It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
The distinctive personality of Finwe must therefore have been conveyed to all of his children in one fashion or another. Growing up in the household of a leader whose people may have idolized him would have imbued Finwe's children with a sense of prestige. But seeing their father interact with his people as a leader, and undoubtedly hearing him lecture (as fathers are wont to do) on how to govern or lead people would have provided Feanor, Fingolfin, and Finarfin with a spectacular education in the Noldorin equivalent of the personality cult. Finwe must have been very good at judging the moods of others and figuring out how to get what he wanted. The Noldor thus developed a very close relationship with their king, much closer (it would seem) than that between the Vanyar and Ingwe or the Teleri and Elwe and Olwe.
However, Tolkien added a bit of linguistically inspired poliical division to the environment which produced the Finweans. That is, in "The Shibboleth of Feanor", Tolkien documents the conscious transition most of the Noldor undertook in their daily speech between use of one sound (þ, called a thorn, phonetically related to th) and another (s, which replaced the older sound). The Vanyar, who adhered to ancient practice, retained the older sound. Feanor adhered to it as a symbol of his love for his mother. Finwe, on the other hand, took up the new pronunciation, perhaps as a sign that he was moving on with his life. Indis took up the new pronunciation, too, because she felt she had joined the Noldor and should speak as they did.
Feanor's intransigence was derived in part from the stubborn nature he had inherited from his mother. But the Valar's decision to forbid Miriel's return to life in order to allow Finwe and Indis to marry led Feanor to conclude that Indis was the source of his unhappiness. He apparently did not attend the council where the Valar debated the pros and cons of allowing Finwe to take a second wife, so he did not understand that it was Miriel's intransigence which had led to the conundrum. The Valar wanted only what was just, and in their view (particularly Manwe's), Miriel was being too selfish. She had therefore forfeited all her rights as a living, incarnate being. All Feanor saw was the fact that he was never to speak with his mother again, which would seem (in his grief and anger) like a broken promise from the Valar. After all, the Elves were supposed to live with the life of Arda. Miriel should have been restored to life eventually. That was the natural state for an Elf.
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