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

22. What Do They Think About You, Part One.

What Do They Think About You, Part One. How do characters close to the one you’ve chosen (family, friends, significant other…) see your character?

Angrod and Aegnor see him as “second dad”.  He’s the responsible one, the calm one, the one who sits under a tree with a book watching as they roughhouse, and then patches them up when they invariably get injured so he doesn’t get in trouble with mom.

While in Beleriand they did not defer to him in all things, and were quick to voice disagreements in private, but they fell almost naturally into being his vassals, happy with their lands but with that sense of someone over them to think of the details that they were spared.  Angrod was honored to speak on his behalf, and Finrod trusted that Angrod’s words would be his own.

Galadriel, meanwhile, sees herself as Finrod’s equal, and they butt heads often, though less overtly than he does with his brothers.  She is more likely to ignore his words than to argue until they find a way to agree.  She did not want to live under his rule, however benevolent it might have been, which largely drove her choice to remain in Doriath.

Amarië saw in Finrod someone who loved and accepted her without conditions or reservations.  They had so many interests in common, a love for poetry and song, preferring to enjoy the beauty and peace of the forest than break it by hunting. 

In the end, however, she also saw that part of him that chose his family over her, and the sting of that sense of betrayal would be a very long time healing.

The Nolofinwëans, save Turgon, tend to overlook him.  He just becomes yet another one of their many cousins.  As he isn’t antagonistic or loud, he tends to just blend into the background.  Turgon, of course, is closest to Finrod of all of them.

The Fëanorians underestimate him, equating his quieter demeanor with weakness and his love of books over swords with cowardice.