How many lived in each of the Fëanorian settlements on average?

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

We know the Fëanorian group was smaller than the one led by Fingolfin. So, depending on each factors, the weather of the settlement and the safety of which could lead to more elflings being born, how many lived in each settlement on average?

 

[Vorondil]

how many lived in each settlement on average?

I'm joking by the way.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

View attachment 31097
I'm joking by the way.

Maedhros, shedding a single tear and smiling through pain: how I wished.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

You'd probably need to come up with a few different numbers before that.
How many Noldor successfully crossed over to Beleriand in total, how many of this number were following Fëanor, and how many survived the wars and skirmishes between their arrival and the point of time you're wondering about. There'd be a big difference before and after the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, for example.
You'd also need to account for how well they are replacing their numbers with the children being born to them. No doubt most children were born in the long period of peace before the Dagor Bragollach.

The Silmarillion does have something to say about the size of Gondolin. Turgon took with him a third of the Noldor of Fingolfin's following, and a 'yet greater host of the Sindar'. (From the chapter 'Of the Noldor in Beleriand')

So Noldorin settlements may well include Sindar. And Men, later on.

Also, settlements come in different sizes. You'd need to put a larger proportion of the people in the main fortresses and cities, such as Himring and the fortifications of the Pass of Aglon. Then look at the remaining number of people, and decide how many settlements they were likely to live in. Were they more scattered, or did they remain in larger groups? This would be partly dependent on the resources present for them to easily live off, and the safety of the location.

But you can skip all this, and leave the Fëanorian numbers deliberately vague. Just pick the number of people you want the settlement to have, (perhaps basing it on real-world villages or fortresses), and don't mention the other settlements. Take a settlement of 300 people, for example. Earlier on in the story, this could be a small village, or after a few of the disastrous battles, it could be a decently-sized outpost.

This page could help you come up with numbers. Apparently London in the 800s (early medieval period) might have had 10 000 - 12 000 people (obviously this is estimation).

Historical urban community sizes - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I personally prefer leaving settlement sizes deliberately vague. Especially as the Silmarillion was written to be more legend than history.

I don't think this answers the question, but it does show that estimating population is not that easy. And I don't know if Tolkien specified population numbers or the size of Noldor armies at any point.

 

[Glorfindel Goldtress]

I agree with SRG! Vagueness is the name of the game. I don't know if we really have the ability to actually accurate estimate the numbers, but imagination is fun to use at times in situations like these. Tolkien was all about the imagination!

Especially as the Silmarillion was written to be more legend than history.

Excepting this, however, the Sil is a history book; Tolkien takes a historian perspective with mythological elements throughout.