Chapter Two: The So-Called “Gifts” of Galadriel
“Awaken! Middle Earth is in need of you, warriors!”
Somehow, these words did not
evoke the expected response in the groggy, twenty-first century teenager. Rather than cause her
to leap to her feet, instantly awake, the words caused her to begin wondering
exactly what her popcorn had been spiked with.
Slowly, as if through a cloud, Cammy fought her way back to
consciousness.
When her eyes opened and
took in the scene around her, she nearly fainted again.
She lay on a floor of what
appeared to be marble, though it glowed from within like no marble she had ever
seen. The smooth floor spread out in all
directions, until, at the far edge of her vision, it met the watery-looking
expanse that stretched above her head.
“It’s like being inside a
glow-in-the dark fishbowl.” As usual, it
was Kathryn’s voice that rang out first.
Not daring to move her stiff
body, Cammy merely rolled her head to one side.
To her immense relief, Kathryn lay a few feet to her left, seemingly
unscathed. “Kat, I’m glad you’re with
me.”
Kathryn grinned, instantly
recognizing the quote.*
“What about me?” a familiar
voice protested good-naturedly. Anne lay
several feet to Cammy’s right. “Well?”
she asked. “Aren’t you glad I’m here,
too?”
A voice interrupted the
girls’ response - a voice that seemed both hauntingly familiar and decidedly
alien. “Welcome, warriors, to the
Mirror,” it said.
All three girls sat up
instantly, startled by the abrupt appearance of the figure who had spoken - the
same white-robed woman who had startled them in the movie theatre.
“I have got to be
hallucinating,”
Kathryn stated firmly.
“I think somebody spiked our
popcorn,” Cammy informed her.
Anne’s eyes remained fixed
on the figure before her. “Who are you,
and what is this ‘Mirror‘?”
The white-garbed woman
cocked her head slightly, clearly confused.
“You are each familiar with Middle Earth, and yet you do not recognize
me? I am Galadriel, Lady of Lothlórien. The Mirror is this place where you now
are. It is my Mirror, through which I
see many mysterious things.”
“We are in Galadriel’s mirror?” Cammy repeated, disbelieving, under her
breath.
“The time for questions and
doubts has passed,” Galadriel continued.
“The three of you who sit before me have been appointed a great
task. As you saw in your own world, some
being of evil attempted to destroy the movie The Fellowship of the Ring. I managed to repair much of the damage, but
much that once was has been lost. The
movie is no longer pure; many other movies have now been mixed with it. None of the inhabitants remain wholly intact,
save me. Four of Middle Earth’s greatest
heroes - Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli, son of Glóin, and
Arwen Evenstar - have completely vanished.”
“That basically scraps the
movie!” Kathryn exclaimed.
“Yet, hope remains.” Galadriel went on as if she had not been
interrupted. “You three who sit before
me must take their place and take up their quest - to escort the Ringbearer to
the
“Wait just a second!” Anne
broke in. “You keep saying that we must
do these things. Don’t we get a choice?”
Galadriel looked away for a
moment. “You three were chosen for this
task. I fear I lack the strength to
return you to your world, even if you were to reject your quest.”
“If one of the most powerful
elves in Middle Earth can’t send us home, how are we supposed to get home at
all?” Panic rose in Kathryn’s mind even
as she asked this.
“There is only one way for
you to return,” Galadriel replied calmly.
“You must complete the task set before you and thwart the plans of the
one who has destroyed the movie.”
“And if we can’t?” Kathryn
insisted.
Anne cut off both
Galadriel’s reply and the end of Kathryn‘s question. “I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong
three people. The three of us are a lot
of things, but we certainly are not
warriors!” Cammy and Kathryn vigorously
nodded their agreement with this statement.
“The strength of a warrior
is not found in his skill at arms; it is found in his heart.” Galadriel gave each girl a soul-piercing
look. “...or her heart.”
The three girls stood and
formed a huddle several feet away from the elf.
“This is insane!” Cammy
exclaimed immediately.
“I think we should do it,”
Kathryn told her.
“I take it back - you’re insane,” Cammy amended.
“Hang on,” Anne broke
in. “Galadriel said that she can’t send
us back home, but she also said we could get home if we make it through the
whole movie.”
“But, how are we supposed to
get through this entire movie when half the characters are missing and the
other half are messed up? And how does
Galadriel know about movies and stuff, anyways?” Cammy asked.
“Galadriel knows
everything,” Kathryn replied. “But I see
your point about the characters.”
“Look, if we play along with
this so-called ‘quest,’ we’ll be heading right for our only chance at getting
home!” Anne’s eyes were alight with
newfound enthusiasm.
“We could always just find a
pair of ruby slippers,” Kathryn commented, attempting to lighten the mood. The other two simply glared at her. “Never mind, then.”
“I say we go for it,” said
Anne. “After all, what’s the worst thing
that could happen?”
“We could be killed by
Uruk-hai, turned into wraiths, thrown into the abyss with the Balrog...”
Kathryn listed helpfully.
“Let’s vote.” Anne cut Kathryn’s list off before it got any
scarier. “I’m in.”
“I already told you I’m in,
too,” Kathryn replied.
Cammy’s eyes flitted from
one to the other, as her heart debated with itself. Finally she sighed. “Well, I certainly can’t let the two of you
go off on an adventure and leave me here, now can I?” A smirk creasing her face, she extended her arm, fist clenched as if it held a sword. “All for one...”
“...and
one for all!” Anne and Kathryn
replied in unison, crossing their invisible blades with Cammy’s in a replica of
the famous pose of the Three Musketeers.
As one, the three girls
turned to face Galadriel.
“What must we do?” Kathryn
asked, deftly quoting the movie.**
Galadriel smiled graciously
at them. “Your task shall not be a
simple one.”
“Of course not,” Cammy
muttered under her breath.
Galadriel continued,
oblivious to the comment. “I cannot
foresee everything that will happen to you, as the course of the movie has been
interrupted. However, you should expect
to face many of the challenges contained within the movie.”
“My lady,” Anne asked, “how
are we to triumph over those challenges that test our skills in battle, as we
have never been trained as warriors?”
Shock slackened Cammy’s
jaw. “She’s starting to talk like a
Middle-Earther!” she exclaimed thoughtfully.
Then, even softer, “Is ‘Middle-Earther’ even a word?”
Galadriel‘s sharp ears did
not seem to pick up the question. “I
shall gift you with weapons that shall transform you into as much a warrior in
arms as you are a warrior of heart.” She
raised a warning finger. “Beware, for,
if your heart becomes weak, your skills shall also weaken. Now, come.”
Galadriel stepped into a copse of trees, which seemed very out of place
inside a mirror, and seemingly vanished.
One by one, Anne, Kathryn,
and Cammy drove down the sudden rush of terror that threatened to consume them,
dragged all their courage to the fore, and strode into the trees.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Within a copse of trees,
inside Galadriel‘s Mirror, three teenaged girls stood shoulder to
shoulder. Iron determination evidenced
itself in the ramrod-straight posture of three sets of shoulders, while
nervousness flickered in three pairs of rapidly roving eyes. Three pairs of feet were planted solidly on
the marble floor in a show of courage, yet three sets of hands fidgeted in a
show of fear.
Galadriel, Lady of
Lothlórien, observed the three living paradoxes for a long moment before she
spoke. “Let the one known as Anne step
forward.” Anne obeyed, lifting her chin
stubbornly as she did, as if she dared the world to deny her claim.
Galadriel stepped toward the
girl, leather armor in her hands. Anne
had no sensation of her clothing being changed; one moment, she stood in a
t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and the next, she was clothed in the armor,
complete with gauntlets and a long, black cloak.
“The name of Anne you leave
behind you,” Galadriel stated. “I dub
thee Anagorn, daughter of Anathorn, called Strider. Also, I gift you with this precious weapon -
the knife Lisran. May it serve you well.”
Red-hot disappointment
coursed through Anne’s veins as she gazed down at the object in her hand. When Galadriel spoke of enchanted weapons,
she had expected a long, gleaming sword, at least!
Behind her, Kathryn and
Cammy wore identical half-shocked, half-disdainful expressions. “It’s a...it’s a...it’s a butter knife!”
one of them whispered.
Sure enough, the weapon in
Anne’s right hand was a gleaming, rune-covered butter knife. Lowering the so-called “weapon,” Anne found a
tiny sheath at her side. With a bitter
sigh of despair, she sheathed Lisran.
“She called Kathryn, step
forward.”
Kathryn did so and, moments
later, found herself clothed as an elf - loose
clothing meant for camouflage, not protection.
Leather guards decorated her forearms, and soft boots encased her feet.
Galadriel announced, “I
remove your old name from you. From this
day until your quest has been completed, you shall be known as Katholas. As a weapon, I gift to you Darkrím.”
Though she was expecting
something very un-weapon-like after seeing Anne’s gift, Kathryn very nearly
laughed aloud when she saw her “weapon,” which was also engraved with elegant
runes. “A spoon!” she muttered. “I might as well be an S.B.!” ***
Despite her reputedly
sensitive elven ears, Galadriel seemed not to hear the comment. However, Cammy did, and the human girl
giggled so loudly that she nearly missed Galadriel’s command for her to step
forward.
Cammy’s giggles vanished
when she felt chain mail suddenly encasing her.
A metal helm now sat upon her head, and she felt suddenly confined and
heavy.
“Your name I now strip from
you, ‘til you reclaim it at your journey’s end,” Galadriel said. “I christen thee Camli, and gift thee
Exaria.”
Before the “weapon” was
placed into her hand, Cammy guessed its identity. True to her supposition, a rune-encrusted
fork was given to her.
“My lady, how are we to do
battle with merely silverware as our attack?” Kathryn asked, slipping
unknowingly into formal wording.
“These weapons seem strange
and weak only to those who look merely at appearances,” Galadriel replied, a
soft rebuke in her voice. “If your heart
and will are strong, armies shall fall at their touch.”
“I have one more gift for
each of you,” Galadriel went on. From
behind her, she produced three small backpacks.
Anne received a green pack, Kathryn a purple one, and Cammy a red
one. “These Enchanted Backpacks should
also ease your trip, as they hold many useful items.”
Then, stepping back two
paces, Galadriel spread her arms and, looking directly at the girls who stood
shoulder to shoulder once more, she cried, “I dub thee the Three
Huntresses! Have heart and hope, and
depart from this place as warriors of Middle Aerth!” On the final word, she clapped her hands
together.
The glowing white that
infused the Mirror began to pulse, enveloping each of the girls in a blanket of
pure white and clouding all senses.
When the white pulse faded
from her eyes, Anne - now Anagorn - found herself seated in a corner of what
appeared to be some sort of tavern.
A familiar, slightly
Scottish voice reached her ears. “Baggins? Sure, I
know a Baggins! I know lots of
Bagginses! Lots and
lots of Bagginses!”
Comprehension slapped
Anagorn across the face. Touching the
black hood that now obscured her face, she realized, I am Strider, and I am
in the Prancing Pony!
* In case you don’t, the
original quote is, “Sam, I’m glad you’re with me,” and Frodo says it at the
very end of the movie.
**This quote is originally
“What must I do?” and Frodo says it to Gandalf, right after he decides to take
the ring from the Shire.
*** S.B. is an
abbreviation for Sackville-Baggins. The comment refers to the gift Bilbo left
for Lobelia Sackville-Baggins which was given to her when Frodo sold Bag End
(in the book).
Back to Table of Contents
Back to the Library
