Galadriel
 

Artist © Ibalissi

Meaning of Name: The Sindarin name Galadriel means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland," referring to Galadriel's beautiful hair. The word galad means "radiant" in Sindarin from gal or kal meaning "shine." The word riel means "garlanded maiden" from the root rig meaning "twine, wreathe." According to one tradition, the name Galadriel was given to her by Celeborn.
Otherwise Known As: Galadhriel, Altáriel, Alatáriel, Artanis (name given to her by her father), Nerwen (name given to her by her mother), 
Titles: Lady of the Golden Wood and the White Lady
Date of Arrival in Middle Earth: beginning of the First Age
Departure from Middle-earth: sailed over the Sea into the West in a white ship on 29 September of the year 3021 of the third age.
Race: Elf, Noldor
Ring: Nenya, The Ring of Water. Nenya was set with a white diamond and its band was made of mithril. Galadriel received Nenya from Celebrimbor when the Three Rings were first hidden in 1693 of the Second Age. She used Nenya to preserve the beauty of the Golden Wood of Lothlorien
Alignment: Good
Physical appearance: Elven lady with golden hair, touched with silver
Spouse: Celeborn
Children: Celebrian
There is some debate that she also had a son, named Amroth, who became King of Lothlorien after Amdir became King when Galadriel and Celeborn left.  This idea was apparantly rejected after the publication of the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.  Amroth's father may have been Amdír, or even possibly Malgalad

Also known as the Lady of the Golden Wood and the White Lady, Galadriel was a Noldor princess born in Valinor in the Ages of Starlight, when the Two Trees still grew.
Her parents were Finarfin, son of Finwe, and Earwen. She was tall and beautiful with the golden hair of her Teleri mother. In the language of Eldamar, she was called Altariel, which translates to Galadriel, meaning ‘lady of light’ in the Sindarin language.
 

They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory.

`Nay, there was no change of counsel,' said the Lady Galadriel speaking for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman's wont.

the Lady Galadriel approaching. Tall and white and fair she walked beneath the trees (Fellowship of the Rings - Mirror of Galadriel)

Galadriel and her brothers came to Middle earth at the beginning of the First Age of the Sun in pursuit of Morgoth and the Silmarils. She lived in Beleriand with her brother Finrod, and often visited the realm of Doriath, where she met and married the Grey-elven prince, Celeborn. Their only child was a daughter named Celebrian, who was later to become the wife of Elrond of Rivendell, and mother of Arwen.

In the Second Age, Galadriel and Celeborn crossed the Misty Mountains from Beleriand, and came to rule in their own Kingdom in the Golden Wood of Lothlorien. Galadriel commanded one of the three Elven Rings of Power, and she used her powers to weave a web of protection and enchantment around Lothlorien.

Galadriel later provided shelter and gifts for the members of the Fellowship of the Ring. She was offered the Ring of Power openly by Frodo Baggins but refused.

     `And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! ' 

     She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad. 

     'I pass the test,' she said. `I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.' (Fellowship of the Rings - Mirror of Galadriel)

The Valar then allowed her to return to Valinor with the rest of her kin. During the war itself, she repelled three attempts of invasion, and used her powers to bring down Dol Guldur, and cleanse Mirkwood. As the war ended, and the Fourth Age of the Sun began, Galadriel sailed to the Undying Lands.

 

Genealogy:

Contributed by Elfy P