Haladriel really made me dive back into Tolkiens work and today I came across this letter, in which he writes to a friend about his creation, the Elves. He explains, that after Morgoth's defeat, the Valar wanted the Noldor (Galadriel is part of the Noldor) to return to Valinor but some Elves couldn't find it in them to leave middle-earth behind. I always assumed and read in other sources that this decision came from responsibility for the heavily destroyed continent solely but here is Tolkien describing that it came foremost from a lust for power and being on the top of hierarchy in Middle Earth while in Valinor the Elves would have been the least powerful beings!!! I think this is so intriguing for several reasons: 1. A lot of lorebros pretend that Galadriel was supposed to be this saint which of course she never was, even though Tolkien describes her as very compassionate towards others. Therefore they hated the central storyline for Galadriel in rop, namely her desire to rule and have power herself and her temptation. Turns out Tolkien never saw the Noldor as flawless beings. All of their leaders, Thranduil, Gil-Galad and Galadriel, that decided to stay in Middle Earth, also stayed because they wanted to create realms of their own, become rulers and creators as well. 2. I think from this point of view, Haladriel becomes an even more fascinating choice, because Tolkien writes in this letter that the Elves became "sad, embalming the past instead of creating something new." So Galadriels yearning for Sauron/Halbrand as depicted in the show not only is a lust for power and connection, it is a lust for feeling alive, living in the present, being joyful, passionate, young in contrast to the somber melancholy of the past obsessed elves. I think this is beautiful and adds an entirely new aspect to their relationship. Sauron was searching for light and creation and Galadriel was searching for life and creation.
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