Also known as: Lady Of Light, Lady Of Lorien, Artanis, Nerwen, Alatariel
Galadriel is one of the oldest and most powerful Elves remaining in Middle-earth during the Third Age. Born in Valinor during the Years of the Trees, she is of the Noldor, the daughter of Finarfin and Earwen of the Teleri, and thus of royal blood on both sides. She is said to be the greatest of the Noldor save Feanor alone, and indeed the two were rivals: Feanor asked three times for a strand of her golden hair (which was said to have captured the light of the Two Trees) and three times she refused him.
Galadriel was among the Noldor who rebelled against the Valar and returned to Middle-earth, driven not by Feanor's oath but by her own desire to rule a realm of her own in the wide lands. Through the long ages, she dwelt in many places, including Doriath (where she learned from Melian), Eregion, and at last in Lothlorien, where she and her husband Celeborn established the fairest Elven realm remaining in Middle-earth. She bore one of the Three Elven Rings, Nenya, the Ring of Water, with which she preserved Lothlorien from the decay of time. When Frodo offered her the One Ring, she faced her greatest temptation and refused it, passing her test and choosing to diminish and go into the West. She departed Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age from the Grey Havens, her long exile at last forgiven by the Valar.