It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 12
© Michael Martinez
When the onset of the Orks caught the host at unawares as they marched southwards and the ranks of the Eldar were giving way, he sprang forward and hewed a path through the foes, daunted by his stature and the terrible light of his eyes, till he came to the Ork-captain and felled him. Then though he himself was surrounded and slain, the Orks were dismayed, and the Noldor pursued them with slaughter.Arakano's name was thus never formally changed into Sindarin, "but the Sindarin form Argon was often later given as a name by Noldor and Sindar in memory of his valour" ("Peoples of Middle-earth", p. 345). Fingon was also impetuous. He not only rushed to Feanor's aid, he led the counter assaults against Morgoth's forces, whenever Hithlum was attacked. And when Gwindor led his company of Nargothrondian soldiers against Morgoth's army at the Nirnaeth, Fingon could no longer contain himself. Instead of waiting for Maedhros, as he should, he donned his helmet, mounted his horse, and charged off toward glory, death, and defeat. Fingon was undoubtedly one of the greatest warriors of the Eldar, for it required more than one Balrog to slay him in the end, and his recorded personal accomplishments on the field of battle out-numbered those of other Elven princes. Turgon was undoubtedly the wisest of Fingolfin's children, and for a reason not disclosed he was one of Ulmo's favorites among the Noldorin princes. It may be that, since Turgon took up rule over the Sindarin Elves of Nevrast, Ulmo felt Turgon would be most sympathetic to the sea. In the end, Turgon was the only Noldorin king to commission the building of ships for the purpose of seeking aid from Aman. The Shibboleth records that Turgon's wife, Elenwe, perished in the Helcaraxe. She and their daughter, Itaril, fell and Turgon rescued Itaril but Elenwe was crushed by falling ice. It would appear, from a cryptic remark in the Shibboleth, that Irisse and Elenwe were very close friends. When Fingolgin named Findekano, he did not necessarily use the stem for "Finwe", an ancient Elvish name given at a time when names were bestowed for the way they sounded. Nor, the Shibboleth tells us, would it have been necessary. The use of a similar word honored the ancestral name. Findekano is described as wearing "his long dark hair in great plaits braided with gold". Tolkien was of several minds about Findekano's personal life. Although The Silmarillion tells us that Gil-galad was his son, Christopher Tolkien admits in both The War of the Jewels and The Peoples of Middle-earth that he was in error when he incorporated Gil-galad into the book as Fingon's son. Christopher mentions that all the genealogical tables provide Fingon with an unnamed wife and two children: Ernis (later Erien) and Finbor. But this family was stricken from the final genealogy and Tolkien wrote a note saying Fingon "had no child or wife".
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