Anonymous asked: “hi! i am rereading the silmarillion after many years and i’m having some trouble with the noldorin royal family’s relationships. do you know a chart that shows who was on especially good terms with who and who disliked who? or if it interests you can you talk a bit about it? i love your blog!”

Oh boy, Anon, you said the magic words: Noldor and chart. So have four! First a family tree to help keep the relations straight. Then a chart showing members of the family described by Tolkien as being on especially friendly or unfriendly terms. Then a chart showing everyone’s reaction to the Oath of Feanor, and finally one showing the lineup for the departure of the Noldor from Valinor.

If you’d like to read more about the Noldorin royal family and their complicated relationships, I’ve got plenty more posts for you:

• Finwean Infographic
  
• Elvish Cross-Cultural Relations: The Noldor
• Feanor’s Lisp
• Using “Finwe” as a Prefix
• On Feanor’s Abandonment of Fingolfin
• Maedhros and Fingon’s Gift Exchange
• Galadriel’s Hair
• Aredhel: White Lady of the Noldor
• Earwen and Anaire
• Galadriel’s Part in the Exile of the Noldor

The elves are very equal! Idril is Turgon’s heir, Findis didn’t become a queen because she stayed behind in Aman, Galadriel is Galadriel, and then there’s all of “Laws and Customs”.

the-hare-and-the-otter: Okay, lets talk. 🙂 There they received the pardon of the Valar, and Finarfin was set to rule the remnant of the Noldor in the Blessed Realm. – Of the Flight of the Noldor and: Findis was made by combining the names of her parents. Litt is said of her in The Silmarillion. She did…

The elves are very equal! Idril is Turgon’s heir, Findis didn’t become a queen because she stayed behind in Aman, Galadriel is Galadriel, and then there’s all of “Laws and Customs”.

Socially there’s a lot that suggests the elves had a pretty equal society (especially many of the things written in Laws and Customs.) But as far as female leaders go, I think there was a lot of room for improvement: Idril is said to be “the only heir of the King of Gondolin”, true, but…