#finarfin gets to keep the high king title

[applegreenrunnerbean]

it's incredibly unlikely to happen, but i think it would be hilarious if when feanor returns from mandos, finarfin desperately tries to hand high kingship over to him (he has previously tried to do so to every other returned high king, but they all said no) and feanor is like, wow you must be really desperate to be rid of it if you're offering it to ME, historically the worst high king we've had, but now he's trying to be a Good Big Brother to make up for ...being Feanor, so he says, look, give me 12 years (its always gotta be 12) and I'll work something out

so then feanor is trying to work out a good system of government, in which the leader is actually not hated by the population, but is not forced into the position. he goes around his entire House, asking their opinions, and he's over talking to maglor and elrond (he loves his honorary grandson very much), and the hobbits are there, and sam casually mentions he was mayor of hobbiton seven times, and feanor is like ??? how does that work?

and the hobbits explain how the mayorship isn't a hereditary position, that anyone, no matter their family, can run for it; the process of election (i firmly believe the hobbits would have an incredibly intricate proportional representation system, with like, every street being properly represented on the mayor's council. it's barely comprehensible to an outsider, and has become so enmeshed in hobbitish traditions, they don't even know why some aspects of it exist); how you have a fixed term in office, and even then if enough people decide the mayor is doing a bad job, he can be Asked Politely to step down; how the mayor co-operates with the Thain and the Master of Buckland (the Thain is a more ceremonial role, they're in charge of feasts and parties, which is a Big Deal for hobbits, weddings and funerals, and since pippin became Thain, foreign policy, such as it is in the Shire; while the mayor is more in charge of public services, making sure poorer families get enough 'donations' from the richer ones, keeping the peace, resolving disputes, etc; and the Bucklanders have their own traditions (said with a dismissive sniff by sam)); how even though its a lot of work, people always run for the position, because they want to, or feel a sense of duty to.

feanor listens to all this with shining eyes, and then he comes back the next day, and asks them to tell him it all again, so he can make notes this time

and that's how feanor invents Noldoran democracy

#feanor #valinor politics #silmarillion #of COURSE he invents democracy #the noldor would love it #a whole system based around arguing? obviously they love it #finarfin gets to keep the high king title #the first Mayor of the Noldor is erestor #the first from the house of finwe when everyone's chilled out a bit - is caranthir

[ambarto]

Finwean Ladies Week Day Two: Lalwen

Headcanons again today, and this time I’d like to talk about my headcanons for Lalwen, which I think I have mentioned a little in the past but what better occasion than @finweanladiesweek to ramble about all my thoughts. I can tell you Lalwen is definitely one of my favorite characters to think about.

Lalwen was what we could call a biologist. She was fascinated with animals, and in particular with all the kinds of bugs, spiders, and various little creatures that crawl on the ground. She liked other animals too, although still of the small kind, and usually animals most people don’t overly like (think lizards, snakes, that kind of stuff). She maintained that those small and often unseen parts of the ecosystem were much more fascinating than the macroscopic world of large mammals and birds. She described many species, and while animals were her favorite field of study, she was also the first in Valinor to posit that mushrooms were not plants, which was a rather controversial statement at the time.

Out of all her siblings, she was the one who got along the best with Feanor. She was quick to brush off any unkind words he might say, and had a sharp enough tongue to put him back in his place. She actually rather enjoyed talking with him, as he was also a scholar, and could keep up with her discussions of the efficiency of spiderwebs even if it wasn’t really his field of study.

Regarding her other siblings, Lalwen’s favorite was Fingolfin. They argued a lot, but it was usually the kind of sibling spats that got forgotten quickly. He was always the most willing to engage with Lalwen’s interests, and to go with her on rides exploring Valinor. Findis and Finarfin, on the other hand, both had a fairly different temperament than Lalwen, and different interests too. While all four siblings loved each other, usually Findis and Finarfin stuck in one corner talking about one thing, while Fingolfin and Lalwen sat in another talking about something else.

Despite being a Princess, Lalwen’s presence in the politics of Valinor was almost non-existent. She learnt early on that all the occurrences of court didn’t interest her, and if she could avoid being present at any given occasion she did. Findis used to scold her sister much for this, calling her irresponsible, as she thought as members of the royal house it was their duty to engage with politics. Fingolfin, on the other hand, usually enabled his younger sister, thinking that there was no need for her to be as involved as the rest of their family.

Lalwen was always, and especially in her youth, a very restless spirit. Already as a child she was the kind of kid who was always outside and running around, and would hate having to be in the house for an entire day. Growing, she became that sort of girl who her parents almost never saw, so much she spent with her friends, and partying, and going on trips. And since she was old enough to travel on her own, she would so often take her horse and leave Tirion for days or weeks, or sometimes months too, to explore all there was to see in Valinor. It was because of this restlessness that she followed Fingolfin out of Valinor - the idea of an entire other continent she had never seen before was too big a temptation for her to stay behind, no matter how much her mother begged.

In Beleriand, she never had a land to rule over, because she never had any interest in ruling. Not only the various details and politics involved were things she had no interest into, but governing would also mean that she’d have to spend most of her time still in one place. For the most part, she made herself a home in Fingolfin’s lands, but would often travel around. It actually made her brother worry himself sick, as Lalwen had the tendency of leaving whenever and without sending letters or word of where she was, until six months later she would write him saying that she was staying in Himring for a while and also did Fingolfin know about this cool worm she had found?

She survived the Dagor Bragollach, but not easily. She was wounded on the field, and was carried out unconscious as Fingolfin’s forces retreated. She lost her hearing in one ear, and one of her legs was wounded in a way that left her with a heavy limp. The impaired mobility in particular wasn’t easy for her to deal with, as it made traveling so much harder. Not that she had much wish to entertain herself, not right after her brother had been killed. She remained in Fingon’s lands until the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, at which point she instead moved to the Falas with Cirdan, and later followed him to Balar. While she couldn’t fight on a battlefield, she had developed a great knowledge of poisons thanks to her studies on various venomous animals, and she helped develop cures for many of the poisons Morgoth used in his weapons.

After the War of Wrath, Lalwen decided she wouldn’t stay in Lindon under Gil-Galad. Part of the reason was that by then she had seen so many of her loved ones die that it brought her genuine pain to be around Gil-Galad and remember that he was almost all the family she had left, let alone have people call her ‘Princess’, as if the title meant anything by then. There was a loneliness in Lindon that could only be cured by being more alone, or at least, not with people who would constantly remind her of everything she had lost. But also, Lalwen’s desire to explore had never really stopped, and by then she had learnt how to deal with her disability, so she took a horse, and left.

Eventually, after much traveling, she realized that she was turning into an old lady, as Men said. She had traveled through all of Middle Earth, much of Harad, and had even decided to go look if she could Cuivienen a couple times, and she was growing tired of always being moving around. When she was a girl, that would have been the ideal, but after many thousands of years Lalwen found herself wishing to find a place to settle in. Not to mean that she would never travel again, just that she would have liked to have a nice house to go back to and rest, and know that there were people she knew waiting for her there. That being said, she also still wanted nothing to do with politics, not to mention that everyone else seemed to be handling things well, and she didn’t feel the need to upset any political balance with her reappearance. In the end, she decided to settle in Greenwood at some point during the Third Age. She did come clear to Thranduil about who she was, and he allowed her to stay so long as she did not cause trouble, which was alright by her. Other than him, very few people knew or suspected who the eccentric Noldo with a cane and a lot of opinions about taxonomical classifications was.

Lalwen had had through her life many romantic stories and affairs, and definitely more than many would deem appropriate for a Princess. With some Elven ladies, occasionally she’d fell in the bed of a mortal, and maybe once or twice in that of a Dwarf. The longer she lived the more she found old Valinorean ideas on marriage and courtship and so on rather stuffy. That being said, she had never really ruled out a wedding altogether, and the day she realized a Silvan hunter of Greenwood was starting to mean a lot to her, she decided maybe she was old enough to leave her amorous adventures behind and get herself a wife. Fortunately, her lady didn’t mind finding out that Lalwen was a mostly forgotten Noldor Princess, and Lalwen’s proposal was accepted with enthusiasm.

Eventually, Lalwen sailed back to the West with the Last Ship, together with Cirdan and Celeborn. She had seen as much of Middle Earth as there was to see, and while she did love the land, she had long since started thinking back about her homeland. Her wife, while not Eldar, had also started to get weary of a land that was more and more mortal and less and less suited for Elves, and decided that like many others of her people she also would have liked to follow the gulls.

Now, Findis, firstborn of Finwe and Indis, Princess of the Noldor, sister to the High King Arafinwe, known poet and debater, was as a general rule against violence, but when she saw her sister hop off a ship after six thousands years of no contact with a wife and apparently uncaring of having basically disappeared, her fist might have just happened to collide with Lalwen��s nose.

#finweanladiesweek #my headcanons #irime #lalwen

[mists-of-hithlum]

Can anyone explain to me the way the title of the high king of the Noldor or generally the kingship of the elves gets passed on? Because I'm searching the Silmarillion information if the title of King is only passed on to sons or if it is simple the oldest child.

Finwe passes the crown on to Feanor, who is his oldest child. He passes it on to Maedhros, who is his oldest child. Now it gets complicated.

So Maedhros gives up his right and passes the crown to Fingolfin. Is Fingolfin older than Findis and Lalwen? If he was, it'd be simply another transition to the next oldest child of Finwe, not the oldest son. But if I remember correctly, he is younger than Findis and Lalwen, or certainly at least Findis.

Now, there are easy explanations for why Maedhros would still choose Fingolfin. Most people have Findis stay in Valinor and Lalwen is normally in Fanon a lone warrior, more a ninja than a queen. So Fingolfin would be the most logical choice.

Besides, Maedhros tries to keep the Noldor from falling apart. So he has to choose someone who can (hopefully) keep them from fracturing. Maybe Lalwen has too many enemies or is simply disliked by many of the Noldor, so Maedhros chooses Fingolfin over her.

Now it's pretty straightforward: Fingolfin gives the crown to his oldest child and the only one not currently dead or in a hidden city, Fingon passes it on to technically his son (and as far as we know only child) and practically to his brother, because his son is too young to rule. Since Aredhel is dead at that point (I think?), she's out of the picture. And Gil-galad has no kids and no successor, so the line ends there.

Now for the regular title of king: Feanor has no daughters or granddaughters, so we can ignore him and his part of the family.

Aredhel never reigns over anything, so we can ignore her too. And Argon is dead, while Fingon only has a son. Turgon is King of Gondolin and has a daughter. Idril actually gets the command over her father's people after his death, so here a daughter can actually inherit the position of her father.

And finally, the house of Finarfin: Aegnor and Angrod die before they have any children. Finrod also never has children, so the claim to his lands goes (logically) to his brother after he steps down. And Nargothrond falls, before Orodreth can pass on his title, but I assume that Finduilas would have most likely inherited the throne.

And with Galadriel we have an actual example of a female queen. She never gets called that and she does rule with Celeborn at her side, but they are equals and not she only a decoration at his side.

So, in conclusion: As far as we know, there is no reason that the daughter of a king of the Noldor couldn't inherit his title after his death, as long as she is the oldest child.

If anyone has any knowledge on that subject, I would be grateful for corrections.

#the silmarillion #high king #kingship #maedhros #fingolfin #and the eternal debate of who is older #that i will completely ignore in this post #have i written down all of this only #to find out if i can call a character in my WIP a princess and a queen once #in one single scene? #yes #yes i have

[lachind]

Fëanor

Basic Information

OTHER NAMES: Curufinwë, Fëanáro TITLES: High Prince of the Noldor, High King of the Noldor DATE OF BIRTH: August 1st, Y.T. 1169 DATE OF DEATH: Y.T. 1497 GENDER: male ORIENTATION: bisexual RACE: Noldorin elf

Appearance

HEIGHT: 6′10″ BUILD: strong, muscular HAIR: jet black, long and straight EYE COLOR: grey FACECLAIM: Avan Jogia

Family

FATHER: Finwë MOTHER: Míriel SIBLINGS: Findis (half-sister), Fingolfin (half-brother), Írimë (half-sister), Finarfin (half-brother) CHILDREN: Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, & Amras (sons)

Personality

LIKES: languages and writing, forging, crafting, teaching his sons DISLIKES: politics, his step-family, insincerity, monotony POSITIVE TRAITS: passionate, devoted, family-oriented, fearless NEGATIVE TRAITS: volatile, hot-tempered, selfish, jealous NEUTRAL TRAITS: intelligent, skeptical, energetic

Abilities

THREAT LEVEL: high SKILLS: combat, battle strategy, smithing, craftsmanship, linguistics WEAPONS: Dual longswords LANGUAGES: Quenya, Telerin

Biography

Fëanor was born to Finwë and Míriel on August 1st, in 1169 of the Years of the Trees. His Fëa burned so brightly that his birth drained Míriel’s energy. Initially she sought to heal in Lórien, though it pained her and Finwë both to be apart while Fëanor was but an infant; but when she lay down in the gardens, her spirit departed to Mandos of her own choice. She chose to remain in the Halls of Mandos, and allow Finwë to remarry in her absence. 

Through his life, Fëanor carried no small amount of guilt for his mother’s death, but he tried to hide it by deflecting his anger onto his father, for his decision to remarry so soon after Míriel’s death, and onto his stepmother and half-siblings for his fear of being replaced as his mother was. 

Though his father loved him best, Fëanor grew to hate living in his house due to all the tension; beyond that, he was extremely impassioned, and eager to get started on his own life. He was engaged to Nerdanel the sculptor shortly after coming of age, and the two wed and moved in together a year later. In Y.T. 1231, Maedhros was born, the first of Fëanor and Nerdanel’s seven sons. 

As a young adult, Fëanor created the Tengwar alphabet, improving the work of Rúmil, and he carried that enthusiasm for progress and creation throughout his life. In addition to being both a linguist, studying any languages he had within reach, and a Loremaster, his greatest passion was for smithing. He practiced often, developing raw talent into real skill and quickly gained renown for his creations, which were many and beautiful. 

In Y.T. 1449, Fëanor began the fashioning of the Silmarils, and completed them a year later. They would become both his most beautiful creations and the source of his greatest sorrows. He grew paranoid about them, fearing that the other Noldor and even the Valar envied them, so when they were not displayed on his brow for a celebration, he kept them safely locked away from all but his sons, father, and Nerdanel. When he eventually realized the disdain Nerdanel held for the gems, he even kept her from seeing them; this was one of the first great rifts in their relationship. 

Fëanor’s concerns about the Valar regarding the Silmarils were not entirely without cause, as Melkor desired them greatly and sought to steal them from the moment Fëanor first displayed them publicly. He saw the elf’s great pride in them and his fears, and used them to manipulate him into growing more distrustful of those around him, namely Fingolfin. Eventually Fëanor was convinced that his half-brother sought not only to take the jewels for himself, but to usurp his place as heir of their father. The tension grew until in Y.T. 1490, Fëanor walked into the throne room at the moment Fingolfin was pleading with their father to restrain his eldest, and Fëanor considered it confirmation of his suspicions. He drew his sword and put it to Fingolfin’s throat, threatening his life in front of the people. When the Valar found out, they exiled him to Formenos for five years. While his sons and father followed, in a show of support, Nerdanel chose to remain behind. 

Two years after his arrival in Formenos, Melkor showed up at Fëanor’s doorstep. He continued to try and manipulate him, but had grown over-confident due to his past success, underestimating both Fëanor’s intelligence and his mistrust of anyone outside his immediate family, especially Melkor himself. He shut the door in the Vala’s face, ordering him be gone from his property. 

In Y.T. 1495, the Valar called Fëanor back from Formenos, in time for a celebration of the Eldar. Though Fëanor heeded the summons he did not come dressed for a celebration, and left the Silmarils behind, so as to keep them out of sight from jealous eyes. Finwë remained in Formenos, in protest of his son’s banishment. In Manwë’s halls upon Taniquetil, Fingolfin offered to Fëanor his hand in friendship, recognizing his place as the elder brother, which Fëanor begrudgingly accepted. 

Meanwhile, however, Melkor, had already killed Finwë and taken the Silmarils, and with Ungoliant, was working to suck the life from the two Trees of Valinor. When news of the Trees’ destruction reached Valinor, the Valar asked Fëanor to give up the Silmarils to revive them; for a long moment, he was silent as he considered it; but when Tulkas spoke to rush his decision, he declared that to break the Silmarils would make him fade, and he would not give them up freely — but if the Valar forced him, he claimed, they would prove themselves no better than Melkor. 

Shortly after, messengers came from Formenos with tidings of Finwë’s death, and Fëanor cursed Melkor and named him Morgoth, and cursed Manwë’s summons, for in his grief he believed that his presence at Formenos would have been enough to defeat Melkor and save his father. Having said these things he ran, away from the Valar and his people and into the dark. 

Now High King of the Noldor he appeared to them again hours later, when most of the Noldor had returned to Tirion to mourn the darkening of Valinor, and in this he rebelled against the Valar’s ban. There he stirred his people with his words, calling them to return to Middle-earth, and accusing the Valar of being incapable or unwilling to protect them and their lands. He roused the Noldor to leave Valinor and return to Middle-earth from where they came. 

Together with his sons, he swore the Oath of Fëanor, vowing to gain back the Silmarils and kill those that would withhold them; or be doomed to darkness if they forsook pursuing the gems. Though many of the Noldor saw folly in the Oath, they followed their King all the way to Alqualondë, on the shores of Valinor. 

The Teleri that lived there had built great ships, of such size that they were capable of carrying the Noldor across the Sea to Middle-earth; yet when the Teleri refused Fëanor’s request to use them, he led an attack against them. Given the Noldor’s skill in weapon-crafting, and the fact the Teleri had naught but hunting arrows to fight with, they were slaughtered — but just before Fëanor took the ships, an emissary of Mandos appeared, warning the Noldor that if they continued on this journey, they would most of them die in Middle-earth, to long reside formless in the Halls of Mandos; and those survivors would grow weary of the world, and fade, lest they repent and be allowed to return to Valinor. 

Hearing this, Finarfin and his people, one-tenth of the Noldor, sought the forgiveness of the Valar and turned back; but Fëanor, spurning the Valar, led most of them onward. Fëanor’s people boarded the ships first, under his promise to Fingolfin that he would send a few of his people back for Fingolfin and his people; but after their arrival in Y.T. 1497, Fëanor led his sons in burning the ships, forcing Fingolfin to choose between returning to Tirion or crossing the Helcaraxë. He chose the latter. 

Having settled on the shores of Lake Mithrim, Fëanor’s people were soon attacked by Melkor, nigh immediately after their arrival. Although the orcs outnumbered the Noldor, they were not so powerful, and Fëanor defeated them swiftly. A small band of orcs attempted a retreat, yet he decided to pursue even them; cut off from his people, he was gravely injured by a host of Balrogs arriving to reinforce the orcs. Despite grievous wounds, he continued to fight until the armies of his sons arrived, and sent Morgoth’s forces fleeing to Angband. 

The wounds Fëanor received were fatal, and he knew it immediately. With his death drawing near his sons carried him to the slopes of Ered Wethrin, from where he saw the peaks of Thangorodrim from afar, and realized at last that his elves would never bring it down single-handedly. With his dying breath he declared to his sons his love for them, and bid them hold true to their Oath — unaware that he would send them to their doom. 

Mandos’ curse proved true, for Fëanor’s spirit arrived in Mandos, fated to remain until the Dagor Dagorath, at the end of all things. 

#/ #// #/// #//// #///// #long post for ts #character bio #⟡ ( headcanons. fëanor. )