Why Didn’t Elrond Become King of the Noldor?

Q: Why Didn’t Elrond Become King of the Noldor?

ANSWER: J.R.R. Tolkien used the rule of agnatic primogeniture, in which only sons of the male line may inherit royal titles — at least far as the Noldorin kingships are concerned. Elrond was the son of Eärendil, who was not a male-line descendant of Finwë.

The only apparent example of of non-agnatic succession among the Eldarin kings was Dior’s assumption of the rule of Doriath after his grandfather Elwë Thingol’s death. However, although Dior was called “Thingol’s Heir” he did not inherit Thingol’s titles. He was simply proclaimed King of Doriath by its surviving people; and Dior is never named as “Lord of Beleriand” or “High King” (two of Thingol’s tiles). Those authorities died with Thingol, so Dior’s presumption of inheritance was mostly figurative — an acknowledgement of his kinship with Thingol and the reality that he had reconstituted Doriath after its destruction by the Dwarves of Nogrod.

When Morgoth slew Finwë in Valinor, Fëanor succeeded his father as King of the Noldor. When Fëanor led most of the Noldor into exile, his younger half-brother Finarfin was made (by the Valar) the new King of the Noldor (in Valinor). Fëanor transferred his kingship to Middle-earth.

After Fëanor’s death his son Maedhros succeeded. Fingolfin, who led the greater part of the Noldor on their march across the Helcaraxë, was still only a prince when he arrived in Hithlum. There Maedhros surrendered the Kingship of the Noldor(-in-exile) to Fingolfin, but it was only after (Fingolfin’s younger son) Turgon, Maedhros, and (Finarfin’s eldest son) Finrod established kingdoms in Nevrast, east Beleriand (the March of Maedhros), and Nargothrond that Fingolfin became “High King of the Noldor-in-Exile”.

Fingolfin was also King of Hithlum. The kingship of Hithlum ended when Fingolfin’s elder son, Fingon, died in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and Hithlum was overrun by Morgoth’s forces. The High Kingship (of the Noldor-in-Exile) then passed to Turgon; this is clearly an agnatic succession.

With Turgon’s death the High Kingship passed to the family of Finarfin, but Turgon’s kingship (first in Nevrast and then in Gondolin) actually passed to his daughter Idril Celebrindal and her husband Tuor and son Eärendil. They led the survivors of Gondolin south to the Mouths of Sirion, and there established a new realm (Arvernien) with many of the survivors of Doriath (among whom was Dior’s daughter Elwing).

When Finrod left Nargothrond with Beren he relinquished his crown to his nephew Orodreth. After Orodreth was slain by Glaurung the kingship for Nargothrond came to an end but Orodreth’s son Gil-galad led a remnant of Nargothrond’s people to the Isle of Balar, where they took refuge with Cirdan. Cirdan and Gil-galad gathered as many surviving Noldor, Sindar, and Edain as they could and they were friendly with the Elves and Edain of Arvernien.

Upon Turgon’s death Gil-galad became High King of the Noldor-in-Exile; Tolkien does not name Gil-galad a king in other style at this time, so I think it doubtful that he was King of Balar. Still, if you’re writing fan fiction or a role-playing adventure and you want Gil-galad to be King of Balar I suppose there is no reason not to name him so. I would be inclined to assume that Gil-galad and Cirdan somehow shared authority.

When Tuor and Idril left Middle-earth their authority passed to their son Eärendil, who became Lord of Arvernien. Elwing, presumably, would have been “Lady of Arvernien” as his wife (and as the descendant of Thingol living among survivors of Doriath). Eärendil and Elwing’s authority or rule was destroyed by Maedhros (who by this time had lost his kingdom and was simply living in the wild with a small group of followers). The survivors of Arvernien (Elves and Men) were rescued by Gil-galad and Cirdan and taken to Balar.

So by the end of the First Age Gil-galad was ruling a community of Eldar on Balar comprised of survivors of Doriath, the Falas, Nargothrond, and Gondolin. There may have been occasional survivors from Hithlum and the March of Maedhros who reached Balar but I suspect they were left to wander in the wild; and, of course, many of the Elven kingdoms’ people were enslaved by Morgoth in Angband.

Elrond, raised by Maglor (Maedhros’ brother), eventually joined Gil-galad’s court in the Second Age. Maedhros killed himself and Maglor wandered off, leaving only Cirdan, Celeborn, Galadriel, Celebrimbor, and Gil-galad as former Beleriandic princes(ses) living in Middle-earth in the Second Age. Celebrimbor was still a prince of the house of Fëanor but he had no legal right to be “King of the Noldor” or “High King of the Noldor”. Gil-galad was thus the last eligible male-line descendant of Finwë in Middle-earth.

The question of Gildor Inglorion’s relationship to all these Elves still causes some confusion. Gildor told Frodo that he was “of the House of Finrod”, and many readers ask if that is the same Finrod as he who ruled Nargothrond. There is no authoritative answer to the question, but one must suppose that if Tolkien viewed Gildor as a descendant of Finrod Felagund that he must somehow have been ineligible to succeed Gil-galad as king of anything. One possible explanation is that Gildor could have been born in Aman after Finrod was restored to life; Gildor might then be one of the Lords of Tol Eressëa who visited Numenor, and could have traveled to Middle-earth with Glorfindel to help in the War of the Elves and Sauron.

As a prince of Aman Gildor would not have a right to be king in Middle-earth simply because he was born after Finrod’s authority had been handed over to Orodreth. While logical, this explanation is completely speculative. And some people object to the idea of Gildor calling himself an “Exile” if he was not part of the rebellion in Valinor or directly descended from an Exile (except that, being a descendant of Finrod, he could have been).

If Gildor was ineligible to succeed Gil-galad then Elrond certainly had no legal right to claim the High Kingship of the Noldor-in-Exile. But Gil-galad was also High King of the Elves of the West (in Middle-earth). Could this title have been taken up by Elrond or Cirdan based on the precedent of Dior’s assumption of the kingship in Doriath?

I think that there was no longer a need for a “high king” after Gil-galad’s death. Gil-galad’s people were no longer ruled by kings in the Third Age. Cirdan was “Lord of the Grey Havens” and Elrond was “Lord of Rivendell”. At some point Celeborn and Galadriel succeeded Amroth in Lothlorien to become “Lord and Lady of Lothlorien”. The Elves of Lothlorien were mostly Silvan Elves and may never have fully acknowledged Gil-galad’s authority as High King.

On the other hand, Elrond led the Eldar in the Third Age and he allied himself with Arnor and Arthedain. Rivendell fought in the wars against Angmar and even brought help from Lothlorien. So Elrond’s authority and leadership throughout the Third Age were pretty consistent. In fact, when Aranarth decided NOT to restore the kingdom of Arnor he gave certain heirlooms into Elrond’s keeping. This special stewardship may be rooted in the fact that Elendil established the Kingdom of Arnor with Gil-galad’s help, and incorporated territory that Gil-galad had once claimed as his own.

Hence, the Kingdom of Arnor may have been established and legitimized under Gil-galad’s authority through a relationship that could only have been preserved by Elrond if he were indeed the acknowledged highest ranking lord of the Eldar in Middle-earth and Gil-galad’s de facto successor. In other words, it looks like Tolkien may have assumed that — lacking any legal basis for naming an heir to Gil-galad — the Eldar simply devised a new system in which Elrond retained Gil-galad’s power and authority but without his titles.

In this way Elrond would not have to violate the tradition of agnatic primogeniture that the Noldor and Sindar had practiced for thousands of years while preserving the rule of law and representing the two families that had ruled the Noldor and Sindar since time out of mind. Cirdan, Galadriel, Celeborn, and a presumably Aman-born Gildor could not have matched Elrond’s credentials in terms of descent.

Of course, what made Elrond the ideal candidate for a new leader of the Eldar was his long relationship with Gil-galad. Elrond had proven himself as a capable leader and loremaster many times over by the time his turn came. He didn’t need to inherit any titles.

See also:

• Can You Explain Who Gildor Inglorion Really Is?
• It’s All in the Family: The Finwëans
• It’s All in the Family: the Elwëans and Ingwëans
• How Many Kings of the Noldor Were There?

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