Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 6

It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 6

© Michael Martinez

To a lesser extent, the division over the pronunciation must have influenced the other Noldor not merely to support Finwe and Fingolfin. It must have forced them into an "us and them" frame of mind. One either followed Feanor or one followed Finwe and Fingolfin. Subsequently, Finwe's prestige among the Noldor must have been diminished. He was, after all, dishonoring his own son by not supporting Feanor. It must have been a proud moment for the Feanorians when Finwe departed from TIrion to live with his son in exile. Although Finwe's role in the dispute between Feanor and Fingolfin is silent, it would be only a small leap of the imagination to color him vexed as, when he tries to restore peace between his sons, he finds the Valar have stepped in to deliver their own justice. Then, to add injury to insult, they exile his son, disregarding anything he may have said on Feanor's behalf (not to mention Fingolfin's own attempt at reconciliation). Admittedly, drawing a sword on your brother in public is a pretty nasty piece of business. But Finwe's authority was compromised. He was not permitted to dispense justice within his own family, much less among his own people. Finwe's act of rebellion was the true beginning of the rebellion of Feanor, despite all the conflicts which had preceded it. Melkor's meddling may have inflamed the Noldor's pride, but it was ultimately the Valar's own decision to exile Feanor from Tirion which set the final sequence of events into motion. Which is not to say the rebellion would not have occurred otherwise. Feanor may eventually have been pushed over the edge regardless of what happened. Melkor's murder of Finwe threw Feanor into the final deep funk which resulted in what could be characterized as his madness. Feanor lost all rational perspective, and because he had been honing his powers of persuasion through the years, and because the Noldor were a nation grieving over the entirely unexpected death of their king and the loss of the Two Trees, Feanor had the perfect moment to infect his people with his madness. The dynamic of the Finwean personality cult, as it were, was thus founded upon a strong emotional bond between the kings and the people. Feanor had alienated most of the Noldor by the time Melkor murdered Finwe, but misery loves company and Feanor had plenty of company after Melkor and Ungoliant killed the Two Trees and raided Formenos. All of Finwe's just and popular decisions through the equivalent of thousands of years had prepared the way for Feanor's emotional appeal. He may have had the powers of an incredible motivational speaker to begin with, but Feanor probably could not have swayed the Noldor to join him at any other time in their history. Finwe's death and the way Melkor had caught the Valar completely off guard in their own realm must have shaken the Noldor's faith in Manwe and Varda.

The copyright of the article It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 6 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish It's All in the Family: The Finweans - Page 6 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.