Q: How Does the Mirror of Galadriel Work?
ANSWER: This is one of those questions where almost no one is satisfied with the facts because there are so few facts. In my experience most people aren’t even sure of what the “mirror” is, or what it is supposed to look like. I have to admit that I often just skim over the description myself:
‘I am afraid that’s only too true, Sam,’ said Frodo. `Yet I hope very much that before we leave we shall see the Lady of the Elves again.’
Even as he spoke, they saw, as if she came in answer to their words, the Lady Galadriel approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath the trees. She spoke no word, but beckoned to them.
Turning aside, she led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galadhon, and passing through a high green hedge they came into an enclosed garden. No trees grew there, and it lay open to the sky. The evening star had risen and was shining with white fire above the western woods. Down a long flight of steps the Lady went into a deep green hollow, through which ran murmuring the silver stream that issued from the fountain on the hill. At the bottom, upon a low pedestal carved like a branching tree, stood a basin of silver, wide and shallow, and beside it stood a silver ewer.
With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. `Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,’ she said. ‘I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.’
Garden basins are very ancient. They can be made of stone, concrete, or metal.
Without attempting to explain how “magic” is supposed to work outside of Tolkien’s fiction, let me point out that whatever Galadriel was capable of doing was due to the gifts that Ilúvatar bestowed upon her spirit; she was exercising a natural, God-given ability. However, the reader is later shown that Galadriel wears one of the Elven Rings of Power — hence, her natural ability is, presumably, enhanced by the Ring. It is important to distinguish between what Galadriel does (casting a scrying spell) and what enhances Galadriel’s ability (the Ring of Adamant, Nenya).
We know of one other example of this kind of “seeing things far away” from The Lord of the Rings. In the “Tale of Aragorn and Arwen” Tolkien says that when Aragorn was on his journeys she watched over him from afar. Although Tolkien doesn’t describe the method by which she does this, we know that Arwen is using her Elven gift (“magic”) to do so. I think it is reasonable to say that Arwen’s ability was similar to Galadriel’s, although the reader should not assume that Arwen was necessarily using water scrying for such far-seeing. After all, the Palantíri also gave their users the ability to see things far away; so there was clearly more than one way for this to happen (Frodo — while wearing the One Ring — was able to see many things happening far off in Middle-earth when he sat upon the High Seat at Amon Hen).
There is a pattern in Tolkien’s fiction of taking matters from folklore and myth, especially in terms of “magic”, and using them in simple, practical settings where the Elves (or Dwarves or whomever) are just doing things naturally. If, for example, psychic powers (the ability to read minds, or see the future, or communicate with dead spirits) are real human capabilities then they are natural talents similar to talents for singing, imagining stories, and painting wonderful works of art. Tolkien’s fiction merely presumes that the Elves do indeed have these abilities — they are NOT conferred upon their users by external forces (such as demons).
Given all this, the mirror of Galadriel is therefore a medium which she uses to convey the knowledge that her power seeks out. The imagery might only come from Ilúvatar himself for all we know; or it might be that Galadriel’s power reaches out across Middle-earth and gathers sufficient information to compose a vision. That would resemble another gift of the Elves that is mentioned in the “Tale of Aragorn and Arwen”, the gift of Elvish minstrels to create visions.
It is, I think, significant that Tolkien attempts to provide the reader with more than one example of how his magic might be used in Middle-earth so as to say “this is normal; this is something that happens often; it is nothing to be feared”. I think the implied reassurance is meant to distance what Galadriel and the other Elves do from historical witchcraft and occultic practices, which as a devout Catholic Tolkien would have not condoned.
We could say that Tolkien was implying that what witches do by calling upon other powers (as depicted in traditional Judeo-Christian teachings) the Elves were doing of their own natural accord. Hence, whereas a Christian would find witchcraft to be unnatural, the Elvish ability is not so.
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Thank you, Michael, for making the important distinction between occultic demonic powers and natural God-given abilities.
I might suggest too, the difference between what Galadriel does, and Arwen does (and perhaps this power is somewhat given by the ring) is the ability to show non-elven visions.
I think too there is a more random nature in what happens with the Mirror than with Arwen. Consider Arwen is morel like the ability to pick out a single voice she recognizes in a crowded room, while the mirror is more like jumping from conversation to conversation.
Well mirror of Galadriel appears to be able to show things from far away in the present time like palantiri AND just like palantiri see the past (Gandalf wished to use one to look into the really ancient past, seeing Two Trees in flower and Feanor at work learning his secrets 🙂 ), also (and in contrary to seeing stones) it shows the future (or possible futures) like gifts of foresight posessed by many elves or men that allowed to look ahead (other psychic powers also exist in Middle Earth), the elves also appear to be able to exert their will upon forces of nature itself, plants, animals, possibly elements, make enchantments and illusions, craft magical items, even fight with ,,wizardry” (whatever exactly that entails) or enchant places like woods and hills (like those enchanted hills around Gondolin). Galadriel can control the mirror’s vision commanding it to show specific things (and she even sees certain images that appear in it even if she isn’t looking directly) or she can left it on it’s own to show things randomly to the viewer. I once asked what did you think about the reach of elven innate powers, whether they could use their ,,magic”, Songs of Power or enchantments to make some really serious changes in reality, sort of reality warping on low level, if Yavanna was able to sing trees in existance what elves could possibly do with their songs, maybe they were only restriced by the amount of power and imagination, being able to make many untold wonders, Luthien for example was really powerful in this regard but her origin is special, well we actually don’t know the full extent of the magic abilities in the world (those NOT belonging to god-like beings but also gods powers are largely unknown) Witch-king used sorcery to make many things also people could apparently learn it (the black arts like necromancy) what are the limits, would an elf or sorceror or dwarven craftsmen for that matter (as dwarves too seems to posess magical abilities, maybe even applying magic through their ,,runes of power”, ,,the dwarves of yore made mighty spells”, not to mention that Thorin’s company used spells for protection and finding again troll’s hoard hiding spot) manipulate some element like fire (Witch-king made flaming sword so maybe some arts or ,,magical knowledge” existed for those with ability to use it, if Gandalf could learn spells in languages of ,,men and elves and orcs” or study ,,bewitchments with fire and lights” and the longer he lived he perfected his art (with magical fireworks that definitely had more to them than simply chemical substances, the special effects o the same magnitude are impossible to accomplish even for us now), if elves of Mirkwood could make enchantment to put to sleep a person upon entering protected place and lift it from said person at will, what else could they do if put to work with their skills? Some Mirkwood enchantments appear to be able to ward off evil creatures, this lingering good magic in places of their feasts or their paths were repelling giant spiders and the elven territories in forest were healthier and less forbidding, warding off this Shadow that lays on the whole Forest, elven blessing on soil from Galadriel garden spreading through the Shire allowed for famous Year of Plenty to happen, causing incredible increase in fertility and plentity of hobbit’s fields, food of that year was of an unequaled quality (and Gildor Inglorion had fruits better, tastier and larger than from the best tended gardens of men or hobbits so the elven farmers definitely have magical ability to afflict the natural processes of growth just like Entwives who apparently could ,,tell” the plants how they are suppose to grow and master them, male ents also could accelerate growth of trees to some extent and have some other vague magical abilities. As for the notion of magic users working by the power of some other entity, those practicing black arts are in some ways doing it, though they call upon spirits of the dead not necessarily demons but some ,,demon pacts” could possibly happen if sorcerers and necromancers were working not only with their innate skills boosted and handled by lore taught to them, lesser evil Maiar would be those stereothypical demons if some of them survived 🙂 but dead elves too could be a bit malevolent and ,,elvish wights” those posessed by spirit of dead elf would also have access to abilities of said elf in mortal body which is quite disturbing and interesting question. There seems to exist also many places emanating with good or evil power that work upon people that visit them or places haunted where external power left it’s mark on it.