Galadriel and Gandalf: A Not So Romantic Story

Can I complain about something? Ever since the teaser trailer for The Hobbit came out last December, people have been freaking about the scene where Gandalf and Galadriel are standing on some balcony in Rivendell, and Galadriel reaches out and touches Gandalf's hair. The scene can't be more than three seconds long, but people are reading all kinds of innuendo into it.

Gandalf and Galadriel in the Trailer

*Gasp! Is Peter Jackson going to have Gandalf and Galadriel fall in love? That never happens in the book! WHAT CAN HE BE THINKING???

To find out if these two old folks are really about to "share a moment" read on:

For a small sample of the mass hysteria that's hit Hobbit fandom, check out this article from Wired.

Now, if Peter Jackson had filled the original LOTR movies with steamy moments between Frodo and Arwen, or Merry and Eowyn, I might be able to understand the panic that is gripping everyone. But he didn't. In fact, he was remarkably true to the books, in which the characters behave like normal human beings used to before the advent of Hollywood and Soap Operas, when suddenly every relationship had to have a potential sexual side. No really, it's true. Weird as this may sound, good friends in Lord of the Rings actually hug just to show they care. Bizarre. And when people are suffering or worried in the stories, their friends step in and try to comfort them . . . and not the dirty kind of comfort.

Gandalf and Galadriel are thousands of years old and they've known each other for thousands of years. Isn't it possible that they might share a deep bond of friendship? And since neither of them was ever shown to be duplicitous in the slightest, can't we give Ol' PJ the benefit of the doubt and assume that Galadriel might just be trying to help Gandalf through a difficult moment? I would imagine so.

The funny thing is, there was a scene exactly like this in the extended edition of FOTR, and nobody has ever gone all weak-in-the-knees about it. Check it out below:

Galadriel and Aragorn

Remember this part? The Fellowship is about to take off down the river Anduin and Aragorn is feeling some doubts about a lot of different things: the death of Gandalf, his role as future king, his ability to lead the Fellowship and his desires for a future with Arwen. I mean, the guy has a lot on his plate at the moment. And what does that flirt Galadriel do? She actually reaches up and touches his cheek! Gross! He probably got major cooties from that one. What was she thinking? Doesn't she know she's Arwen's grandma??

Just in case you didn't believe that lump of dark hair is Aragorn

There you have it from another angle folks. And come on, all joking aside, there is nothing flirtatious about this moment. Aragorn is down in the dumps and Galadriel is trying to help him out. Thats it.

Plus, has anybody thought through the ramifications of Galadriel and Gandalf going out on the town together? Elrond is married to Galadriel's daughter, Celebrian . . . wouldn't that make all those White Council meetings awkward? Plus, Arwen would have to deal with the emotional damage of watching her grandparents break up . . . not to mention the fact that Gandalf is her betrothed's best friend. And then there's poor Aragorn who'd have to deal with the fact that his best bud, Gandalf, is hooking up with his potential Grandma-in-law. Weird . . .

Clearly, outside of an episode of  Days of Our Lives, the notion of Gandalf and Galadriel being in love is just too silly to even think about. So stop. Now.

Well, that's it for this week.

Next time: Bilbo Baggins, Burglar Extraordinaire

21 comments:

  1. This is too funny! And I agree with every word!

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  2. Yep . . . it is kind of humorous when you start thinking about all the ramifications of old Gandalf and Galadriel stepping out on the town. Makes you wonder just how do these rumors get started?

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  3. Really brilliant! Thanks..

    OK, and thanks to all the ravenous Hobbit fans out there for making me feel better. I'm both a Star Trek fan and a LOTR fan, and now I know that BOTH fan bases can be equally insane. ;-)

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    1. JT>>Yep . . . there are definitely those of us who like LOTR a little too much (myself included). I've only recently started watching a lot of Star Trek (Voyager, at the moment) but I gotta admit, I'm liking that too. Thanks for the comment!

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Thank you for alleviating my fears. I had forgotten about the Aragorn and Galadriel moment. I'm just curious why they decided to put this scene in the trailer when it caused so much controversy.

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    1. good question Michael . . . if I were a betting man, I'd say they included it just to remind people that Galadriel is going to be in the movie. Maybe this is the best scene they could come up with? Or maybe this is the only scene she is in?

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    2. Or maybe the author is still right, but they were counting on people to misinterpret that scene and see the movie because the trailer caused curiosity to fester in them for the past few months

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  6. I still like the idea of Gandalf and Galadriel in love (maybe when Gandalf was young) but I also know that in the books and in the movie they are just old friends, all of them. And also in the movie LOTR there's not a single scene beetween Gandalf and Galadriel, so this is a kinda new thing for LOTR fans. We will see, anyway what's this all about.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Iris. Yeah, the idea of Gandalf and Galadriel in love is an intriguing one . . . the only problem is that (and I'm 99% sure on this but too lazy to actually check) Galadriel was already married to Celeborn by the time Gandalf arrived in Middle-earth. And he (Gandalf) didn't arrive as a younger looking man . . . he was always old looking.

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    2. There is a chance, though, that Galadriel actually knew Gandalf as Olorin (who would probably not have looked like an old man) way back in the West during the time of the Trees. Not that I'm suggesting they had a romance then, but it's feasible they would have known each other even before Gandalf arrived in Middle Earth.

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    3. @Anonymous: You know, that is an intriguing idea . . . I wonder if they did know each other? However, from the little bit of info we have about Olorin, it seems that he was a wanderer who was often away from the central lands of Valinor . . . it may be that their paths still never crossed

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  7. That last big paragraph... just proves that it's destined to happen, somewhere in fanfic land.
    Do you mind if I write that? o-o It sounds /hilarious/.

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    1. Haha . . . you don't need my permission. Go ahead and write it! Just be prepared to deal with a whole mess of angry Tolkien trolls. :)

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  8. Having just seen the movie; I have to say that there was something in that 3 seconds. I'm not saying it was intended, and it might just be actors chemistry; but, there was some kind of something. I know, I know, I'm reading to much into it...but it's not totally unjustified, I have to say. That scene gave me serious flashbacks to the end of the Pelican Brief, when Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington hug...and there is just something in that moment that says "in a different world, they might have been something. It's not a bad thing, but yeah, I definitely got a "we could've been" vibe.

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    1. You know, I didn't catch that at first. But now that you mention it . . . there was something there. Not sure what. It was sneaky enough that it didn't really bug me though.

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    2. I found this blog because I'd pointed this out to the friends I saw the movie with and all but one rubbished the idea. I completely agree, I think Jackson was trying to hint at some kind of history between the two in his interpretation.

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  9. Umm the " Big lump of hair" was Frodo's head not Aagorn's.

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    1. Nope. Watched it again just to make sure. Here's a link to the exact scene . . . the interesting part is at 1:10

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xniB5uL75Ek

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    2. Not to mention the fact that Frodo only comes up to Galadriel's waist . . . how is she looking eye-to-eye with that big lump of Frodo hair?

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  10. Look at the newly released photos though, juuust saying. It looks a little...hmm. Sir Ian Mckellen said on Facebook, CAPTIONING THE PHOTO "Galadriel and Gandalf being affectionate." ????!!!

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