[inglor]

I was reading a bio of a character on HASA the other day and something occured to me. Here is the entry for Amarie:

According to the Quenta Silmarillion, Ch. 15, Of the Noldor in Beleriand, Amarië did not follow Finrod into exile. The Grey Annals (War of the Jewels, HoMe 11) add to this that she wasn't permitted to follow him. In the Shibboleth of Fëanor (The Peoples of Middle Earth, HoMe 12), we read that 'Finrod left his wife in Valinor and had no children in exile'. No name is given here, but it seems likely that this refers to to Amarië. Whether 'no children in exile' means they did have children in Valinor remains a matter of conjecture.
After his death Finrod went to the Halls of Mandos, 'but it is said that released soon from Mandos, he went to Valinor and there dwells with Amarië (Grey Annals, see above).

Now in the Sil we are led to believe that Finrod was a batchelor but in earlier writings he is specifically stated as married to Amarie and a vague reference that he might have a child or children in Valinor. In the Sil, after his death, he is stated to be "Walking under the trees of Eldamar with his father" (or something close to that) and no reference to Finrod being married to Amarie can be found except that she was his love. What is canon? Finrod is married or not?

Do you think Christopher made the change for publishing for continuity purposes or does it appear different in later writings? I know publishing the Sil was a monumental task but I wonder how much of Christopher is in the Sil...

Thoughts, observations?


Inglor

[Andreth]

Geesh, you couldn't ask about something simple, could you?

To my understanding, Tolkien wrote two forms of the history of the Elder Days, the Quenta Silmarillion and the Grey Annals/History of Beleriand, and both of course had different versions. These different versions are given in The Shaping of Middle-earth (HoMe V), War of the Jewels (XI) and Peoples of Middle-earth (XII). Feanor's left-behind love, Amarie, and their walking beneath the trees of Eldamar (or wherever it was) is mentioned in all of the early versions. Tolkien worked on the first versions in the 1930s and then again in the 1950s after LotR was published.

Later when he started changing around Gil-galad's parentage and the family trees Finrod/Felagund/Inglor's wife disappeared. But in 1965 when he changed Gil-galad's parentage for the last time he wanted to move things around and apparently recalled his earlier version of Finrod's love. So then things changed to Finrod having no children in exile because he left his wife in Valinor, then Orodreth moved from being Finrod's son to being his brother's son. Chris Tolkien admits to having edited Finrod's name to read 'Fingon' in the final text, because it looks to me to have been the simplest way to wrap things up.

To my knowledge (and I could be wrong) the part about who Finrod was walking under the trees with was changed from Amarie to his father, and as to whether or not his having a wife is canon, well that all depends on what you think canon is. If you think canon is the published Silm, then Finrod wasn't married, but if you think the Silm to be an edited version of HoMe then you have a few versions to choose from, the last of which, chronologically, is that Finrod had a wife in Valinor and had no children 'in exile', whatever interpretation you want to make of that.

Then we still have the mystery of Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod. I figure he was either Finrod's son or his descendant and he came to ME with or around the time as Glorfindel in the Second Age, but that's just my opinion, since that's about the time the Valar started sending out their emissaries.

[inglor]

And that my friends is our lovely Andreth-Anna come to the rescue.
I was hoping this would get her attention

I like the HoME verison of Finrod, more fun that way. That seems to be the version that Tolkien "scholars" tend to go with, and then there is the fun to be had with Gildor... I think there is a fic with just that theory in use.

Thank you Anna.

Amazing what changing three letters can do.

I wonder how much "wrapping up" Christopher did. I like what he did with Celebrimbor but not Finrod.

Inglor

[Andreth]

You're very welcome, Inglor. But you're very cruel in taking advantage of my OC inability to leave a forum question unanswered. I try to ignore them, honest I do. I need a 12-step program or something.

You'll have to send me a link or the name of that story about Gildor. I've always wanted to read a story explaining his Finrod connection.