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House of Finarfin

Heraldic device of the House of Finarfin

The House of Finarfin was a noble house of the Ñoldorin Elves, which consisted descendants and followers of Finarfin, the youngest son of King Finwë. In Middle-earth, it was also sometimes referred to as the House of Finrod.

This House was chiefly recognizable by the golden hair of its dynasts due to their half-Vanyarin heritage from Finarfin's mother, Indis.

History[]

The House of Finarfin was a branch of the Ñoldorin royal house formed by Finarfin, the third son of King Finwë and his second wife Indis of the Vanyar. Finarfin alone of his siblings inherited the Vanyarin features of his mother, including golden hair, and many of his descendants shared this trait. The descendants of Finarfin were also notable for possessing the blood of all three Elven clans having inherited blood of the Ñoldor and Vanyar from Finarfin himself and Telerin blood from his wife Eärwen, daughter of King Olwë of Alqualondë.[1] They married in YT 1280, while their four children were born between YT 1300 and 1362.[2][3]

Elena Kukanova - Lord of the Third House in Middle-Earth

Finarfin bids farewell to his children and gives his ring to Finrod, by Elena Kukanova

During the Exile of the Ñoldor, Finarfin initially led a host of his people in seeking to leave Valinor for Middle-earth. However, Finarfin ultimately repented after hearing the Doom of Mandos and turned back in horror at his brother Fëanor's actions in leading the kinslaying of Eärwen’s people. Thereafter, Finarfin was reckoned the King of the Ñoldor who remained in Valinor.[4]

However, all of Finarfin’s children, while also horrified by Fëanor, continued on because of their friendship with the House of Fingolfin and because their hearts desired realms to rule and order as they pleased in Middle-earth. For this reason, the House of Finarfin was sometimes referred to as the House of Finrod because it was Finarfin’s eldest son Finrod who led it in Middle-earth.[4]

In the lands of Beleriand, the children of Finarfin and Eärwen, alone amongst the great lords of the Ñoldor, were permitted to enter the realm of Doriath in light of their kinship with King Elu Thingol through their mother, his niece.[5]

During the Siege of Angband, Finrod constructed the realm of Nargothrond and reigned as King of that great city. After taking up the kingship of Nargothrond, Finrod appointed his nephew Orodreth as warden of his former seat on Tol Sirion. During those years, Finrod's younger brothers Angrod (father of Orodreth) and Aegnor held the highlands of Dorthonion against Angband. The youngest child of Finarfin, Galadriel, who were considered the greatest of elven women and greatest of the Ñoldor except perhaps for Fëanor,[6] dwelt with her eldest brother, but eventually wed the Sindarin prince Celeborn and relocated to Doriath, where she was tutored by Queen Melian of the Maiar.[5]

Filat - One of the House of Finarfin

A Bannerman of the House of Finarfin, by Marya Filatova

Angrod and Aegnor were both killed at the Dagor Bragollach, and Orodreth was forced out of Tol Sirion by the forces of Morgoth and sought refuge with Finrod. In FA 465,[7] Finrod passed on the regency of Nargothrond to Orodoreth in order to fulfil his oath to the House of Bëor.[8][9] After Finrod’s death, Orodreth became King of Nargothrond, but was killed a few short years later at the Sack of Nargothrond along with his daughter Finduilas.[10] However, his son Gil-galad survived thanks to that he was taken as a ward by Círdan at the Falas much earlier. After the Fall of Gondolin and death of its king Turgon, the High Kingship of the Ñoldor passed from the House of Fingolfin to Gil-galad of the House of Finarfin as the senior male line descendant of Finwë still living in Middle-earth.[6][11] Later, during the War of Wrath at the very end of the First Age, King Finarfin led the Noldor as part of the Host of the West against Morgoth, but eventually returned to Valinor as the War was ended by the final defeat of the Dark Lord.[12]

Kip Rasmussen - Sauron Faces Elendil and Gil galad on the Slopes of Orodruin

Gil-galad (right) and Elendil stand against Sauron, by Kip Rasmussen

After Morgoth's overthrow, Gil-galad led his people out of Beleriand and set up a realm in Lindon where he reigned longer than any previous King of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth. During the Second Age, the House of Finarfin continued through the birth of Galadriel's daughter Celebrían. However, Gil-galad himself never married and thus remained childless.[13]

After the forging of the Rings of Power, Gil-galad was gifted Vilya and Galadriel was gifted Nenya because they were considered the mightiest of the Eldar and best placed to protect the rings from Sauron. While Gil-galad passed Vilya on to Elrond before his death at the end of the War of the Last Alliance, Galadriel continued to wield Nenya through the Third Age as the ruling Lady of Lothlórien. During this Age, the line of Finarfin continued with the births of Elrohir, Elladan and Arwen to Celebrían. At the same time, the House of Finarfin’s followers appeared be among the wandering companies of Eldar tarrying in Middle-earth given that Gildor Inglorion claimed to be of the House of Finrod.[13]

Regardless, the House of Finarfin appeared to finally pass back over the Great Sea at the very beginning of the Fourth Age, when Galadriel was permitted to saile west. However, Arwen chose to become mortal, wedding King Elessar, and thus the noble blood of the House of Finarfin continued in Middle-earth through her son Eldarion and his descendants.[13]

House of Finarfin[]

The Heraldic Device of the House of Finarfin
The Heraldic Device of King Finrod of Nargothrond
The Heraldic Device of High King Gil-galad

Finwë
   
   
Indis
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Fingolfin
   
   
Finarfin
   
   
Eärwen
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Finrod
   
   
Angrod
   
   
Eðellos
   
   
Aegnor
   
   
Galadriel
   
   
Celeborn
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Orodreth
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Celebrían
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
Finduilas
   
   
   
   
   
   
Gil-galad


Etymology[]

Finarfin did not come to Middle-earth, but his children were called collectively by the Sindar as "the children of Finarfin", in Sindarin Nost Finarfin ("the house/family of Finarfin").[6]

Other versions[]

In earlier stage of Tolkien's legendarium, Finrod was the name for Finarfin, so his House was called Nos Finrod ("House of Finrod").[14]

In the published Silmarillion, Orodreth and Gil-galad were mentioned as the second son of Finarfin and son of Fingon of the House of Fingolfin respectively. Christopher Tolkien recognized these statements as editorial mistakes from his part, and according to the final decision of J.R.R. Tolkien, Orodreth was actually the grandson of Finarfin through Angrod and his wife Eðellos, while Gil-galad was Orodreth's son instead of Fingon's and thus brother to Finduilas.[6]

Behind the Scenes[]

Due to the Ñoldorin-Vanyarin intermarriages, it is suggested by some Tolkien fans that the golden-haired Ñoldo Glorfindel might be a distant dynast of the House of Finarfin.[15]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Afrikaans Huis van Finarfin
Albanian Shtëpia e Finarfinit
Alemannic German Huus Finarfin
Arabic بيت فينارفين
Armenian Ֆինարֆինի տուն
Assamese ফিনাৰফিন পৰিয়াল
Asturian Casa de Finarfin
Azerbaijani Finarfinın sülaləsi
Belarusian Cyrillic Дом Фінарфіна
Bengali ফিনারফিনের পরিবার
Bosnian Kuća Finarfinova
Breton Tiegezh Finarfin
Bulgarian Cyrillic Дом Финарфин
Catalan Casa de Finarfin
Cebuano Balay ni Finarfin
Croatian Dom Finarfinova
Czech Dům Finarfinova
Danish Huset Finarfin
Dutch Huis Finarfin
Esperanto Domo de Finarfin
Estonian Finarfini maja
Faroese Hús Finarfin
Filipino Kabahay ng Finarfin
Finnish Finarfinin huone
French Maison de Finarfin
Galician Casa de Finarfin
Georgian ფინარფინის სახლი
German Haus Finarfin
Greek Οίκος του Φινάρφιν
Gujarati ફિનરફિન વંશ
Hindi फ़िनर्फ़िन राजवंश
Hebrew בית פינארפין
Hungarian Finarfin-ház
Icelandic Hús Finarfin
Indonesian Wangsa Finarfin
Irish Gaelic Teaghlach na mFinarfin
Italian Casa di Finarfin
Japanese フィナルフィン王家
Kannada ಫಿನಾರ್ಫಿನ್ ರಾಜವಂಶ
Kazakh Финарфин әулеті (Cyrillic) Fïnarfïn äwleti (Latin)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Финарфин үйү
Latin Domus Finarfin
Latvian Finarfina māja
Lithuanian Finarfino namai
Luxembourgish Haus Finarfin
Macedonian Cyrillic Династија Финарфин
Malayalam ഫിനാർഫിൻ രാജവംശം
Malaysian Wangsa Finarfin
Marathi फिनारफिनचे घराणे
Nepalese फिनारफिनको वंश
Norwegian Huset Finarfin
Occitan Ostal de Finarfin
Pashto د فینارفین لړۍ
Persian دودمان فینارفین
Portuguese Casa de Finarfin
Punjabi ਫਿਨਾਰਫਿਨ ਰਾਜਵੰਸ਼
Romanian Casa de Finarfin
Russian Дом Финарфина
Род Финарфина
Sardinian Càusa de Finarfin
Scots Hoose o Finarfin
Scottish Gaelic Taigh Finarfin
Serbian Кућа Финарфину (Cyrillic) Kuća Finarfinu (Latin)
Sicilian Casa di Finarfin
Sindhi فائنرفين خاندان
Sinhalese ෆිනාර්ෆින් රාජවංශය
Slovak Dom Finarfina
Slovenian Hiša Finarfina
Spanish Casa de Finarfin
Swahili Nasaba ya Finarfin
Swedish Huset Finarfin
Tamil ஃபினார்பின் வழி
Telugu ఫినార్ఫిన్ రాజవంశం
Thai ราชวงศ์'ฟินาร์ฟิน
Turkish Finarfin Hanedanı
Turkmen Finarfin maşgalasy
Ukrainian Cyrillic Дім Фінарфіна
Urdu خاندان فینارفین
Uzbek Финарфин сулоласи (Cyrillic) Finarfin sulolasi (Latin)
Venetian Casa de Finarfin
Vietnamese Nhà Finarfin
Yiddish פֿינאַרפֿינ הויז

References[]

  1. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V: "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
  2. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman
  3. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Later Quenta Silmarillion
  4. 4.0 4.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
  5. 5.0 5.1 The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIV: "Of Beleriand and its Realms"
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, The Shibboleth of Fëanor
  7. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals
  8. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVIII: "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
  9. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX: "Of Beren and Lúthien"
  10. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXI: "Of Túrin Turambar"
  11. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIII: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
  12. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
  14. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Etymologies
  15. The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, entry G
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