Who was the High King? by AndyC

Chapter 3

Herucalmo belatedly continued talking.  Kano – Maglor – had to have noticed his discomfiture.  “And… and even Finrod’s nephew, Orodreth, had perished by now.  But Orodreth was survived by a son, which is why it went to him.”

“A half-Sindarin son, at that.”  Kano commented.

“Which, according to my tutor,” said Herucalmo, “Might actually have helped him unite the surviving Elves of Beleriand under his High Kingship.  Noldor and Sindar alike dwell in Lindon under Gil-galad.”

“True,” conceded Maglor.  “However – can you explain exactly how you see the High-Kingship descending through all those… imaginative… steps?”

Herucalmo lifted an eyebrow.  “Through eldest son to eldest son, of course.  And then, when the line fails, back up to the eldest brother of a King who last had a brother, and descending through him.”

“Ah.  With the exception of the Dispossessed, of course,” said Maglor.

“Of course, abdication can be allowed.”  Herucalmo frowned.  “Although we don’t have quite the same thing.  A male Heir can pass on the Sceptre to his own heir immediately of course, and his reign is deemed to have lasted for a nominal year, but a female Heir can reject the Heirship entirely.”

Maglor shook his head.  “The contortions you Edain follow, sometimes.”

“I take it that this is not how the High Kingship passed?”  Herucalmo felt another surge of excitement.  Of course – Maglor himself had briefly been High King of the Noldor in Middle-Earth.  When Maedhros had been captured, and before he’d been freed by Fingon.

Maglor shook his head, slowly.  “I think your entire viewpoint is coloured by the fact that you are not Elven,” he said.  “You see – Elves aren’t supposed to die.”

“I know that!”  Herucalmo was surprised at the bitterness in his own voice.  “We are Doomed and you are not.”

Maglor held his gaze, levelly.  “I might disagree with which of us, precisely, is Doomed, but let it be.  Elves die only by mischance, and, in Aman, at least, that should be temporary.  When the discussion first arose on Death in Aman – after the death of the Lady Miriel – certain considerations were made and agreed.  Should an Elf be killed – by a fall, by drowning, by any sort of accident – we knew they should return, in time, from the Halls of Mandos.  However, their possessions and their responsibilities would endure until they were able to return to take them up once more.”

In spite of himself, Herucalmo was fascinated.

“In the very rare cases where that would happen, it was decided that the Eldest of the House in question would take guardianship of the House until the fallen Elda would return.”

Maglor looked distant.  “When Finwe was slain, Feanor ensured that he would be the one to take charge of the entire House.  There could have been some uncertainty.  After all, this was not talking about buildings or possessions – it was the authority of the Finwe himself.  And Finwe had become the leader of the Second Clan by acclamation.  There had been no ‘inheritance’ involved ever before.”

“And Fingolfin had been deputising for Finwe beforehand, right?”  Herucalmo was proud of his recollection.

Maglor nodded.  “Feanor feared that Fingolfin could be named leader by acclamation, or by being regarded as the Finwion most skilled and used to the roles of leadership.  He insisted – loudly and publicly – that the right of leadership would descend as the right of guardianship of the House.  His speech at Tirion…”  Maglor’s eyes were fixed on a far point again.

“In any case, things were not quite settled.  The Ngoldor were split.  Some looked to Feanor; others to Fingolfin.  Even in the camp of the latter, some looked to Finarfin and his eldest son.  There was no tradition of inheritance of the High Kingship, and the Ngoldor were, at that point, split.”

“And then, after…”  Maglor choked for a moment.  “After we came to the shores of Middle-Earth, and lost our… lost our King.  After that, Maedhros assumed the leadership of those of us who were left – by all rights.  The eldest of the House, the best at leadership – it was simple and clear.  But then he was lost, and then Fingolfin crossed the Ice.  We were in two armed camps, and another Kinslaying was very possible.  I – we – didn’t know how to heal the wounds.  Then Fingon rescued Maedhros, and…”

Herucalmo was hanging on to every word.  History had never been so vivid.

“Maedhros then solidified the rule.  He handed the crown to Fingolfin and said, ‘If there lay no grievance between us, lord, still the choice would come rightly to thee, the eldest here of the House of Finwe, and not the least wise’.”  Maglor looked at Herucalmo, as if to ask him if he could see the obvious.

Herucalmo thought for a long moment, and then his eyes widened in realisation.  “Of course!  Fingolfin, as well as being most qualified, was now the eldest of the House of Finwe!  The guardianship of the House – with Finwe gone – should be exercised by the eldest of the House.”

“The eldest here of the House.”  Maglor looked pleased, and nodded.

“Wasn’t he the eldest, in any case?”

“No.  He was, indeed, older than Maedhros and all of the rest of us, but he had an older sister.  Findis stayed behind.”

“But the High-Kingship never descended to a woman,” protested Herucalmo.  “And we can see why.  The High King in Beleriand needed to lead the armies – to be a warrior.  The Eldar traditionally do not have women as warriors.”

Maglor looked amused.  “Thank you for educating me on our traditions.”

Herucalmo flushed.

“Perhaps a woman would have had difficulty – although I would have liked to see anyone argue the case with Aredhel.  Or Galadriel, for that matter.”  Maglor looked pensive.  “Perhaps Findis might have insisted on pressing her case as Eldest of the House – but it wasn’t really in her nature, in any case.  She never really wanted power or authority.  Had she been of like temper to Galadriel, or to Aredhel, and therefore accompanied us into Exile… well, things may have been different.”

“So – the real rule was ‘Eldest of the House’, and that mutated to ‘Eldest male of the House’,” said Herucalmo, slowly. 

Maglor shrugged.  “If you insist.  It was never really tested.  Had Lalwen not died in the opening flames of the Bragollach, when she was visiting her nephews in their camp north of Dorthonion… you know, I’ve considered that his little sister’s death might have been the final straw that broke Fingolfin and drove him to his insane duel.”

“And after Fingolfin, Fingon inherited as the oldest left of the House – other than the Dispossessed Feanorians, of course,” murmured Herucalmo.  “And after him, it was naturally Turgon, and then Gil-galad was the final male of the House of Finwe left standing, so it had to be him.”