The Complete Tolkien Companion (37 page)

Fengel
– From 2903–53 Third Age, the fifteenth King of Rohan, son of Folcwine of the Second Line. He was grasping and unpleasant, especially towards his children; therefore, Fengel's son Thengel, of his own choice, spent much of his life in Gondor, where he won renown. Thengel was the father of Théoden.

Fen Hollen
‘Closed Door' (Sind.) – A solemnly guarded ornamental door or postern gateway in the sixth circle of Minas Tirith, upon the side facing Mount Mindolluin. It led to the Hallows, the final resting-place of Gondor's great, upon a high plateau between the City and the cliffs above.

Fenmarch
– The low-lying border country between the Mouths of Entwash and the White Mountains, north of the Mering Stream; the frontier of Rohan and Gondor. Most of the eastern part of Rohan's Eastfold was fen country, drained by the broad river Entwash.

Fen of Serech
– A region of marshy ground surrounding the confluence of the upper Sirion and the Rivil stream, in south-western Ard-galen, guarding the Pass of Sirion from the North. It was thus a natural defence of the Noldor against the evil of Morgoth, especially in latter days, and for this reason perhaps they never drained the marsh or reclaimed the ground.

Fens of Sirion
– The westerly fringe of the
AELIN-UIAL
marsh.

‘Ferthu Théoden hal!'
– ‘Hail Théoden on thy going!'

Field of Cormallen
– The Field of the Ring-bearers where, on April 6th, 3021 Third Age, the Host of the West gave thanks for the downfall of the Dark Lord, and the Ring-bearers Frodo and Samwise were publicly honoured by the King. The occasion was distinguished (particularly for Samwise) by the first performance of the
Lay of Frodo of the Nine Fingers and the Ring of Doom,
which was composed especially for the event.

The Field of Cormallen was in North Ithilien, between the refuge of Henneth Annûn and the isle of Cair Andros.

Fields of Pelennor
– The rich and fertile townlands of Minas Tirith; that area (about three leagues in diameter at its widest) which was enclosed by the Rammas Echor, the out-wall of the City.

Fíli and Kíli
– The two Dwarf-sons of Dís, descended from the Line of Erebor. Both marched on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain, led by their uncle, Thorin Oakenshield; and both fell during the Battle of Five Armies (2941 Third Age), defending him from Orcs. Thorin was also slain and Dáin Ironfoot of the Iron Hills then became King under the Mountain.

Fimbrethil
‘Slender-birch' (Sind.) – Wandlimb the lightfooted; an Entwife of Treebeard's youth. She was lost with the other Entwives when their gardens were turned into Brown Lands during the wars of the Second and Third Ages.

Finarfin
– The third and youngest of the three sons of Finwë of the Noldor, brother of Fingolfin and half-brother of Fëanor. Though the youngest of the three brothers, he was accounted by the Eldar the wisest, for he alone forsook the march into exile, and repented of the rebellion, and thus returned from Araman to Eldamar with a great many of his people, to continue dwelling with the Valar, and with the ‘Fair-elves', the Vanyar. Both Finarfin and his brother Fingolfin were akin to the Vanyar, for their mother Indis was of this people; and they and their descendants were for the most part golden-haired, like all the Fair-Elves.

However, Finarfin's own children – Finrod, Orodreth, Angrod, Aegnor, and Galadriel – were not so wise as he, and they joined their hosts to that led by Fingolfin, and so came to Middle-earth in exile, and shared in the deeds of that time. But all save Galadriel were slain in the War of the Great Jewels.

Note:
in records of the Third Age this name is occasionally written
Finarphir.
The reason is not immediately obvious – unless the intended spelling is actually
Finarphin
and a typographical error has resulted in the final
n
being replaced with an
r.
To confuse matters further, in early editions of
The Lord of the Rings
the Noldorin Elf Gildor Inglorion identifies himself as ‘of the House of Finrod', but in later editions as ‘of the House of Finarphir', whereas throughout
The Silmarillion
the name of the father of Finrod is always written
Finarfin.
The latter spelling must be regarded as the more accurate.

Finarphir
–
See
note under preceding entry.

Findegil
– A scribe of the Court of Gondor during the second century of the Fourth Age. In the year 172 he was instructed to make a copy, exact in all respects, of the Red Book of the Periannath – which was itself a copy of the Thain's Book of the Shire, originally made at the request of King Elessar. Findegil's copy was formally presented to the descendants of Peregrin Took and was kept at Great Smials ever after.

Finduilas
– The name of the Elven-daughter of Orodreth, King of Nargothrond after the death of his elder brother Finrod Felagund. She was the beloved (he had named her
Faelivrin
) of the Elf-lord Gwindor, a prince of that same city; but Gwindor was captured during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and afterwards enthralled in Angband. And when he escaped and later returned to Nargothrond he came accompanied by Túrin of the Edain. Though Gwindor still loved Finduilas, unhappily for him she fell in love with Túrin. The Elf nobly released her from her earlier promises and bade her go where love called, though he added a warning against the fate surrounding Túrin, and he told her who Túrin really was.

It was shortly after this that Nargothrond fell to the power of Morgoth. Most of the Elf-women and -children were captured – including Finduilas – and Gwindor was slain; but Túrin, pursuing the Orcs who had captured her, became further enmeshed in the net of his doom, and never caught up with her. To his grief he afterwards learned that she had been killed by the Orcs, not far from the Crossings of Teiglin. She was buried in a barrow nearby, the
Haudhen-Elleth
(‘Mound of the Elf-maid'); but her spirit passed into the West.

Also the name of a princess of Dol Amroth in the late Third Age, the daughter of Adrahil and later wife of Steward Denethor II of Gondor. She bore Denethor two fine sons, Boromir and Faramir, but died early, from loneliness and depression, in 2988 Third Age, four years after her husband had come into his Stewardship. Denethor never wed again.

Finglas
‘Hair-leaf' (Sind.) – Leaflock the Ent; one of the surviving Onodrim of the Elder Days still living in Fangorn at the time of the War of the Ring. As the years slowly passed, Finglas gradually began to resemble one of his flock, eventually regressing to total treehood.

Fingolfin
– The second son of Finwë of the Noldor, elder brother of Finarfin and (younger) half-brother of Fëanor. Fingolfin was accounted by the Noldor the bravest of the three sons of Finwë; but although there had been enmity between himself and Fëanor, like the latter, Fingolfin unwisely chose to avenge the death of their father and repay the hurts offered to their House, and he too rebelled against the Valar; for he had but lately vowed to Fëanor that he would follow where his half-brother led. With him into exile went all his House, including his two sons Fingon and Turgon and his only daughter Aredhel Ar-Feiniel.

The long story of the deeds of the Elves' first High King in Exile is stirring, yet ultimately tragic and wasteful. Abandoned in Aman by Fëanor after the Kinslaying at Alqualondë (in which, to his everlasting regret, he had played a part), Fingolfin was nevertheless undaunted, and accomplished the daring and desperate feat of crossing the Northern Ice, the Helcaraxë, into Middle-earth; though not without severe loss. It is said that the first Moon to grace the night-skies of Arda shone coldly down upon the Elf-host of Fingolfin in the freezing wastes of the North. At this time, unknown to Fingolfin, the Battle-under-Stars had already been fought in Middle-earth, and Fëanor lay dying in Ard-galen. But Fingolfin marched now swiftly south, towards Mithrim, where the Sons of Fëanor and their hosts were encamped beside the lake; but perceiving that the appearance of the new Sun in the sky had put all creatures of Morgoth to flight, he wheeled his great army across the passes of Ered Wethrin and crossed the seventy leagues of Ard-galen to stand before the very gates of Angband. There for the first time the Elf-lord truly understood the reality of the Power to whom he and the other Noldor had so rashly opposed themselves; and it was at this moment that he first conceived the ‘containment' stratagem which was hereafter to govern the methods by which the Noldor waged war against their Enemy. For Fingolfin had a warrior's eye, and had perceived that the might of Angband was too great – infinitely too great – ever to be overthrown by assault or direct action. The only possible chance lay in decoying Morgoth's armies to destruction upon Ard-galen; and this in turn meant setting a leaguer, or siege line, around Angband, with the double aim of protecting Beleriand to the south and (eventually) of provoking Morgoth into some rash action.

It was indeed the only possible strategy (
see
WAR OF THE GREAT JEWELS
); and for many years and centuries it succeeded in penning the power of Morgoth into the far North. But as a policy it was essentially defensive, and Morgoth was always allowed to plot in secret. Worse, the Siege could be actively pressed only from the south and west, which left vast areas in the north and east available to the Enemy for the discreet movement of armies. Nor was the Siege pressed on a tactical (i.e. close-range) level; fifty leagues of open steppe separated the Gates of Angband from the linked chain of Elven-kingdoms, leagues in which the vast if unwieldy hordes of Morgoth were ultimately able to prevail over the dwindling and little-replenished ranks of the Eldar. Worst of all, the Siege was effective – and the military force of the Eldar and their allies coherent – only so long as all held true and acted as one army. And this happened less often than Fingolfin envisaged. Yet for all these drawbacks Fingolfin's was the only possible strategy available to the Elves, and though he lived only to see it crumble away in ruin – dying as a result in fury and despair – for four centuries and more it served the Noldor well.

Fingolfin was proclaimed High King of the Noldor in the first Year of the Sun. In that same year he had looked on the doors of Angband, afterwards returning to Mithrim – to meet again Fëanor, as he had supposed. But Fëanor was dead. And memories were still fresh among Fingolfin and his people of the terrible crossing from Aman. For a while an alliance between the two hosts seemed less likely than a battle, but Fingon son of Fingolfin had meanwhile performed the heroic feat of rescuing Maedhros the eldest son of Fëanor from torment upon Thangorodrim, and Maedhros in humility and sincerity now offered the High-kingship to Fingolfin, his father's half-brother.

Fingolfin and his people now occupied Hithlum and Mithrim as their realm. His elder son Fingon held the neighbouring land of Dor-lómin; but Turgon the younger went across the Echoing Mountains to Nevrast, and with him went Ar-Feiniel his sister. These were but three of the realms founded by the Noldor in those days, the first twenty years of the Sun, for the Sons of Fëanor likewise founded kingdoms in a great barrier line across the north – a barrier against Morgoth. And Fingolfin was High King of all. In the 21st year after his setting foot in Middle-earth he held a great feast, the Feast of Reunion, to which all Elves, of whatever kin, were invited.

Four centuries passed, years not altogether free from war, for time and again Morgoth made trial of Fingolfin's strength and purpose – and each time the High King's strategy and warcraft destroyed his armies. After the Dagor Aglareb Fingolfin had drawn the bonds of the Siege tighter, and his forces now patrolled as far as the borders of Angband. Nonetheless Morgoth had by now finished preparing the gigantic blow with which he meant to break free of the constraints of Fingolfin for ever. He unleashed the Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame, in which the Elves' cavalry was destroyed on the burning plains of Ard-galen, while their foot-soldiers were thrown back with loss into Hithlum and Mithrim. Their allies, the Edain, were likewise defeated and driven, for the most part, from the North. Perceiving the onset of the very disaster he had long feared – from the day he had first gazed on the real might of Angband – Fingolfin the High King rode forth in madness from the rags of his army and clove through the Orcs to reach the Gates of Angband. There he challenged the Enemy to single combat. But despite his courage, there could be only one result of such a fight. Fingolfin perished; and the High-kingship of the Noldor in Middle-earth then passed to his eldest son, Fingon.

Fingon (the Valiant)
– The elder son of Fingolfin of the Noldor, brother of Turgon and Aredhel Ar-Feiniel. Like his father, he was one of the mightiest – and, as his name implies, most valiant – of all the High-elves of Middle-earth; and in his time he succeeded to the High-kingship of all the Noldor in Exile. But he did so at a time when fortune had turned irrevocably against the Eldar in their war against Morgoth, and he had reigned as High King for only fifteen years when Morgoth unleashed the final battle, in which the ruin of the Elves and the Edain was at last accomplished. In this final battle, the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Fingon died, slain by a Balrog.

During his later life in Middle-earth Fingon reigned in Mithrim, ceding his former principality of Dor-lómin to a House of the Edain, friendly to his kin. He is remembered above all as the Elf who achieved the epic feat of rescuing a kinsman (Maedhros son of Fëanor) from torment upon Thangorodrim. For this Fingon is named The Valiant. He never wedded, and was succeeded as High King of the Noldor in Exile by his younger brother Turgon King of Gondolin.