#'deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the vanyar'

[valacirya]

I love your vanyar and arafinwean headcanons! Do you have any thoughts on how their vanyar heritage is part of the identity of indis’ children?

Thank you, I love this question!! I will warn you beforehand, my answer is going to be long. Here are my other posts about the Vanyar, if anyone is interested. 

Okay, to start with I'm gonna give a little background on Noldor-Vanyar relations: they were canonically close from the beginning of the Great Journey and built Tirion together. However, they do drift apart and it seems that the Noldor didn't understand or agree with the mass exodus to Taniquetil -> "They forsook the city of Tirion upon Túna and became sundered from the Noldor... the Noldor dwelt there alone, and their converse and friendship thereafter was rather with the Teleri.” Now this is purely my hc, but I do think that a desire to be closer to the Valar was not the only reason for Ingwe and co to leave. The Vanyar quite possibly got fed up with the Noldor (just like Indis, Findis, and Finarfin later on). I don't have much evidence for this hc, except that they preferred to be known as the Minyar, and 'Vanyar' i.e. 'the beautiful' is what the Noldor insisted on calling them (they do the same with the Teleri and Laiquendi which bothers me so much). This sounds like there was a weird simultaneous pedestalizing and condescension going on, which reflected in the social hierarchy of Tirion, which made Ingwe go 'fuck this shit I'm out' and run off to Taniquetil to have threesomes with Manwe and Varda.

So anyway, there's an unspecified number of years during which the Noldor and Teleri are besties, and the Vanyar and Valar are besties, but the Vanyar don't really talk to the Noldor or Teleri. Finwe and Indis completely change that. Their marriage is not only a symbol of healing and hope but also a rekindling of an old friendship between two peoples and a merging of two very different cultures. I think this is why -> "The Vanyar and Noldor for the most part rejoice.”

On to the children of Indis!

It's important to remember that the Nolofinweans and Arafinweans' Vanyarin (and Telerin) heritage is what distinguishes them from the line of Feanor. They identify as Noldor, but their Vanyarin blood is prominent, not just physically, but also in their foresight, how favored they are by the Valar, and their ability to do serious damage to Ainur. There's a certain kind of confidence, almost arrogance, that the Indisions have. It comes from knowing that they are the children of prophecy, that Finwe defied the laws of nature for them, that they are favored by the Noldor, Vanyar, Teleri, and Valar. That confidence is certainly a Noldorin trait, but it also comes from the Vanyar, who were regarded as the principal kindred of the Eldar, who were known as the Friends of the Gods, the Blessed, the victors of the War of Wrath -> "And the mountains rang beneath their feet."

Findis and Finarfin are pretty uncomplicated in that they both canonically prefer the Vanyar over the Noldor. Finarfin especially is completely Vanyarin in personality and looks. He passes some of that down to Finrod and particularly Galadriel -> "Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar." This is firmly my own opinion, but Third Age Galadriel seems to be more Vanyarin than Noldorin in outlook. Findis and Finarfin seem to have a similar experience of feeling like they don’t belong in Tirion, which might be a callback to the Vanyar leaving. Also -> “As well as he could he kept aloof from the strife of his brothers and sought peace with the Teleri.” -> “Above all her heart now yearns for the halls of Ingwe and the peace of the Vanyar, far from the strife of the Noldor.”  

Side note: it’s canon that Indis’s use of ‘s’ is an acceptance of the Noldor rather than a rejection of the Vanyar. It’s very tied up with her position as queen/consort and her dynamic with Finwe. She obviously doesn’t compel her children to follow the shift, so I don’t agree that she was obsessed with fitting in with the Noldor and put that pressure on her kids, particularly Finarfin. She didn’t need to fit in, not when her husband’s people welcomed her for the most part.

Fingolfin is more complex; unlike his older sister and younger brother, he identifies entirely as a Noldo, Finwe’s son. But he’s also much closer to Indis and is favored by Manwe and Ulmo, and feared by Melkor (who had tried and failed to influence the Vanyar). I think he proudly owns his Vanyarin heritage and also uses it for his political benefit. Lalwen aligns with him but stays out of politics when she’s younger; I hc that her preferred activities are very Vanyarin i.e. dancing, sports, partying, and hanging out with Ainur.     

I hc that Fingolfin has his moments where he's petty enough to emphasize that he's royalty on both his father and mother's sides, unlike Feanor. I also hc that Ingwe became a pseudo father figure for Fingolfin after Finwe left. It mirrors Olwe and Finarfin's relationship and shows just how much Finwe failed as a father with his younger sons (oof, that whole “holding himself unkinged” shit still makes me furious). Plus, the Indisions’ only mentioned cousins are Ingwe’s kids, so I think they would have been close, particularly Fingolfin, Finarfin and Ingwion in a family overrun by sisters lol. 

I do think Feanor would have made derogatory comments about their heritage, because he canonically makes fun of the Vanyarin accent, plus his comments about the Edain and Teleri are eugh. Some of his sons would too (Caranthir comes to mind, and probably the others later on). But this just makes the Indisions prouder of their mixed identity. Maybe there was some insecurity in their youth due to vitriol from the more conservative Noldor, but I don’t think it had any lasting impact. All of Indis’s grand and great-grandchildren have some affinity for the Vanyar. Also, the Noldor on the whole have absolutely no problem with a half-Vanya king, either in Valinor or Beleriand. If anything, the vast majority of them prefer Fingolfin and Finarfin over Feanor.

So, my conclusion to this long and convoluted post is that the descendants of Indis, while primarily identifying as Noldor, are all proud of and display traits from their Vanyarin heritage, which in fact seems to elevate them above the Feanorians. I think Tolkien was making a point by having all the most powerful, wise, and noble elves be of mixed heritage, whether that's Luthien, Galadriel, Earendil, or Elrond.

#thank you for the ask i've always wanted to talk about this #i have a tendency to ramble so i hope i answered your question #if y'all have headcanons/thoughts too share them with me! #vanyar #indis #fingolfin #finarfin

[geladriel]

“Galadriel was the greatest of the Noldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he, and her wisdom increased with the long years.”

“Her mother-name was Nerwen (‘man-maiden’), and she grew to be tall beyond the measure even of the women of the Noldor; she was strong of body, mind, and will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth. Even among the Eldar she was accounted beautiful, and her hair was held a marvel unmatched. It was golden like the hair of her father and of her foremother Indis, but richer and more radiant, for its gold was touched by some memory of the starlike silver of her mother; and the Eldar said that the light of the Two Trees, Laurelin and Telperion, had been snared in her tresses. Many thought that this saying first gave to Fëanor the thought of imprisoning and blending the light of the Trees that later took shape in his hands as the Silmarils. For Fëanor beheld the hair of Galadriel with wonder and delight. He begged three times for a tress, but Galadriel would not give him even one hair. These two kinsfolk, the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor, were unfriends for ever.”

“She was proud, strong, and selfwilled, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget. From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Fëanor.”

Excerpts from the Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien.

[scottrory]

For all the Rings of Power watchers out there who don’t understand my frustration about Galadriel in the show- this is the core of her that the writers and directors and the awful actress have ignored. She’s 2,500 years old in the show. Not 18. In Tolkien’s words: “She was proud, strong, and self-willed, as were all the descendants of Finwë save Finarfin; and like her brother Finrod, of all her kin the nearest to her heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage. Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar (the Gods in the Blessed Realm who taught her) that she could not forget. From her earliest years she had a marvellous gift of insight into the minds of others, but judged them with mercy and understanding, and she withheld her goodwill from none save only Fëanor. In him she perceived a darkness that she hated and feared, though she did not perceive that the shadow of the same evil had fallen upon the minds of all the Noldor, and upon her own” https://www.instagram.com/p/CivOQDXvm8ejTqoBGdLdwbMmuthpoxxuLzs0ow0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[valacirya]

What if Galadriel was named after her grandmother? <3 

#i have a lot of feelings about their relationship #'golden like the hair of her foremother' #'deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the vanyar' #galadriel #indis #the first quote is from unfinished tales and the second is from peoples of middle earth

[valacirya]

Part 1, Part 2

Part Three: Vanyarin Culture/History/Traits

“First came the Vanyar, the most eager for the road, the people of Ingwe.”

“The smallest host and the first to set forth was led by Ingwe, the most high lord of all the Elvish race.”

“Isil the Sheen the Vanyar of old named the Moon, flower of Telperion in Valinor; and Anar the Fire-golden, fruit of Laurelin, they named the Sun.”

“For all those of elven-race, even the Vanyar and Ingwë their lord, must breathe at times the outer air and the wind that comes over the sea from the lands of their birth.”

“The host of the Valar prepared for battle; and beneath their white banners marched the Vanyar, the people of Ingwë.”

“And the Vanyar returned beneath their white banners, and were borne in triumph to Valinor; but their joy in victory was diminished, for they returned without the Silmarils from Morgoth's crown, and they knew that those jewels could not be found or brought together again unless the world be broken and remade.”

“Yet deeper still there dwelt in her the noble and generous spirit of the Vanyar, and a reverence for the Valar that she could not forget.”

“Finarfin was of his mother’s kind in mind and body, having the golden hair of the Vanyar, their noble and gentle temper, and their love of the Valar.”

#vanyar