All of the Elves that fans meet in the Lord of the Rings series are powerful and wise people. However, Galadriel may be the most powerful and wise Elf in Middle Earth, at least in the Third Age.
We would say the strongest man in history is Big Z (Žydrūnas Savickas). Big Z has over 80 International wins including 4x World's Strongest Man titles.
Still, she wasn't the most powerful of J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. Strong characters like Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli might have held their own for a couple of swings if they had ever put themselves against the Lady Galadriel, but it's unlikely they would have lived to tell the tale.
Though neither is someone you'd wish to annoy, Galadriel is generally considered more powerful than Elrond in Lord of the Rings. Not only is she older than her Rivendell counterpart, but Galadriel witnessed the light from Valinor's Two Trees, giving her a mystic quality.
Why Was Galadriel so Powerful? Middle-earth Explained
Who is stronger Sauron or Galadriel?
In The Lord of the Rings, it is said that had Galadriel chosen to use her powers for evil instead of good, she would have been even more destructive and terrifying than Sauron himself. Galadriel was the greatest and most powerful of all Elves in Middle Earth in the Third Age.
Contrary to assumptions that Sauron would likely be the one to offer Galadriel the biggest challenge, Clark instead revealed that she felt that the High Elf Glorfindel would be the only one capable of beating her.
Galadriel's powers were so vast that it's said that other powerful beings like Saruman or even Elrond could not fully comprehend them. The powers she did have were used for good, of course, such as protecting Lothlórien and even toppling Dol Guldur, a fortress that was enhanced by Sauron's magic.
"So I think in his pitch to Galadriel, it cannot mean that he loves her or that there's any kind of romantic relationship. There should be no ambiguity around the fact that Sauron is evil — he's terrible, and he's using Galadriel to enhance his power."
The majority of her powers come from her Ring of Power, Nenya, the Ring of Water. The ring, also known by the names the White Ring and the Ring of Adamant, is one of the three Rings of Power given to the Elves of Middle-earth in the Second Age.
Most Elves in The Lord of the Rings were good, but a few of them weren't -- especially Eöl the Dark Elf. Here's what made him such an evil figure. In The Lord of the Rings, Dwarves didn't always get along with Elves, and that was also shown in The Hobbit.
Ultimately, the only being more powerful than Morgoth in his prime was Eru Ilúvatar. Only the combined effort of the Valar could stop Morgoth, and only after countless battles. Sauron might have bested his mentor under certain circumstances, but Morgoth is the greater Dark Lord by every metric.
Power level as in magical potency is determined by the potency of one's spirit. Galadriel has a powerful spirit. She is stated as the equal of Feanor the most spiritually potent elf there ever was. Her hair had trapped the light of the two trees of Valinor and was said to be a light unmatched.
Defeated by the Host of Valinor in the War of Wrath, Morgoth was banished from Middle-earth into the Timeless Void, though it was prophesied that he would one day return.
Galadriel was certainly the most powerful elf remaining in Middle-Earth at the time of the trilogy, but not the oldest; that honor goes to Círdan, who was also one of the last of the Elves to leave Middle-Earth for Valinor, sometime after the passing of King Elessar (Aragorn) early in the Fourth Age .
In his notes, Tolkien remarks that Sauron saw Galadriel as his equal. Add that to the fact that she's untrusting of Sauron (yes, even when he's in his Annatar guise) and an unwavering, single-minded force, and it's more likely than not that Sauron feared Galadriel — or the potential she held to upend his plans.
For those that haven't read Tolkien's work, it's easy to see why many audiences suspect Gandalf and Galadriel are in love. After all, many of their interactions in The Hobbit trilogy practically scream romance. However, their relationship remains purely platonic in Tolkien's source material.
Thus, Galadriel's dark form in Jackson's The Lord of the Rings personified what would have occurred had the Lady of Lothlorien given in to temptation and taken the One Ring for herself. She would have succumbed to evil because the Ring was indomitable, even with her power.
Why didn't Galadriel face Sauron in Lord of the Rings if she was powerful enough to fight him? Because she was not. She could never win in a one on one fight against a prepared Sauron.
Galadriel with the Ring would be a child to Morgoth. This is the Satanic figure of Middle-earth we're speaking here, the Dark Lord of Arda. Morgoth is an Ex. Vala, mightier than Sauron or any evil force of that matter.
It is therefore unlikely that Galadriel would have been able to save him or turn him towards the light if she had agreed to rule beside him. She even tells him this herself when she whispers: “No penance could erase the evil you have done.”
As powerful as Galadriel, Fëanor, and many other Elves worthy of a mention are, the title of most powerful Elf goes to Fingolfin, the High King of the Ñoldor. Fingolfin achieved many impressive feats, but one stands out and places him as the most powerful of them all: his legendary duel with Morgoth.
Finally, Galadriel possessed exceptional strength of will, which enabled her to resist the temptation of the Ring. She was able to recognize the allure of its power but chose to reject it, knowing that it would ultimately lead to her destruction.
