I think it’s reasonable to assume that during the crossing of the Helcaraxë, there were some elements of cannibalism. It was described as such a desolate location that I sincerely doubt there were any actual life forms there, much less enough to sustain the group of people travelling.
Also could open the door for elven funeral practices that had to be developed when everyone started dying in Beleriand.
Now, while Frodo, Sam, and Gollum absolutely did not pass through Osgiliath in the book, having Frodo struggling with the ring directly in front of a Nazgûl IN OSGILIATH, likely cemented the fact that they took the Ring to Gondor.
A key part of the actual success in destroying the Ring is that Sauron genuinely never thought anyone would have the willpower or desire to even attempt destroying it. Obviously it would stay with the elves or be taken by man in a foolish attempt to use it (thus allowing for Sauron to regain it and eradicate the free peoples of Middle Earth) and this scene practically confirms that for Sauron!
Do I think this is what Peter Jackson was planning when he added these scenes, no, do I think it makes for an interesting addition, yes.
As much as I love seeing all the cousins and children being close in age, seeing as elves are an immortal species and do not have a limited fertile window in their lifespan, I believe it is much more likely to have huge age gaps between children.
Especially keeping in mind Míriel and her fatal exhaustion after childbirth, it’s probably heavily recommended to wait until the first child is close to, or already, a fully grown adult before having another child, to ensure the safety and optimum health of the parents.
We are also aware that most elves don’t have may children to begin with, likely staying at the 1-3 range, with 4 being seen as a little more than average but still respectable and 7 being insane.
Before moving on with the rest of the post I am going to start by saying that while I do love math, I am not fond of the math Tolkien put into his wonderful universe because it makes me want to tear my hair out. I will instead be grouping ages as “they likely had considerable overlap between childhood/adolescence” and “that elf was a Complete Adult who (probably) knew what they were doing”.
To start with, Finwë marries Indis during the early teenage equivalent years of Fëanor. Part of the reason was Finwë needing a partner to help with the ruling of an entire people, peacetime notwithstanding, and hoping for Fëanor to have a grounding maternal influence in his life. Spending much of his early life seeing these rumors and the Statute of Míriel coming into existence had a more lasting impact on Fëanor and his desire to dislike anything Indis related on principle outweighs the potential help that Indis tried to provide in the early days of their relationship.
Findis’ is born around Fëanor hitting his late adolescent period, which drives him to spend more time away from this family and leads him into Nerdanel’s path. They marry shortly after reaching adulthood, and the rest of Findis’ childhood passes away without much note.
On the next topic of ages, I faced a lot of difficulty on deciding who would be the olde, primarily from Maedhros’ line in the Silmarillion: “Still the kingship would rightly come to you, the eldest here of the house of Finwë, and not the least wise.” I put a lot of thought into this, and will be placing Maedhros as older, if only by what amounts to several moments, than Fingolfin. The line Maedhros speaks will then refer less to physical age and more so to being among the older generation and closer in bloodline to Finwë.
After the courtship and marriage of Fingolfin and Anairë Lalwen is born, and as she is over the halfway point to adulthood Fingon is born. It’s near this point where the rivalry between Fëanor and Fingolfin starts, though it will take several centuries before it reaches the animosity noted at the end of the Years of the Trees. Maglor then has a gap of several years between him and Fingon.
Before Maglor has reached maturity, Celegorm and Caranthir are born, being near scandalously close from the current traditions of waiting until the child is near, or at, adulthood before having another child.
Turgon is born as Caranthir firmly reaches adolescence, and as an unfortunate side effect of getting dragged to the House of Fëanor often as a child (in no small part due to Maedhros and Fingon’s friendship) has developed no love for the sons of Fëanor, as Caranthir was closest in age to him and had no desire to spend time with his half cousin, and certainly made that known.
Finarfin is born among the same time as Curufin, though they do not spend much time mingling through their childhood.
Turgon and Elenwë wed at a similar time as Finarfin and Eärwen, and to round out a very joyful time among the House of Finwë, Aredhel is born! Despite the increasing tensions among Fëanor and Fingolfin, and Turgon’s horror, she becomes fast friends with Celegorm and learns much of hunting from him during her childhood and adolescence.
There’s a notable gap between the time Aredhel, the current youngest, reached adulthood and the birth of Finrod, and later, Idril. Not soon after, Curufin is married, much to the delight of Fëanor and his brothers.
Orodreth is born just as the House of Fëanor takes a backseat in terms of childbearing, and there is another long pause before Angrod, Argon, and Aegnor are born within respectable times of each other, with Argon falling close in age to rod.
There is another long gap before Celebrimbor is born, and shortly after Galadriel. As she reaches her maturity Ambarussa are born, and thus ends the generations of Finwë in the blessed lands. Of special note, though I am still undecided in terms of parentage, the following birth order remains: Gil-Galad, Ëarendil, Elros, Elrond, Celebrían, Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen.
If you didn’t want to read through my musings and explanations, here is a list from oldest to youngest of the House of Finwë:
Characters whose life is a torture hole and who have constructed their entire self image around the belief that they can never get out of the torture hole and that's fine because they like being in the torture hole actually and who will commit horrific crimes to keep themselves in the torture hole because if they admit to themselves for one moment that things could be better it would utterly annihilate them, my beloved
Reminder that in this house we think Turgon is a treasonous bastard (canonically) and the only reason Silm has him done so well is bc it was written by Pengolodh of Gondolin who was biased
I was thinking of naming customs among the Eldar and how they might differ among the different subgroups. Even among the Quendi they split enough to form at least three differing cultures, so there’s going to be shifts in how they name their children, though they probably aren’t as dramatic as the differences between Quendi and Moriquendi.
Starting with the Noldor, because that’s the easiest, one receives a father name and mother name, as well as a patronymic. One can receive additional names and titles (Russandol, the Valiant, Finrod etc.) throughout the course of their lives. Mother names are always considered more insightful on the actual person (on account of the mother’s intuition and/or birth visions) and in some groups it is considered rude to use a mother name if you’re not close to the individual. Father names are given at, or shortly after, the birth and is what a child will be referred to until a mother name is given or they decide what name they want to go by in more formal registers. They also tend to be the group that gains the most names, but whether that’s because the actually like it or because the house of Finwë who are hoarding names like they’re poker chips are an outlier and shouldn’t have been counted are yet to be seen.
The Vanyar follow much of the same rules, having an insightful mother name given either at the birth via vision or after their children get older. The father name tends to reflect more of an attribute or field of a vala they want their children to attain, and some have asked the valar or maiar for suggestions when thinking of naming their children. They do keep patronymics but also give a later name which is used more often to denote what field the child has chosen (which tends to be aligned with the valar and their domains).
The Teleri are fairly similar to the Vanyar, although the father will turn to their work or the ocean for inspiration of a father name. Mother names are also kept more private, and is more of a name only the mother and/or lover would use because of the importance held to the insights given. Matronymics and patronymics are used depending on personal preference, with no specific organizational purpose.
Shifting the moriquendi, I’ll start on the two Sindarin groups. The Falathrim and the Mithrim. I believe they stayed in fairly decent contact until Morgoth began making moves again the girdle of Malian became a more difficult boundary to cross. They receive either a father name or mother name at birth, and any secondary names are given on account of notable achievements or attributes. After Beren and Lúthien, it also becomes customary for courting to involve giving a name to your intended, speaking of their virtues.
The Nandor are a little similar to each other, with Silvan elves have a tradition to ask the grandparents to name the child which will result in anyway from two to four names, with an internal family name being used through their adolescence. In formal registers they take on a patronymic to use as well as the chosen name from their birth. The Laiquendi also use this system, but tend to only ask the mother’s parents, on account of the chance of insight coming through the maternal side. The also organize by matronymics instead!
The Avari naming traditions are a mother name in the even of a vision, and the father name is based on the environment they are in. I imagine they spend much more time traveling, and so their names reflect the places they were born so they can carry it with them through their lives. They have a matronymic they use in meeting other groups, or the time they travel to the Nandorin elves for trade/information/assistance or what have you.
And so, in the hot springs of Himring, began a diplomatic meeting of Maedhros and Fingon. And it is said they were sitting zero feet apart, for the friendship between them was great.