-destructive fallen angel. Too bad for him, too bad for them. In another world, they would live happily together in Valinor with Galadriel... Photo: AI

[caraxesluvr]

Pre-orders for The Pages of Lórien, a Galadriel centric zine!

We have officially opened pre-orders for this Galadriel zine that we’ve been working on for the past couple months! It consists of drawings and drabbles of Galadriel throughout the ages.

You can now pre-order in physical form + merch bundles, and buy the digital version, with instant download on Ko-Fi here: https://ko-fi.com/galadrielzine/shop

All profits from this zine will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestine, which has successfully been operating in besieged Gaza and West Bank.

Money handling + shipping will be handled by @anardilyas! We aim to have a transparent process, and will update on how much money we were able to donate.

This zine has also found its way to Morfydd Clark today, and she has expressed her gratitude and excitement towards this initiative! We’re so happy to finally be able to share it with the rest of the community ❤️‍🩹

Visit galadriel zine's Shop!

I've opened a shop. Come take a look!

[testyqwcde]

“When you really love someone, you shine the light of your soul on the beloved. … When the light of the sun catches them, they trustingly open out and give themselves to the new light.” -John O’Donohue

I came across this quote yesterday and realized how perfectly it fits Haladriel.

Galadriel is not a literal source of light, even at her best. Her radiant hair and beautiful face are usually illuminated by the sun or by fire. As for her inner "light", that too is open to question, given some of her actions.

So what is the light that only Sauron sees which is not visible to everyone else?

Undoubtedly, Galadriel was in love with Halbrand and without realizing it, she was casting her light upon him, the light of love and understanding. He, in his vulnerability, was open to receive it. This is why only he could see her light: it was born of a mutual feeling, one that stirred in him the desire to be better. And when that light faded, what lingered was the ache of longing it had left behind.

So, when Charlie says that in future seasons the light Galadriel placed in his heart will slowly fade, it may suggest that his hunger for power and dominion did not arise from nothing. It merely rushed in to fill the void where her light once dwelled, before it was gone.

[meararochand]

I love this video. Dear fellow shippers, I hope you like it too. (Subtitles are also available for the video.)

[ecideras-deactivated20250719]

My heart is breaking as I write these words. It took me a while to find the right way to express myself, because I know that the pain and sadness that touches me so deeply also reaches other people. I'm not alone in feeling this way — and that's why I've chosen to speak out.

A friend of mine, a talented and generous fanfiction writer, was the target of disgusting comments while publishing her stories. Comments that crossed any line of respect or humanity, wishing her to die, to be sexually abused. The violence of these words was such that she decided to stop writing, leaving only the finished fanfics available.

And what angers me the most is that she wasn't the only person to receive comments of this kind. Many other authors within the fandom have faced similar attacks, with absurdly offensive messages, written with the clear aim of alienating these incredible people from a space that they have helped to build with so much affection.

We don't know who writes this kind of thing and perhaps we never will. These people hide under anonymity, like cowards. They know what they're doing is cruel, so they don't show their faces. They feed on hatred and impunity, trying to silence voices that just want to share something beautiful, something they love.

Because of this, many writers are being forced to close the comments section of their fanfics, not because they want to get away from their readers, but because they are trying to protect themselves from the unbearable weight of these attacks.

I hate it all.

And I deeply sympathise with all the authors who have gone through this. I know how painful it is. And I know, above all, that every fanfic published — whether it's big or small, finished or not — is a gift. A gift given voluntarily, with dedication, time and affection. A creation made with love, given to us with generosity.

And I'll end by inviting everyone who reads these stories to leave a loving comment, saying how much they enjoyed them or were moved by them. These authors are giving us their feelings, their creations and their time — and after all, who doesn't like to be thanked for such a special gift? A simple gesture can brighten their day and show that all this affection doesn't go unnoticed.