#the first from the house of finwe when everyone's chilled out a bit - is caranthir

[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