The Mirror of Galadriel
the water-basin of Lórien; a scrying-glass of the Lady of the Galadhrim
Names
The Mirror of Galadriel — the water-basin of Lórien, the Mirror of Lórien, by which the Lady of the Galadhrim showed those who looked into it visions of the past, present, and future.
Description
The Mirror was a great silver bowl filled with water: “nothing in it made by either Elf or Man; pat a glen of water and the stones of the earth”. By the words and will of the Lady, the pool could be stirred it into vision — “but those who stepped in the water might see things; and the Mirror showed them things that happened in the past, or in the present, or in the future.” The sight was not granted at command: the visions came and went of their own choice, and were not always clear to the onlooker.
History
In the Third Age Galadriel kept the Mirror in her garden at Cerin Amroth, in the heart of Lothlórien. When the Fellowship of the Ring passed through the Golden Wood, she showed the Mirror to Samwise Gamgee and to the Ring-bearer, warning them that “it knows many things — but the Mirror can also show things unbidden”. For Sam and Frodo it revealed both home and perils ahead; and the Lady, reading what was shown, prepared the gifts of leave-taking.