It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 16
© Michael Martinez
The Finwean genealogy winds down to a few stray names in the following generations: Celebrimbor, son of Curufin; Idril (Itaril), daughter of Turgon; Arothir (Orodreth), son of Angrod and Eldalote; and Celebrian, daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn. Idril married Tuor and bore a son, Earendil. She was wise enough to foresee the need of a hidden escape path out of Gondolin, and her hair was as golden as her Vanyarin mother's hair. Arothir (Orodreth) remained close by Finrod and was among the few nobles who supported Finrod when he felt compelled to repay his debt to Beren. Finrod made Arothir his steward in Nargothrond, and when word came of Finrod's death, Arothir drove Celegorm and Curufin out of the kingdom.
Arothir married a northern Sindarin lady, although her name is not recorded. Their children were Ereinion (scion of kings) and Finduilas. Finduilas was golden-haired, and Arothir himself must have been golden-haired. Although she loved Gwindor, when she met Turin she could not help but fall for him. And yet Turin did not return her feelings. Finduilas was taken prisoner when Nargothrond fell to Glaurung and his Orcs, but the Orcs slew her and other prisoners when they were waylaid by Men from Brethil.
Ereinion escaped the sack of Nargothrond and made his way south to the Mouths of Sirion. From there he reached Cirdan on the isle of Balar, and when word came of Gondolin's fall Ereinion was named High King of the Noldor-in-Exile. His mother named him Gil-galad.
The royal authority of Finwe ended with Gil-galad. But the ambitions of the Finwean princes appear to have stopped with Gil-galad as well. For though he established a mighty kingdom in Lindon which lasted more than 3,000 years, he apparently took no wife. Earendil left Middle-earth forever, and the ambitions of his ancestors seem to have been realized only by his son Elros, who when given a choice between mortality and Elvendom elected to become the first King of Numenor but mortal. His brother Elrond chose to be of Elven-kind but never established his own kingdom. He governed Imladris as an outpost of Gil-galad's kingdom in the Second Age and maintained it as a stronghold of Eldarin power in the Third Age. But Elrond never took the title of king. It may be that, legally, he felt he could not claim a kingship, since Earendil was the son of a mortal man and not an Elf king.
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