Finrod: 30-Day Character Study - Study Days by cuarthol

2. Down Memory Late, Part One

Down Memory Lane, Part One. Think about your character’s childhood (or the early days of their existence if they had no childhood). What was the environment and daily life of their formative years like? Did they have siblings? What was their relationship to their family like? Who were their friends? What made them feel sad/angry/frightened? What made them feel content/excited/happy? Who were their teachers?

Birth and Early Childhood

The Shibboleth of Fëanor from The Peoples of Middle-earth, says that Anairë did not go into exile with Fingolfin because of her close friendship with Eärwen, Finarfin's wife.

That's a strong friendship to choose over your husband and children, (however foolish they are being).  So I now have imagined that Anairë and Eärwen were so close they chose to time the birth of their children - Turgon and Finrod - to align, not just the same year but very close to the same day.

I have this adorable mental image of Turgon and Finrod often shared a cradle, almost like twins might, and thus their friendship was formed from birth.

Since Finrod was the eldest of his family, this would have been the only 'sibling' he would have known for some time (though we don't know the exact dates of birth of his brothers.)

However, beyond this, given that Finarfin was the youngest son and wed to Eärwen, I think he had more freedom to take his family to Alqualondë, spending more time with her family, but maybe also to avoid the political strife in Tirion.  Finrod would have been raised very multicultural as a result, even beyond the Vanya influences from Indis.

Perhaps as they grew, Turgon might have accompanied him more often, as he also clearly had a great love for the sea (seen in the building of Vinyamar), and Ulmo chose them specifically for his message.  I think this speaks to Turgon being often at the Sea and that he and Finrod were held still in affection by the Vala even after their Exile, and perhaps similar to the devotion of Fëanor to Aulë, or Celegorm to Oromë, that Finrod and Turgon were likewise close to Ulmo during their lives in Valinor.

While it’s easy to overlook such details as they are largely absent from the text, being an eldest son of his father, a prince of the Noldor, and arguably of the Falmar as well, means that Finrod would have had a great deal of benefits in his life - he would have had access to resources and study that may not have been universal, and we know he had a great deal of treasures - which may or may not have been comparable to the other grandchildren of Finwë, we just don’t know.

Almost certainly he did not do many menial tasks (if we take a view that their society must have had servants) and he would have been largely free to pursue his interests.  Though his position likely carried some level of expectation and responsibility, being the eldest son of a youngest son means he was also likely on the periphery of those social and political burdens to some degree.

Who were their friends?

As covered in the first day, Finrod is noted as being a friend or on friendly terms with almost everyone to some degree.  

He stays connected to the Fëanorians even after the Helcaraxë and their removal east (going hunting with Maedhros and Maglor).  He shows proper deference to Thingol’s position and seeks his counsel.  The Silmarillion says “between Cirdan and Finrod there was friendship and alliance, and with the aid of the Noldor the havens of Brithombar and Eglarest were built anew.”

He is called Friend of Men, was on good terms with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains who helped him delve Nargothrond and bestowed upon him the name Felagund, and made the Nauglamir.  Whether he paid them for it or no I don’t believe it is specified, but the Dwarves, at least, seemed to regard it as a token of their (or their forefathers’) friendship with Finrod.

It is even said he had the friendship of Celegorm and Curufin for a time before their oath was roused.

Perhaps it is his life of stradling cultures that helped him become a more universal friend to many, accepting of differences and seeking out similarities, and in general being more laid back than some of his kin.

What made them feel sad/angry/frightened?

Finrod is specifically stated as knowing no fear, and while that may not be an all-encompassing statement, if he felt no fear after wrestling a werewolf with his bare hands and teeth, I can’t imagine there was much in Valinor that would have caused him to feel it.

I do think he would have felt some level of anxiety over the welfare of his family, if not ‘fear’ in the same sense, then at least a deep desire to avert disaster for their sakes.  Death, while not natural for Elves, was also not the end of their existence, and so it can be seen as having very different connotations, especially to one who is said to be more for thinking than others; and his discussion with Andreth shows he has some considerable time to think on the subject, not just from a mortal vs Eldar vantage but also in the death of Finwë and perhaps even Míriel. 

As for sorrows: the death of Finwë surely affected the whole of the family, then his parting from Amarië in Valinor, the slaying of his kin at Alqualondë, the horrors of the Helcaraxë, the death of Bëor, and of his brothers in the Dagor Bragollach.  While he may not have known fear, he certainly was not a stranger to sorrow.

What made them feel content/excited/happy? 

While a somewhat unusual approach, I think building made him happy.  He is noted as building more than anyone in Beleriand.  Whether the extent of his building projects was greater than any other is debatable, but the sheer number of them seems to win.

He not only aided in the rebuilding of the Falas, he also built a tower nearby, Barad Nimras, as a watchtower against an attack from the sea (by Morgoth’s forces).  He also built Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion, and was aided in the building of Nargothrond.  No other single Eldar is credited with such, and he adopts the Felagund name, so it certainly seems that he took a great deal of delight in building.

Who were their teachers?

Andreth should have a prominent role here.  She certainly taught him a great deal, both in terms of personal relationships but also in Edain lore - lore that perhaps was only passed through women, and so would not have come to him even through Bëor. 

Ulmo, also, would likely be a logical inclusion, though we have no direct interaction between them recorded, and only the vision brought to him and Turgon at the Mouths of Sirion.  Still, it does show that Ulmo must have regarded him as a willing student for such a vision.

I want to also note the untold and unsung teachers among the Sindar from whom he would have learned a great deal upon arriving in Beleriand.  Perhaps even Daeron could be counted - as a loremaster - as one who would have been a teacher to Finrod.

His father likely had a hand in any kind of formal education, but also he seems to share, at least in part, his father’s more reserved nature, who is said to have inherited Indis’s Vanya nature.  He may also have had teachers among the Vanyar.