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03-10-2007, 02:31 PM | #1 |
Pittodrie Poltergeist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: trying to find that warm and winding lane again
Posts: 633
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Finarfin is a Nandor
No, don't think I've found yet another major alteration Tolkien made to his life's work in his later life but, by Eru, there are plenty of those
Yet technically Finarfin is a Nandor because 'Nandor' means 'those who turn back'. He turned back on the March of the Noldor after the rape of the silmarils. I just want to examine his motives for doing so. Clearly he did not want to displease the Valar but surely he must have known he was risking doing so for marching in the first place. He only turned his back on the march when the Doom of Mandos was read out. Does this mean he was afraid of what would happen to him if he continued on the march, yet I'm sure Tolkien mentioned that all of the Noldor who turned his back on the march did not do so due to fear of the dangers on the road. Did he think that the Noldor back in Tirion needed him as a king. But surely he was much more needed by the other Noldor who were going to fight in a massive war compared to the Tirion Noldor who were just doing what they had been doing for thousands of years. Drinking Pina Coladas on Eldamar beach I would think, as a father, he would have wanted to stay with his sons to try and protect them from any harm. (They themselves had much less reason for going - their friendship of the sons of Fingolfin I believe it was) Perhaps he just did not want to be separated from the bliss of Aman, becuase his folk kept looking back on the march missing their former lives. So was Finarfin selfish? He could have done great good in Beleriand, perhaps bettering the relationship between the Noldor and the Sindar (Whose poor relationship was a great cause of the failure of the Noldor in the War of the Jewels) being the wife of a Teleri. My longest post ever hope it makes sense
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As Beren looked into her eyes within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies he saw there mirrored shimmering. Last edited by hewhoarisesinmight; 03-10-2007 at 02:43 PM. |
03-10-2007, 03:38 PM | #2 | ||||
Spectre of Decay
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Finarfin the Conscientious Objector
I would have thought that Finarfin's reasoning was obvious
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This, then, is the situation before the Kinslaying. The order of march is extremely significant here, since it follows the attitudes in the debate: first is Fëanor with his followers: hot-headed, impatient and short of forward planning. After them is Fingolfin's vanguard under Fingon, who also wants to return to Beleriand. Then come Fingolfin and Finarfin, with more followers and rather less enthusiasm. Of these, Fëanor and his followers begin the Kinslaying, Fingon and his join it because they support their fellow Noldor without knowing how the fight began, but Fingolfin and Finarfin are not mentioned in the account of the battle (published Silmarillion) and therefore can be assumed to arrive too late to take part. I think it significant that Finarfin's turning back is separated from the announcement of the Prophecy of the North by Fëanor's defiant speech: Quote:
To be honest, I doubt that the quiet, reasonable character that Tolkien presents would have been able to make as big a difference as his brother. When hot-heads like Fëanor and his sons are the leaders, the voice of reason may as well not bother to speak, and in a doomed enterprise no amount of successful diplomacy will work. Make no mistake, Morgoth is more powerful than the Noldor and Sindar, even if they form a solid alliance. He is guaranteed eventually to beat any of the Eldar who try to fight him unless they have the help of the Valar. As soon as the Prophecy of the North is declared, we know that Fëanor's expedition will be a tragic failure, and one companion more or less will not make a difference.
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Man kenuva métim' andúne? Last edited by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh; 03-15-2007 at 06:39 AM. Reason: Noticed a grammatical error. Fixed now |
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