House of Finarfin

The House of Finarfin was a noble house of the Ñoldorin Elves, which consisted descendants and followers of Finarfin, the youngest son of King Finwë. In Middle-earth, it was also sometimes referred to as the House of Finrod.
This House was chiefly recognizable by the golden hair of its dynasts due to their half-Vanyarin heritage from Finarfin's mother, Indis.
== History ==
The House of Finarfin was a branch of the Ñoldorin royal house formed by Finarfin, the third son of King Finwë and his second wife Indis of the Vanyar. Finarfin alone of his siblings inherited the Vanyarin features of his mother, including golden hair, and many of his descendants shared this trait. The descendants of Finarfin were also notable for possessing the blood of all three Elven clans having inherited blood of the Ñoldor and Vanyar from Finarfin himself and Telerin blood from his wife Eärwen, daughter of King Olwë of Alqualondë.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V: "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië" They married in YT 1280, while their four children were born between YT 1300 and 1362.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of AmanThe History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, The Later Quenta Silmarillion
During the Exile of the Ñoldor, Finarfin initially led a host of his people in seeking to leave Valinor for Middle-earth. However, Finarfin ultimately repented after hearing the Doom of Mandos and turned back in horror at his brother Fëanor's actions in leading the kinslaying of Eärwen’s people. Thereafter, Finarfin was reckoned the King of the Ñoldor who remained in Valinor.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
However, all of Finarfin’s children, while also horrified by Fëanor, continued on because of their friendship with the House of Fingolfin and because their hearts desired realms to rule and order as they pleased in Middle-earth. For this reason, the House of Finarfin was sometimes referred to as the House of Finrod because it was Finarfin’s eldest son Finrod who led it in Middle-earth.
In the lands of Beleriand, the children of Finarfin and Eärwen, alone amongst the great lords of the Ñoldor, were permitted to enter the realm of Doriath in light of their kinship with King Elu Thingol through their mother, his niece.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIV: "Of Beleriand and its Realms"
During the Siege of Angband, Finrod constructed the realm of Nargothrond and reigned as King of that great city. After taking up the kingship of Nargothrond, Finrod appointed his nephew Orodreth as warden of his former seat on Tol Sirion. During those years, Finrod's younger brothers Angrod (father of Orodreth) and Aegnor held the highlands of Dorthonion against Angband. The youngest child of Finarfin, Galadriel, who were considered the greatest of elven women and greatest of the Ñoldor except perhaps for Fëanor,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth, The Shibboleth of Fëanor dwelt with her eldest brother, but eventually wed the Sindarin prince Celeborn and relocated to Doriath, where she was tutored by Queen Melian of the Maiar.
 
Angrod and Aegnor were both killed at the Dagor Bragollach, and Orodreth was forced out of Tol Sirion by the forces of Morgoth and sought refuge with Finrod. In FA 465,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XI: The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals Finrod passed on the regency of Nargothrond to Orodoreth in order to fulfil his oath to the House of Bëor.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XVIII: "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX: "Of Beren and Lúthien" After Finrod’s death, Orodreth became King of Nargothrond, but was killed a few short years later at the Sack of Nargothrond along with his daughter Finduilas.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXI: "Of Túrin Turambar" However, his son Gil-galad survived thanks to that he was taken as a ward by Círdan at the Falas much earlier. After the Fall of Gondolin and death of its king Turgon, the High Kingship of the Ñoldor passed from the House of Fingolfin to Gil-galad of the House of Finarfin as the senior male line descendant of Finwë still living in Middle-earth.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIII: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" Later, during the War of Wrath at the very end of the First Age, King Finarfin led the Noldor as part of the Host of the West against Morgoth, but eventually returned to Valinor as the War was ended by the final defeat of the Dark Lord.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
After Morgoth's overthrow, Gil-galad led his people out of Beleriand and set up a realm in Lindon where he reigned longer than any previous King of the Ñoldor in Middle-earth. During the Second Age, the House of Finarfin continued through the birth of Galadriel's daughter Celebrían. However, Gil-galad himself never married and thus remained childless.The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
After the forging of the Rings of Power, Gil-galad was gifted Vilya and Galadriel was gifted Nenya because they were considered the mightiest of the Eldar and best placed to protect the rings from Sauron. While Gil-galad passed Vilya on to Elrond before his death at the end of the War of the Last Alliance, Galadriel continued to wield Nenya through the Third Age as the ruling Lady of Lothlórien. During this Age, the line of Finarfin continued with the births of Elrohir, Elladan and Arwen to Celebrían. At the same time, the House of Finarfin’s followers appeared be among the wandering companies of Eldar tarrying in Middle-earth given that Gildor Inglorion claimed to be of the House of Finrod.
Regardless, the House of Finarfin appeared to finally pass back over the Great Sea at the very beginning of the Fourth Age, when Galadriel was permitted to saile west. However, Arwen chose to become mortal, wedding King Elessar, and thus the noble blood of the House of Finarfin continued in Middle-earth through her son Eldarion and his descendants.
== Etymology ==
Finarfin did not come to Middle-earth, but his children were called collectively by the Sindar as "the children of Finarfin", in Sindarin Nost Finarfin ("the house/family of Finarfin").
== Other versions ==
In earlier stage of Tolkien's legendarium, Finrod was the name for Finarfin, so his House was called Nos Finrod ("House of Finrod").The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Etymologies
In the published Silmarillion, Orodreth and Gil-galad were mentioned as the second son of Finarfin and son of Fingon of the House of Fingolfin respectively. Christopher Tolkien recognized these statements as editorial mistakes from his part, and according to the final decision of J.R.R. Tolkien, Orodreth was actually the grandson of Finarfin through Angrod and his wife Eðellos, while Gil-galad was Orodreth's son instead of Fingon's and thus brother to Finduilas.
== Behind the Scenes ==
Due to the Ñoldorin-Vanyarin intermarriages, it is suggested by some Tolkien fans that the golden-haired Ñoldo Glorfindel might be a distant dynast of the House of Finarfin.The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, entry G
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Huis van Finarfin
Albanian 	Shtëpia e Finarfinit
Alemannic German 	Huus Finarfin
Arabic 	بيت فينارفين
Armenian 	Ֆինարֆինի տուն
Assamese 	ফিনাৰফিন পৰিয়াল
Asturian 	Casa de Finarfin
Azerbaijani 	Finarfinın sülaləsi
Belarusian Cyrillic	Дом Фінарфіна
Bengali 	ফিনারফিনের পরিবার
Bosnian 	Kuća Finarfinova
Breton 	Tiegezh Finarfin
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Дом Финарфин
Catalan 	Casa de Finarfin
Cebuano 	Balay ni Finarfin
Croatian 	Dom Finarfinova
Czech 	Dům Finarfinova
Danish 	Huset Finarfin
Dutch 	Huis Finarfin
Esperanto 	Domo de Finarfin
Estonian 	Finarfini maja
Faroese 	Hús Finarfin
Filipino 	Kabahay ng Finarfin
Finnish 	Finarfinin huone
French 	Maison de Finarfin
Galician 	Casa de Finarfin
Georgian 	ფინარფინის სახლი
German 	Haus Finarfin
Greek 	Οίκος του Φινάρφιν
Gujarati 	ફિનરફિન વંશ
Hindi 	फ़िनर्फ़िन राजवंश
Hebrew 	בית פינארפין
Hungarian 	Finarfin-ház
Icelandic 	Hús Finarfin
Indonesian 	Wangsa Finarfin
Irish Gaelic 	Teaghlach na mFinarfin
Italian 	Casa di Finarfin
Japanese 	フィナルフィン王家
Kannada 	ಫಿನಾರ್ಫಿನ್ ರಾಜವಂಶ
Kazakh 	Финарфин әулеті (Cyrillic) Fïnarfïn äwleti (Latin)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Финарфин үйү
Latin 	Domus Finarfin
Latvian 	Finarfina māja
Lithuanian 	Finarfino namai
Luxembourgish 	Haus Finarfin
Macedonian Cyrillic	Династија Финарфин
Malayalam 	ഫിനാർഫിൻ രാജവംശം
Malaysian 	Wangsa Finarfin
Marathi 	फिनारफिनचे घराणे
Nepalese 	फिनारफिनको वंश
Norwegian 	Huset Finarfin
Occitan 	Ostal de Finarfin
Pashto 	د فینارفین لړۍ
Persian 	دودمان فینارفین
Portuguese 	Casa de Finarfin
Punjabi 	ਫਿਨਾਰਫਿਨ ਰਾਜਵੰਸ਼
Romanian 	Casa de Finarfin
Russian 	Дом ФинарфинаРод Финарфина
Sardinian 	Càusa de Finarfin
Scots 	Hoose o Finarfin
Scottish Gaelic 	Taigh Finarfin
Serbian 	Кућа Финарфину (Cyrillic) Kuća Finarfinu (Latin)
Sicilian 	Casa di Finarfin
Sindhi 	فائنرفين خاندان
Sinhalese 	ෆිනාර්ෆින් රාජවංශය
Slovak 	Dom Finarfina
Slovenian 	Hiša Finarfina
Spanish 	Casa de Finarfin
Swahili 	Nasaba ya Finarfin
Swedish 	Huset Finarfin
Tamil 	ஃபினார்பின் வழி
Telugu 	ఫినార్ఫిన్ రాజవంశం
Thai 	ราชวงศ์'ฟินาร์ฟิน
Turkish 	Finarfin Hanedanı
Turkmen 	Finarfin maşgalasy
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Дім Фінарфіна
Urdu 	خاندان فینارفین
Uzbek 	Финарфин сулоласи (Cyrillic) Finarfin sulolasi (Latin)
Venetian 	Casa de Finarfin
Vietnamese 	Nhà Finarfin
Yiddish 	פֿינאַרפֿינ הויז
== References ==
es:Casa de Finarfin
it:Casa di Finarfin
ru:Третий Дом Нолдор
Category:Houses of Elves
Category:Lineages
Category:Ñoldor