Let's Get Nerdy

    Who is Galadriel’s Brother Finrod? – Let’s Get Nerdy!

    Ashley Victoria RobinsonBy 4 Mins Read

    Amazon Studios The Rings of Power is here. We want all Spoilerites to have the best viewing experience possible and have the widest knowledge base about the Second Age of Middle-Earth. This is a weekly Let’s Get Nerdy article series highlighting a different piece of Tolkien I think you need to know about!

    In past articles I have answered the question:

    Arguably the catalyst for the entirety of The Rings of Power is an event which takes place largely off-screen. Throughout the first season the narrative reprises the beats of Galadriel’s grief over the loss of her brother Finrod during The First Age.

    This is the part where I spoil, as a book reader, that Finrod was resurrected and brought back to life in Valinor following his tragic end. I would bet there’s a chance in The Rings of Power’s final moments we’ll catch a glimpse of Finrod in Valinor. Perhaps reconnected with Galadriel there after she departs Middle-Earth from the Grey Havens during The Third Age of Middle-Earth in a flash forward. But that’s all just conjecture from me.

    Galadriel and Finrod in The Rings of Power

    Back to Finrod!

    His full name was Finrod Felagund and he was the oldest – but not only! – of Galadriel’s siblings. She had two other brothers named Angrod and Aegnor. Finrod was noted for being so good. The most good. His father, Finarfin, has a whole House named after him to bely the status they hold even amongst the purity of the elves. Within the House of Finarfin, Finrod is “one of the noblest Elves” which directly leads to his reincarnation in Valinor.

    Finrod was born during an era of Arda known as the “Year of the Trees”. It’s the era which directly precedes The First Age of Middle-Earth. The time when the Valar and the Elves lived in Valinor and nothing was bad. “The First Age” denotes when Elves came to Middle-Earth. Finrod, Galadriel, and their family were among some of the first to venture to Middle-Earth and live there. 

    Finrod – First Encounter with Edain by: Elena Kukanova

    Throughout The First Age, Finrod undertook many noble deeds as most of the heroes in the great Tolkien tradition tend to. It was later in The First Age when he crossed paths with the great human hero, Beren. I’ve written about Beren and his great love story with Lúthien sporadically throughout this series. The first human/elf love story in Middle-Earth. Finrod sacrificed his life saving Beren. In The Rings of Power his history has been altered a touch at least from what we can see from Galadriel – her status as a reliable or unreliable narrator remains to be cemented. In the show Finrod dies in a brutal battle against the forces of Morgoth. Per Tolkien Finrod’s act in dying in defence of Beren (in addition to a couple other factors), are what led him to be the first Elf to be resurrected in Valinor by the end of The First Age of Middle-Earth.

    Of his resting place in Middle-Earth The Silmarillion tells us:

    “…They buried the body of Felagund upon the hill-top of his own isle, and it was clean again; and the green grave of Finrod Finarfin’s son, fairest of all the princes of the Elves, remained inviolate, until the land was changed and broken, and foundered under destroying seas. But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” 

    I like to imagine since we know Galadriel does return to Valinor as well, as I mentioned above, when she gets there perhaps she’s greeted by Finrod and they can recapture a piece of who they were in Valinor as children. For the rest of time. 

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    She/her. Canadian actress. Bi Queen. Canadian co-host of Geek History Lesson. Canadian comic book writer: Witchblade, Apollo IX, Jupiter Jet series, Science! The Elements of Dark Energy, Aurora and The Eagle. Award-losing: actor, writer, podcaster. https://linktr.ee/AshleyVRobinson

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