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It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 3

© Michael Martinez

So Gondolin offres us no insight into the Noldor's complex social hierarchies. However, Nargothrond is a different story. There is at least one house of princes there who (apparently) do not claim kinship with the Finweans. That is the family of Guilin, whose son Gwindor bore the chief responsibility for launching the disastrous attack that initiated the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Gwindor also brought Turin to Nargothrond, which ultimately led to the end of that kingdom. Tolkien says Gwindor is "a very valiant prince". Elsewhere Gwindor is "a lord of Nargothrond". His rank is therefore a noble one, but he is not a Finwean. Whether Guilin's family was regarded as noble from the ancient times or had been elevated to that status by Finwe or one of the kings of Nargothrond is a mystery. What we can be sure of, however, is that the Finweans derived their special status from Finwe himself. The Noldorin monarchy began with Finwe, and all the legitimate kings of the Noldor claimed descent from him. Furthermore, no Noldorin prince outside the family ever established a realm of his own. The esteem with which Finwe's family was held by his people was strong enough that they limited their choices of kings only to his descendants. Hence, even if all the Tatyarin chieftains were descended from Tata, such a heritage was insufficient to justify a royal prestige. Finwe's charisma is also evident in the fact that more than one Elven woman loved him. In "Laws and Customs among the Eldar" ("Morgoth's Ring", pp. 207-53), Tolkien writes: "The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part....Marriage, save for rare ill chances or strange fates, was the natural course of life for all Eldar....Those who would afterwards become wedded might choose one another early in youth, even as children (and indeed this happened often in days of peace)...." If the Eldar's natural course led them to marry only once in life, then Finwe's ability to attract and love more than one wife was extremely unusual. His personality must have been extremely charismatic. It is not fair to say that something may have been wrong with Indis for loving Finwe even while he was married to Miriel. Her love was undoubtedly natural and pure. There is never a hint of any sign of shadow or corruption in either Finwe or Indis in the stories concerning their marriage. Rather, their marriage is recognized as a sign of healing in Finwe's grief over Miriel's death and refusal to return to life. Although the narrative says things would have been better for the Noldor in general had Finwe not remarried, the love he and Indis shared seems to have been as strong and natural as the love that any normal first marriage among the Eldar would have been founded upon.

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