Sauron vs. Thondir/the Valar
That small voice was not the only time Sauron sang.
Thondir and Sauron would have a contest. From the first yoo-hoo to Galadriel, to the sudden cut-off in the music, there were many instruments and voices competing against one another. Meanwhile, Galadriel was disoriented, one indication being Thondir’s morphed voice, as if Galadriel was underwater. Thondir was one who knew that Galadriel’s obsession was not a good thing. He said anxiously:
“Galadriel. Give me your hand.”
He knew whatever was happening was so dire, he had to guide her by the hand in order to ensure her safety.
That is why he panicked. All others on the boat were immersed in the light, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. In a desperate attempt to save Galadriel from peril, Thondir called her name once more, and was the last to look forward; but his arm was still stretched out to her. All the while, Sauron pulled back on Galadriel. In episode 8, we saw the manifestation of what Sauron was doing to her in that scene. Here is what that would look like:
The music of the boat scene sounded like a version of the contest between Ilúvatar and Melkor in the Ainulindalë. (It is A Shadow of the Past, one might say.) The entire story applies, but for now, we will focus on the end.
Ilúvatar’s music | “Deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came.”
Melkor’s music | “Loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying* upon a few notes. And it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern.”
Ainulindalë
* bray: to speak or laugh loudly and harshly.
Now, let us attempt to break down the scene. It began with the Elves hearing a shared song which Elrond described:
“I hear it said that when you cross over, you hear a song. One whose memory we all carry. And you are immersed in a light more intoxicating than any sensation in all of Middle-earth” (Elrond, 1×01).
Then, just before the “battle” commenced, there was a continuous, confusing stream of voices in the background, as if to clutter Galadriel’s mind.
(I included time stamps from The Boat and the Crater, if you would like to listen along.)
0:55 — [Mélamar, eldamar, kene kala lessen]
Home, Elvenhome, light us-in
1:07 — [Yánalva fanyamar; Yo hapan lirilve]
Our holy place, cloud home and as one we sing, as one
1:20 — [Lennar, tul’valme; Entula lumequentalelmo]
We will come to you; returning upon the hour.
1:58 — [“Mélamar, eldamar, kene kala…”]
Home, Elvenhome, light us-…
2:12 — [“…lessen.”] …-in.
Galadriel looks back at the dagger; Sauron begins tapping into the powers of the unseen world.
2:14 — Finrod: “Do you know why a ship floats…”
2:19 — “…and a stone cannot?”
2:24 — Gil-galad, Elrond, and Celebrimbor witness the Stranger soar across the sky. “Means [Sauron’s] time is near ” (Waldreg, 1×04).
2:49 — Galadriel momentarily snaps out of her trance.
2:52 — Cluttering voices begin and worsen until the end.
2:58 — Sauron calls for Galadriel; Galadriel is immediately pulled back towards the dagger.
3:03 — The battle begins.
3:08 — Thondir: “Galadriel.”
3:25 — “Give me your hand.”
3:36 — Horns blare and drown out Thondir. Galadriel looks back at the dagger, at the sounds of the horns. There is a connection to episode 8:
Sauron: “Galadriel, look at me.”
3:40 — Galadriel: “But sometimes, the lights shine just as brightly reflected in the water as they do in the sky.”
3:44 — Horns fight against strings.
3:46 — “How am I to know which lights to follow?”
3:52 – Finrod: “Sometimes we cannot know until we have touched the darkness.”
[“Etsir…”] Near the…
3:57 — Sauron’s and Galadriel’s ostinatos blend together, accompanying her theme as she chooses to touch the darkness again.
[“…amna, vanyalyë.”] …rivermouth, you depart.
4:08 — Thondir: “Galadriel!”
[“Sirya tumne lisse-…”] Flow deep by your grace.
4:16 — Farewell. (Go towards goodness.)
[“…-lyanen. Namárië!]
4:30 — “In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Ilúvatar shook and a tremor ran out into the silence yet unmoved, Ilúvatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold. Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Ilúvatar, the Music ceased.”
Ainulindalë
(Watch the whole scene, and note Galadriel’s attachment to the dagger in the beginning. Thondir noticed something wrong with the way she cleaved to it, then was relieved when she let it go.)
The pull that Sauron had on Galadriel must have been incredibly powerful in order for her to reject the light of her home, right on its doorstep.
What would he have said to her?
Galadriel was not bound by an oath, as she believed (see Part 2 and Part 3). Episode 8 was not the first time Sauron infiltrated her mind, attempting to convince her to believe something.
Galadriel: “No penance could ever erase the evil you have done.”
Sauron: “That is not what you believe.”
Galadriel: “Do not tell me what I believe!”
Sauron: “No.”
If Sauron was the reason Galadriel leapt from the ship in the way we just outlined, what does that mean for what she told Elrond?
“I leapt from that ship because I believed in my heart I was not yet worthy of it. I knew that somehow, my task here was not yet complete” (1×08).
That may be what Sauron wanted her to believe so he could push her closer to what would get him what he wanted. He knew that what Galadriel needed more than anything was to find him—the evil that had plagued her for so long—and save Middle-earth. He would use her desire to his advantage.
…W.H. Auden wrote an essay on Tolkien, and he said something along the lines of, “Evil loves only itself.” [“Evil, defiantly chosen, can no longer imagine anything but itself.”] So I think in his pitch to Galadriel, it cannot mean that he loves her or that there’s any kind of romantic relationship. There should be no ambiguity around the fact that Sauron is evil—he’s terrible, and he’s using Galadriel to enhance his power.
Charlie Vickers
Utilizing songs of power, with which he defeated her brother in a contest, Sauron called to Galadriel and convinced her to leap from the ship, essentially saying: “You will not be worthy of a glorious rest until you fulfill the task to which you are bound. Find me so that together, we can save this Middle-earth.”
Fortunately, he could never force Galadriel to do anything. She chose to jump ship and pursue him, just as she chose to deny him on the raft in the vision. Although she must face consequences, her gaze was always upward. In addition, Ilúvatar said this after his contest with Melkor:
“And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”
Ainulindalë
