Around the year 1200, Sauron came to Eregion in disguise. He claimed to be an emissary of the Valar and called himself Annatar, Lord of Gifts. Celebrimbor and other the Elven-smiths were deceived by Sauron and he taught them new skills in secret, apparently without Galadriel's knowledge. It is said that Galadriel did not trust him, and yet it is unclear why she would have allowed him to remain in Eregion.

In one version of the story, Celebrimbor seized power in Eregion while under Sauron's influence, and Galadriel departed to Lothlorien around 1350 to 1400. Another story says it was not until after the destruction of Eregion in 1697 that Galadriel and Celeborn passed through Khazad-dum to Lothlorien.

The Elven-smiths began to forge the Rings of Power around 1500. But Sauron created the One Ring to rule the others, and the Elves realized that they had been deceived. In 1693, Celebrimbor is said to have consulted with Galadriel about what to do with the Three Rings, which had been made without Sauron's help. They could not bring themselves to destroy their Rings, so Galadriel advised Celebrimbor that the Three Rings should be hidden and never used for as long as Sauron had the One. Galadriel was given Nenya, the Ring of Water, at this time.

Sauron launched a war against the Elves. Celeborn led an army in a sortie against the attacking forces. Elrond came to Celeborn's aid, but their numbers were too few and they were driven back. Eregion was destroyed by Sauron in 1697 and the great craftsman Celebrimbor was slain.

Galadriel and Celeborn dwelled in Lothlorien for a short time after the fall of Eregion, but they did not become the rulers of Lothlorien then. The King of the Elves of Lothlorien at that time was probably Amdir. He was killed in the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age and was succeeded by his son Amroth. (In one version of the story, Amroth is said to be the son of Galadriel and Celeborn, but this was almost certainly a rejected idea.)

Galadriel and Celeborn left Lothlorien and may have gone to live in Rivendell for a while. Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, fell in love with their daughter Celebrian. One story tells that Galadriel's longing for the Sea grew so great that she and her family left Rivendell and moved south to live by the shores of the Bay of Belfalas, where the Elf-haven of Edhellond was located.

Elrond married Celebrian in 109 of the Third Age. They had three children. Their twin sons Elladan and Elrohir were born in 130, and their daughter Arwen was born in 241.

In the Third Age, Galadriel became aware that evil was once again growing in Middle-earth. Around 1100, it was learned that an evil power known as the Necromancer had built the stronghold of Dol Guldur across the Anduin from Lothlorien. Galadriel and Celeborn are said to have visited Lothlorien to help strengthen the defenses against Dol Guldur and learn about the Necromancer. After a time, they may have returned to Rivendell.

In 1980, the threat to Lothlorien increased when the Balrog awoke in Khazad-dum. The Dwarves fled and it became a place of evil called Moria. The next year, Amroth's lover Nimrodel fled from Lothlorien and he followed her and later perished at Sea. The people of Lothlorien were left without a leader, so Celeborn and Galadriel returned and became the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien in 1981.

Galadriel and Celeborn lived in Caras Galadhon, the City of the Trees. Their home was made up of a number of flets - or platforms - in the branches of a great mallorn-tree. Galadriel was said to have been the one who first planted mallorn seeds in Lothlorien. The golden-leaved trees flourished under her care, and Lothlorien became known as the Golden Wood.

Galadriel had a garden in a dell near her home in Caras Galadhon, and there she kept her Mirror. The Mirror of Galadriel was a silver basin on a pedestal which Galadriel filled with water from a stream running through the dell. Galadriel could command the Mirror to show certain images, and the Mirror could also show images on its own of the past, present, and possible futures.

By 2060, Galadriel and the rest of the Wise suspected that the evil power in Dol Guldur was Sauron. Sauron had been defeated in the War of the Last Alliance and the One Ring had been taken from him, but the Ring had not been destroyed so his spirit endured.

Gandalf the Grey went to Dol Guldur to investigate in 2063, but Sauron fled and for a time there was a Watchful Peace. Sauron returned to Dol Guldur in 2460. In 2463, Galadriel summoned the chief Elves and Wizards to form the White Council. She wanted Gandalf to be the leader, but Saruman the White was chosen instead.

In 2509, Galadriel's daughter Celebrian was traveling through the Redhorn Gate of the Misty Mountains on her way to visit Lothlorien when she was captured by Orcs. She was tormented and wounded before her sons Elladan and Elrohir were able to rescue her. Celebrian was deeply troubled by the experience, and the next year in 2510 she decided to leave Middle-earth and sail to the Undying Lands.

That same year, Eorl the Young led his Riders out of the North to the aid of Gondor at the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. As they came southward, a dark shadow seemed to flow from Dol Guldur, but then a white mist emerged from Lothlorien and drove back the shadow. Eorl and his Riders were hidden in the mist and continued safely on their way. By this sign, it was thought that they had the support of the Lady of the Golden Wood.

Gandalf told the White Council in 2851 that he had confirmed that the power in Dol Guldur was Sauron, and he urged an attack on Dol Guldur. Saruman overruled him, saying that he believed the One Ring had been washed down to the Sea, and that without it Sauron could not regain his strength. In truth, Saruman coveted the Ring for himself.

Finally in 2941, the White Council launched an attack on Dol Guldur, but Sauron was prepared for them and he escaped. Sauron returned to Mordor, and he sent Nazgul led by Khamul to occupy Dol Guldur. The White Council met for the last time in 2953.

Galadriel continued to maintain constant vigilance against Sauron and she strove with him in thought. She was able to perceive his designs, especially concerning the Elves, but her mind was closed to him. Galadriel realized that Lothlorien was in a strategic location to prevent Sauron's forces from crossing the Anduin, and she defended its borders with the power of her Ring, Nenya.

In December of 3018, Galadriel's grandsons Elladan and Elrohir came to Lothlorien. They reported that the One Ring had been brought to Rivendell by a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who had volunteered to take the Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it.

Frodo came to Lothlorien in January of 3019. He was accompanied by a Fellowship led by Aragorn, who was a friend of Galadriel and was betrothed to her granddaughter Arwen. Galadriel knew that Gandalf had set out with the Fellowship, but she could not sense him. When told that Gandalf had fallen into an abyss with the Balrog of Moria, Celeborn was angered. He blamed a recent expedition of Dwarves led by Balin for awakening the Balrog, and he repented his welcome of the Fellowship, particularly Gimli the Dwarf. But Galadriel reassured Gimli and spoke words in his own language to him, and Gimli was enraptured by her kindness and beauty.

Galadriel then tested the resolve of each member of the Fellowship. She looked deeply into their eyes, and they felt as if they were being offered a choice between continuing on the quest or turning aside and receiving something they greatly desired. Galadriel held the Ring-bearer's gaze for a long time, and she saw courage and wisdom in Frodo. Galadriel gave Frodo the chance to look into her Mirror, and she knew that he saw the Eye of Sauron with whom she had long contended.

As the bearer of a Ring of Power herself, Galadriel had a special understanding of Frodo's burden. For his part, Frodo was able to see Nenya on Galadriel's finger. Galadriel told Frodo that if the One Ring were destroyed, the Three Rings might lose their power and all that had been wrought with them would fade.

Then Frodo offered to give the One Ring to Galadriel. Galadriel had long pondered what she might be able to accomplish if the Ring came into her possession. But she had grown wiser during her sojourn in Middle-earth, and she was able to reject the temptation of the Ring, for she understood that though she might begin with good intentions she would become a tyrant in the end.

"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!"

She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.

"I pass the test," she said. "I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel." The Fellowship of the Ring: "The Mirror of Galadriel," p. 381

Galadriel knew that the time of the Elves in Middle-earth had come to end and that the age of Men was beginning. She relinquished her pride and the dreams of power and dominion that had brought her to Middle-earth and accepted her fate.