Moving Sale: Magic Rings and Other Trinkets Half Off - Page 5
© Michael Martinez
You never see an Elf with a wand or a staff, but Galadriel shows us that they can use devices to work their magic (or, their Art, as Tolkien put it). She poured water from a pitcher into a silver basin to give Sam and Frodo a glimpse of things that might be, and things that probably were. The water came from the spring flowing through Galadriel's garden. The garden itself was "enchanted", or at least could be. Galadriel gave Sam a little box with some of the dirt from her garden (or orchard), "and such blessing as Galadriel has left to bestow is upon it". I'm sure the dirt was more effective than any commercial growth feed we can give our plants today. But was the spring also "enchanted"? Could be. The power of Ulmo might have been flowing through it. Or it may simply be that Galadriel and her maidens occasionally sang songs of power by the waters to invigorate them, or something.
The pitcher she used could have been a normal, everyday, Elven "only pours the water where you want it to" type of pitcher, or it could have been a special ceremonial pitcher used only for scrying purposes. I think the basin was probably very special in that respect. The pitcher and basin may have been very old but I doubt Galadriel carried them around with her on her travels through Middle-earth. Quite probably they were made after she and Celeborn settled in Lothlorien in the wake of Amroth's departure. And if Galadriel could make new stuff when she moved, then so, too could the other Elves.
Turgon's people were very productive. They had to do something through the centuries they were refusing to have anything to do with other Elves. Imagine the enchanted lamps and light-bulbs they could have made? The old question, "How many Elves does it take to change a light-bulb" takes on new meaning, as the answer would surely be, "None. They'll just make a new one" (ba-dum-DUMP). Change a light-bulb, make a new one...oh, never mind.
One of Gondolin's names was Ondolinde, which means (more-or-less) "singing stone" (or, more appropriately, "the Rock of the Music of Water, for there were fountains upon the hill"). The city may have been constructed with acoustics in mind, so as to enlarge and scatter the sound of the waters from the fountains. But why couldn't the Elves add a little extra oomph! to their architecture and give the stone they worked an additional resonance? Think about it. There are a few domed buildings in the world where if you stand on one side and whisper your voice is carried clearly around to the far side of the dome. Turgon could have arranged matters so that he could address the entire city (or not) from his tower without having to interrupt their Elfevision shows.
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