BittenBuggy
Joined: 27 Dec 2003
Posts: 2108
Location: Busy Being the Queen Of Everything.. And Trying to Catch the Yoda-Copter
|
 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 10:44 pm Post subject: An Eternal Bond? |
 |
|
This has plagued me since I can remember. Elves are supposed to bond for life, or eternity rather. And even if their mate dies, they do not take another. Why then does Finwë marry again!?! 
_________________
-The Queen of Everything - so dubed by Aerin
-"My ultimate fantasy is to entice a man to my bedroom, put a gun to his head and say, 'Make babies or die'."
-"The Pope! how many divisions has he got?" - Stalin |
|
PoweroftheBook
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Posts: 80
Location: Appalachin Mountains of North Carolina
|
| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Finwe was a major exception - and the Valar and Illuvatar debated over this for quite some time. It is detailed to a large extent in Morgoth's Ring, which I don't have handy, but I'll try and give the salient points.
Finwe's first wife, Miriel, gave too much of her spirit in giving birth to Feanor. Finding life unbearable, she accepted the call into the Halls of Mandos to be healed of her earthly hurts.
Finwe, left with a newborn son, grieved for his wife for a long time. Meanwhile, Indis, who probably had the hots for Finwe before Miriel was dead, began a courtship with Finwe. Here, Finwe was left at an impasse. On one hand, he wanted nothing more than to stay faithful to Miriel and turn away Indis. On the other hand, Miriel was showing no signs of wanting to be reborn to Arda to rejoin him in life, and Finwe, who wanted to be there for the Elves he ruled, and for his son, began to be tempted by the thought of companionship.
The Valar debated for a long time, and finally, with Miriel's blessing, agreed to the marriage on the terms that both wives would never inhabit the same realm at once with Finwe. So when Finwe was murdered by Morgoth, he was reunited with Miriel in the Halls of Mandos, and Indis had to stay behind in Valinor.
This was, however, the only case of remarriage, since many Elves, including Finwe's son by Miriel, Feanor, strongly disagreed with this ruling. Feeling that Finwe's desires had trapped Miriel in the Halls of Mandos eternally, he resented his father for quite some time, and this resentment stretched to Finwe's children by Indis. This, in turn, resulted in years of discord and Kinslaying between these two lines.
In other words, it happened once, and upon seeing the messy results, the Valar decided not issue such dispensation in the future.
Hope that answered it for you!
The Power of the Book  |
|
Live Journal Feed
