Finarfin is a Nandor

[Elmo]

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

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I would have thought that Finarfin's reasoning was obvious

But in that hour Finarfin forsook the march, and turned back, being filled with grief, and with bitterness against the House of Fëanor, because of his kinship with Olwë of Alqualondë; and many of his people went with him, retracing their steps in sorrow...

Of the Flight of the Noldor

Throughout the events of the Noldor's fall, Finarfin is always the voice of reason. So it is that when Fëanor and his sons make their oath, while Fingolfin and Turgon speak directly against Fëanor, coming close to actual combat, it is Finarfin who turns to persuasion:

But Finarfin spoke softly, as was his wont, and sought to calm the Noldor, persuading them to pause and ponder ere deeds were done that could not be undone; and Orodreth, alone of his sons, spoke in like manner.

We can already see that Finarfin has deep reservations about the war against Morgoth. Having failed to hold the Noldor back from their march, he then tries to convince them at least to prepare themselves properly first:

At length after long debate Fëanor prevailed, and the greater part of the Noldor there assembled he set aflame with the desire of new things and strange countries. Therefore when Finarfin spoke yet again for heed and delay, a great shout went up: 'Nay, let us be gone!'

Fingolfin and Finarfin are, in fact, extremely reluctant to follow Fëanor's lead, being suspicious of his oath and uncertain of success. Fingolfin is persuaded to march against his better judgement by his own oath to Fëanor earlier in the same chapter ('Thou shalt lead and I shall follow') and the promptings of Fingon, but also because he is reluctant to leave the Noldor under the command of the unreliable Fëanor. Finarfin's reasons are much the same as his brother's, but he is portrayed throughout as being the less warlike of the two, and without the fiery rhetoric to oppose Fëanor. Of the two, Fingolfin is more likely to be able to sway the Noldor to wiser courses.

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:

This oath we will keep. We are threatened with many evils, and treason not least; but one thing is not said: that we shall suffer from cravens or the fear of cravens. Therefore I say that we will go on, and this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.

It is only after this unrepentant response to the judgement of the Valar that Finarfin finally gives up the march in disgust. Presumably he realises that Fëanor is beyond reason, that he will not be swayed by any amount of good advice. Fingolfin is a better choice to oppose Fëanor's excesses, because Fingolfin has more of a fiery spirit than his brother, and in any case he is bound by his word. Finarfin, however, never agreed with the march forth, he is a friend of Olwë of the Teleri, whose people have been ravaged for their ships and he seems by now to be resigned to the idea that the Noldor are doomed. We should not forget that he takes back a large number of Noldor with him, who would otherwise have to suffer the Helcaraxë and the eventual triumph of Morgoth, and that all of the Noldor who carry on with the march do so against his advice. He has been the least selfish of the leaders, since he was prepared to follow Fëanor for his brother's sake until the Kinslaying opened his eyes to the road his people were taking.

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.