Finrod

Finrod, or Finrod Felagund, was the King of Nargothrond. [1] He belongs to the Noldor Elves of House Finarfin, born in the land of Aman. His parents were Finarfin and his wife Earwen, and he was the oldest of their children. His siblings were Aegnor, Angrod, and Galadriel. In the latter part of the First Age, he was the first Elf to be raised back to life by the Valar. They permitted his revival due to his heroic deeds against the Oath of Feanor. He also helped in retrieving the Silmaril. Then he sacrificed himself to rescue Beren, which resulted in his death. He maintained a good relationship with the race of Men throughout his lifetime and one of the closest friends of Men.

Finrod is a Sindarin name that originated from his Telerin name Findaráto, a Quenya word which means Finwe's powerful descendant. He used the complete name Finrod Felagund. The Dwarves who worked on the carvings and design of the caverns of Nargothrond named him Felagund as an Epessë or honorary title. It is from the term felak-gundu, meaning cave carver, from the Khuzdul language (the Dwarvish tongue) and combined with Sindarin as Felagund. Ingoldo, meaning the Noldor, is Finrod's mother-name. The House of Beor also referred to him with different names such as Nomin (defined as the wise one), Nom (which means wisdom), and Edennil (Sindarin) or Atandil (Quenya), both translated as a fellow of men.

He was born in Aman at the time of their residence in Valinor. He is of the House of Finarfin, a clan of the Noldor Elves. He kept a well-maintained connection with the House of Fingolfin, especially with Turgon. He disapproved of Feanor and his sons when they revolted against the Valar in the Oath of Feanor, and departed for Middle-earth to retake the Silmarils. But during the Noldorin exile, he decided to join the journey to Middle-earth. He longed to be with his kin and his friend Turgon, so he left Valinor with them. He did not know nor partake in the Noldor's Kinslaying in Alqualonde. During this time, he and his kin were trekking the Aramand. They were moving through the shores when they saw a character with a loud, powerful voice announcing the Prophecy of the North. Because of this, Finarfin and most of his kin turned back to Tirion. But Finrod persisted with the Elves of Fingolfin towards Middle-earth.

They eventually reached Middle-earth and settled in its lands. In the Pass of Sirion, he established the grand tower of Minas Tirith. During FA 50, Finrod and Turgon sailed along the River Sirion and rested on the riverbanks. The Vala Ulmo informed them through a dream of the Tumladen valley and the concealed domain of Nargothrond. And so Finrod searched for it, and underneath Taur-en-Faroth, he found a network of caverns. He established Nargothrond as his realm and became its king. The Dwarves from the Blue Mountains assisted him in carving and enhancing the cave kingdom. Because of this, Finrod repaid them with Valinor's gems. The Dwarves crafted the Nauglamir necklace for him and named him Felagund, which means cave hewer.

Finrod was the first Noldorin Elf who encountered the race of Men. He met them as he was riding in Thargelion, in the region of East Beleriand. He interacted with them, taught them the Elvish Sindarin language, and learned their dialect as well. When Ossiriand's Laiquendi Elves knew of Men, they dreaded their presence as a danger to their domains. Beleriand's ruler King Thingol allowed him to take them in the land of Estolad, and he led the multitude of Men away from the Elves. He also became good friends with Andreth, a wise woman from the House of Beor. Around the Siege of Angband, he met with her to discuss the differences between the Eldar and Edain. During these encounters, their and Edwise conversations and views led to the writing of Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.

In the War of the Jewel's Dagor Bragollach, the House of Beor's Barahir rescued Finrod from certain death. For this deed, Finrod gifted him the Ring of Barahir as a symbol of lasting friendship between him and Barahir. Later it became the line's heirloom and eventually inherited by Aragorn. After many years, Beren, son of Barahir, traveled to Nargothrond and sought Finrod's help in the Quest for the Silmaril. To honor his bond with Barahir and return the favor of saving his life, he stepped down as king and accompanied Beren in his journey. The Sons of Feanor Curufin and Celegorm warned the other Elves in Nargothron not to participate in this, as they were residing in the realm when this happened. They dreaded Morgoth, and the quest somehow stirs their oath to retrieve the Silmaril. For this reason, many of the Elves of Nargothrond did not join. But Edrahil and another ten Elves were faithful to the king. With Edrahil as their leader, they accompanied Finrod in the quest to retrieve the Silmaril gems from Morgoth.

Using his power, Finrod concealed all the identities of the company as protection. But Sauron subdued and imprisoned Finrod, Edrahil, and the ten Elves of Nargothrond. He kept them in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, [2] once Minas Tirith, the same tower that Finrod developed long ago. Sauron and Finrod fought through their powers transformed into music. Yet even with Finrod's strength and prominence, Sauron lured him with a deceitful scheme and defeated him. Still, he could not identify them even when he unveiled the concealment Finrod placed upon them. And so he confined them to ascertain their character and intentions. Then he attempted to force them by letting his wolf beast ravage and feast on each of them. However, none of them gave in. Sauron dealt with Finrod after all the others sensing, he is an important Elf Lord because of his might and prowess. When the werewolf turned to Beren, Finrod broke his chains apart and slew the beast with his own hands.

The wolf creature also gravely injured him, and he died soon after. He repaid the heir of Barahir with his own life, and Beren succeeded in retrieving one of the Silmarils. According to the Silmarillion, they laid Felagund's remnant upon a hill on his island, cleansed once more. The verdant ground, where the most wonderful of all Elven princes laid, Finrod the son of Finarfin, lasted until the place was different and destroyed, and the seas engulfed the land into the deeps. But the book unveiled that Finrod still accompanies his father Finarfin as they under the Eldamar trees, and he was alive again in Valinor.

During his time in Aman, Finrod fell in love with Amarie, a Vanyar Elf-maiden who remained in Valinor upon his departure for Middle-earth. For this reason, Finrod remained unmarried throughout his life. But the Lay of Lethian revealed that Finrod came back to live again in Aman. It detailed that he accompanied his father once more under the Eldamar trees and lived with Amarie. Mandos previously prophesied that all the Noldor who forsook Aman would never again come back from the Halls of Mandos, the dwelling place of Elves who passed away. With his bravery and noble actions, Finrod was the only Elf permitted to live again in Valinor. And so he lived from then on in the Undying Lands with his family and his beloved.

1. ^Lord of Nargothrond.
2. ^Tol-in-Gaurhoth.