The Reembodiment of Finwe and Miriel
Okay, to read more about the first part of this story, Finwe and Indis’s marriage, check out this post. The important part is that the Valar decided that an elf whose spouse had died could remarry only if the deceased spouse agreed to never be reembodied (so as to avoid having one elf with two spouses.) So, Finwe was allowed to marry Indis because Miriel agreed to stay in the Halls of Mandos forever.
Now, when Finwe died, he and Miriel had the chance to talk. She heard about everything that had happened with Feanor, and regretted not being there to help her son, etc. And Nienna and Vaire started trying to convince Mandos to let Miriel return to her body (especially since Finwe was now dead, so the Valar’s rule about double spouses.) When Finwe appealed directly to Mandos, offering to refuse his own reembodiment to enable Miriel’s. And Mandos was impressed with Finwe’s selfless act, so he finally agreed.
Miriel was reembodied, and while she was happy to be alive again, she had no interest in returning to live with her people. Instead, she went to live with Vaire, where she now spends her days weaving tapestries showing the history of the Noldor. Sometimes Finwe is allowed to look at these tapestries.
So, yeah, in conclusion: Finwe and Miriel basically traded spaces. First Miriel refused to be reembodied so that Finwe could remarry. And then Finwe refused to be reembodied so that Miriel could be reembodied. So unless Miriel dies again (extremely unlikely), Finwe will spend the rest of time in the Halls of Mandos.
SOURCES: The History of Middle Earth vol. 10 (“Laws and Customs Among the Eldar”)
