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At the end of the Lord of the Rings, Galadriel hops on a boat and sails away into the West. But wasn't she banned after the kerfuffle caused by Uncle Fëanor?

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3 Answers

up vote 19 down vote accepted

All was forgiven after the War of Wrath and the Noldor were allowed to return. Actually, all the Elves were strongly urged to return, but some chose to stay in Middle Earth. For them, The Straight Path to Valinor was still available for when they chose to leave.

This is explained in the final page of "Akallabêth" in The Silmarillion.

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Actually, when Galadriel refused, she was banned again, but accepted when she resisted the temptation of the Ring. – MadTux Mar 11 at 10:03
up vote 15 down vote

By refusing the One Ring when Frodo offers it to her, and accepting that her own powers will fade, Galadriel proved herself worthy to return to the Undying Lands.

This is not outright stated, but suggested strongly by Galadriel's own words at that time:

I have passed the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.

Tolkien says this in his Letter #320:

Galadriel was a penitent: in her youth a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the Ring for herself.

However, note that the history of Galadriel underwent several revisions in Tolkien's writings; in some of them (but not the one the Silmarillion is based on), Galadriel is entirely innocent of the Kinslaying and goes to Middle-Earth independant of Feanor and the rest of the Noldor; in those versions she did not need an explicit pardon, but stayed in Middle-Earth because she loved Lothlorien too much to leave.

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I think that's misinterpreting her words. Going into the west was always an option, as Ward states in his answer. Other elves have gone on to the west before Galadriel, and others (like her husband Celeborn) went after her. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Dec 27 '12 at 14:18
@Avner Shahar-Kashtan: I believe Ward's statement is wrong, but I'll have to wait till I'm back with my copy of the Silmarillion to confirm. In either case, how else would you interpret "I have passed the test", then? – Michael Borgwardt Dec 27 '12 at 14:40
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She was tested - not by some cosmic test that determines her ability to return West, but just a test of temptation when Frodo offers her the ring. How would you account for every other elf out there returning West through the Grey Havens? – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Dec 27 '12 at 14:45
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@Avner Shahar-Kashtan: Every other elf was not a leader of the Noldor when they defied the will of the Valar and commited the Kinslaying at Alqualondë. – Michael Borgwardt Dec 27 '12 at 15:17
Good point. But see this quote from the very end of "Of The Rings of Power and The Third Age": > "In that time the last of the Noldor set sail from the Havens and left Middle-earth for ever". It implied that all the remaining Noldor, not only Galadriel, left West. Was her test a sort of redemption for all of them? – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Dec 27 '12 at 15:57
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up vote 3 down vote

Her ban was lifted after she refused the ring, before that she was banned by the Valar for her part in the rebellion, but she actually never took part in the kinslaying, it was just her wish for a own realm to rule that she had to overcome in order to return to Valinor.

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What do you base this on? – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Jan 1 at 13:46
...but also her personal ban was lifted, in reward for her services against Sauron, and above all for her rejection of the temptation to take the Ring when offered to her. So at the end we see her taking ship. -297, August 1967 – Steffi Jan 2 at 22:33
also that: the Farewell was addressed direct to Frodo, and was an extempore outpouring in free rhythmic style, reflecting the overwhelming increase in her regret and longing, and her personal despair after she had survived the terrible temptation. [...] In the event it proved that it was Galadriel's abnegation of pride and trust in her own powers, and her absolute refusal of any unlawful enhancement of them, that provided the ship to bear her back to her home. (HME 12:320-21, n.15 to p.299) – Steffi Jan 2 at 22:38
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These are good quotes. They should be part of the answer itself, not in the comments. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Jan 3 at 5:42

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