and why the Finweans and Thingol maybe didn't get along very well from the start, despite the earlier friendship
OK, I made a thing and I was contemplating Melian's wonderful lovely mesalliance (or whatever the word is in English), as you do, anyway
Have you ever asked yourself what were the opinions in Aman about the whole Thingol/Melian thing?
Yes, they knew, at least the Maiar knew, because pre-Flight-of-the-Noldor Valinor was not so shut and I imagine some Maiar went back and forth, and the Silm states at some point iirc that they were "tidings" from Valinor getting to Doriath. so yes, I do assume that they had communication.
Also, the Maiar are not a monolith in terms of opinions. See: Osse who doesn't work for Melkor but also not always listens to Ulmo and sometimes kills people for fun (or at the very least unsanctioned revenge). This is canon. So if we have examples like this, we surely should have some Maiar who are petty, holier-than-thou and generally not very open-minded. And even more Elves who are like that.
So. Melian gets married to an Incarnate which is absolutely unheard of, seemed impossible, and binds her completely to her body which is generally a thing that happens to Bad Ainur only. Also, she thus prevents a big group of Elves from reaching Valinor, and therefore meddles with the plans of the Valar.
(Is this my opinion/ No, very much not. But this would be an opinion and there would be some who'd hold it.)
I'm sure there were not few Maiar (if not some of the Valar, probably Aulë even though I love him a lot) who considered the Doriath situation blasphemous, or at least very problematic.
And then at some point the Elves in Aman learned about this and about what happned to Thingol, and also had opinions. some would share the opinions above.
And don't you think that FinwĂ« would feel at least a little betrayed by ElwĂ« not coming to Aman? And then --- ElwĂ« had married a Maia and got a special child too, and his wife lives, and Miriel dies, and of course FinwĂ« does not blame ElwĂ« for Miriel's death, but still, there is a certain bitterness when he thinks about it. And opinions spread and mingle, and the Noldor love having strong opinions about everythingâ
So I think that when later the Noldor arrived in Beleriand, many of them might have already been cautious about Thingol, even if he wasn't cautious about them. And also, Melian and Thingol would probably know how they're seen by the Noldor (well, not Arafinweans clearly) and this too could inform their decisions.
It's quite possible that some of the Maiar got on board with Melian's decision only after LĂșthien and Beren gained the Silmaril. Or maybe never at all (especially considering Thingol's later decisions, I mean the whole Nauglamir situation).
I'm a big fan of the Doriath marriages, but I can very well see how not everyone in Aman would be.
Maybe even Oromë⊠this does absolutely not excuse anything, but I can see Oromë at some point discussing out loud whether a daughter of such unnatural union should be consider a person or a monster, and I can see Celegorm remembering this years later and using it as an excuse in his mind. I can see it. And I'm not saying that Oromë is evil or anything, but the Valar do make mistakes once in a while, and the situation was strange and suspicious, and Oromë's job is to be wary of everything suspicious⊠Celegorm still unacceptable but maybe more understandable even in the context of Elven customs?
Also, also, isn't this interesting that Finwë asked for his remarriage and Melian apparently didn't ask for any opinions on whether she can marry an Elf, even though it's equally unusual? (I can see some problems with this logic, but I'm sure some would think like this regardless.)
and yea, the Silm speaks about the marriage so casually⊠well, the Silm is redacted by Elrond "descendent of all the insane FA couples" half-Elven. So. It seems normal to him. everything can seem normal when you grow accustomed to it. Still, I think it was a huge scandal both for some of the Elves and some of the Ainur.
Mmm, I think I've discovered a whole new wonderful source of interpersonal conflicts in the Silm. :)
