#ardid

Well, one inspiration for Galadriel as a character seems to be Ayesha, the female protagonist in "She", by H. Rider Haggard. Ayesha is a white woman that lives in Africa. She is a "white queen" in a country that doesn't. She is inmortal too because her knowledge in "magic". Also, there is a chapter in the novel very similar to the scene with Frodo and the mirror of Galadriel. "She" is a white and inmortal queen. With some bad reputation due to her "magical arts" / deep knowledge of Nature... and because she is a woman with power.actions

@ardid

This is not the first time I’ve heard of this. I think when people want to defend claims of an imperialistic narrative regarding Galadriel (or Tolkien as a whole), they need to examine her inspiration.

Tolkien recognised the importance of She to his own fantasy works, especially in its foregrounding of a fictional history and narrative.[100] The figure of She is also considered by many scholars to be a formative influence on Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings – Ayesha's reflecting pool seems to be a direct precursor of Galadriel's mirror.

She is a racist novel, and Ayesha is the inspiration for Galadriel and other Tolkien characters. We need to understand that the parallels of Ayesha presiding over those that are deemed as racially lower are very similar to those of Galadriel and Celeborn ruling over silvan elves, and how problematic this can be when the Silvan are coded as indigenous groups (note i’ll need to add this bit to that meta) , and when in general the Silvan are viewed below the Noldo elves (yes, this applies to the group in Loth Lorien because suddenly they are acceptable when ruled by Galadriel who integrates her Noldor culture into their civilization , but they are not when ruled by Thranduil who integrates himself into their culture). 

Not only that but Galadriel’s entire reason for going to Middle Earth with the intention of ruling lands of her own (not just her, but her brothers as well), is just bratty and textbook imperialism. And Galadriel gets land and a kingdom handed to her. 

Knowing that her counterpart is Ayesha, who’s a character is ridiculously racist itself, while also noting Tolkien’s similarity to Haggard, isn’t surprising.

I think the problem with Thrawn: Treason is that the action take place to close to the end of Rebels and Disney here is keeping its cards with too much zeal. I really enjoyed the irony and the parallelisms between the grallocs and the purrgils and my final “feel” about the novel is that the last part Zahn was dividing the pieces (Faro, Ronan, even Savit!) before the true battle (or story). Despite what I said my personal ranking is Thrawn > Treason > Alliances.

''Por las rojas praderas de sus párpados cerrados huían tres corceles, espoleados por tres lindos muchachos, y el menor de los tres, al viento el oro de sus rizos, le gritaba:

« Hermanita, no olvides el soldadito que tallé para ti. »''

''By the reddened meadows of her closed eyelids, spurred by three handsome young boys, three steeds were fleeing, and the youngest of the boys, whilst the wind was shaking his golden curls, called to her:

“She” is not only a racist novel but a misogynistic one too. The only reason for her evil depiction is her “unnatural” wish of power. Holly, the pov character in the novel, is a very puritan one. The novel itself, “an African adventure”. We can see too how the “beauty” of Ayesha plays a rol in the story (and the beauty ideal always replicate the physical features of those in power). Ayesha is someone that could reverse the power by the subjugation of men. Not only by power but  taking advantage of a weakness.And this, too, links to Daenerys Targaryen in GoT. In the TV show she could "play" to the game of thrones in Essos. But not in Westeros. Because that was the equivalent to reverse "the natural order" of things. There is this "incarnation" of a fear: to be treated in the same way they treated others. The fear that there's only a way the humankid can be ruled. The blindness in the cusp of power. humankind*

@ardid​

It's a very familiar trope in which women with power are seen as evil, and in order to tame them, their power must be removed. And if evil isn't the crux of their loss of agency, it's because they can't handle power.  Tolkien seems to try his best to avoid this in his writing, but his female characters, from a general point of view, can come off as sexist especially due to power.

I mean we have Shelob who is given power and seen as a villain.

Other women put into positions of leadership due to seemingly selfish things, such as Elwing abandoning her people to death by the Feanorians, despite being warned beforehand.

And while there is much controversy regarding Eowyn's choice--and I will say I stand by what she did--in the general scheme of things, stripping the context, women being removed from a "man's world" is an all too familiar trope.

Other women tend to die into the background, powerless, and voiceless. This happens in the case of a lot of wives.

Of course, there are women who aren't like that and who do have their own agency, such as Varda, Galadriel, Melian, and even Luthien. I think in terms of female empowerment, Tolkien is very ahead of his time. He gives diverse roles to women, and though I mentioned the ones above, he equals it with is the treatment of male characters (ie: Dior refuse to hand over the Silmaril, thus knowingly putting his people at stake) . Though in terms of representation, the negative writing of women will always have a harsher impact.

As a woman of color, however, it's hard for me to resonate with the sexism experienced by white coded women in Tolkien's world, or any other world related to it, especially when academic circles will do more to discuss sexism while ignoring blatant racism.

La familia Salazar vende su última joya, el Hotel Velázquez, a los Ardid Martínez-Bordiú

Acuciada por sus deudas, la familia Salazar, antigua propietaria de SOS-Cuétara, lleva tres años deshaciéndose de su vasto patrimonio hotelero e inmobiliario, un emporio cuya última gran joya era el madrileño Gran Hotel Velázquez, establecimiento por el que acaban de recibir una oferta irrechazable. Corporación Hispano Hotelera, sociedad de los Salazar-Bello, ha llegado a un acuerdo con el Grupo…