The Noldor were one of the Three Kindreds of the Elves who made the Great Journey into the West, where they became renowned for their lore and craft. Galadriel was one of these people, a daughter of Finarfin and granddaughter of Finwë, the High King of the Noldor. She was born in Aman and dwelt in the Light of the Two Trees, but when Fëanor rebelled against the Valar and returned to Middle-earth, she chose to follow him there.¹

Already high among the Noldor in Middle-earth, in Doriath Galadriel encountered the Maia Melian, from whom she learned much. There in Doriath (at east according to most tellings) she also met Celeborn, who would later be Lord of Lórien by her side. She survived the tumults of the Wars of Beleriand and the destruction that came in the War of Wrath, eventually passing over the Blue Mountains into Eriador. Ultimately she found her way to the Silvan land of Lórien, and as the Lady of the Noldor the Galadhrim who lived there accepted her as Lady of the Wood.

In Lórien she held back the waning of time through the power of her Ring Nenya, but nonetheless she tired of her long exile in the Great Lands. At the end of the Third Age, she was permitted to return into the West that she had left long ago, and set sail from the Grey Havens aboard the White Ship.

It should be noted that Galadriel was not the only one who might merit the title 'Lady of the Noldor'. Most notably Aredhel could plausibly have claimed the title; as a daughter of Fingolfin she was a descendant of High King Finwë in the same degree as Galadriel. In practice, only Galadriel is given the title 'Lady of the Noldor' directly, but Aredhel was surnamed Ar-Feiniel, meaning 'White Lady of the Noldor'.