Finarfin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium
Name Finarfin
Other names Arafinwë
Titles King of the Aulëndur
Race Elves
Culture Noldor, House of Finwë
Date of birth Y.T. 4730
Date of death Y.S. ? Did Not Die
Realm Tirion
Book(s) The Silmarillion

Finarfin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, featured in The Silmarillion.

Contents

[edit] Family

He was the third son and youngest child of Finwë. Finarfin's mother was Indis. His half-brother was Fëanor and his full brother Fingolfin. His sisters were Findis and Irimë. He married Eärwen, princess of the Teleri. He had four children: Finrod Felagund, Angrod, Aegnor and Galadriel. Orodreth appears as one of Finarfin's sons in the published Silmarillion. In Tolkien's later writings however he clearly is Angrod's son. Christopher Tolkien used an older form in the Silmarillion, but later described this as a mistake.[1] Finarfin was said to be the fairest and wisest of Finwë's sons. Like all of Finwë's sons, Finarfin founded his own house. Uniquely among the Noldor he and his descendants all had golden hair inherited from his mother, so his house was sometimes called "The Golden House of Finarfin".

[edit] Eventual fate

After the death of Finwë, he departed with his brothers Fëanor and Fingolfin for Middle-earth, but turned back when Mandos pronounced the Doom of the Noldor. Finarfin became King of the residual Noldor and presumably still rules from Tirion on Túna. He was the captain of the Noldor of Aman in the decisive War of Wrath against Morgoth.

Preceded by
Fingolfin
High King of the Noldor (in Valinor)
Y.S. 455 - Y.S.  Fourth Age
Succeeded by
None

[edit] Trivia

  • In Tolkien's fictional language of Quenya, his name is Arafinwë, "Noble-Finwë".
  • Finarfin was called Finrod in earlier versions of the Middle-earth mythology, and his son Finrod Felagund Inglor Felagund. As such he appears in the first edition of The Lord of the Rings as Finrod. This was changed in later editions, but not all references to Inglor were removed: see Gildor Inglorion.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien (1996), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Peoples of Middle-earth, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, The Shibboleth of Fëanor, 349-351, ISBN 0-395-82760-4