elves of arda ✺ house of finwë ✺ headcanon disclaimer ✺ @finweanladiesweek day two: findis
Findis Vórimë was the eldest daughter of Finwë Ñoldóran and his first child with his second wife, Indis of the Vanyar. She was golden-haired as her mother’s people and gentle in spirit, fond of dancing and singing and in all ways like unto Indis. Findis was cool toward her elder half-brother Fëanáro, especially when her younger brother Arakáno was born and received a greater portion of Fëanáro’s ire. She did her best to protect Arakáno from Fëanáro’s wrath while they were young, but increasingly felt alienated from both her brothers, and retreated into her studies of music and religion. Her younger sister Lalwendë was bold and loud, in many ways Findis’ opposite, and though the sisters loved each other they had few interests in common and spent little time together. Of all her siblings, Findis was most alike to Ingoldo, the youngest, but by the time of his birth she had already made up her mind to forsake the cruel intricacies of the Noldorin court, and upon her fiftieth birthday she quit Tirion and made for Valmar, settling with her grandmother Alcariniel, a priestess of Varda. Findis spent her days in contemplation of the Music and praise of the Valar, happier now than she had ever been in Tirion. Her family’s tensions and squabbles were no longer her concern, and she thrived among the Vanyar, ever more grateful to take after them in appearance as well as mood. While visiting Taniquetil with her grandmother, Findis befriended Elemmírë, a Vanyarin minstrel of great renown, and the two soon became close companions. When Findis’ half-nephew Makalaurë Fëanárion showed great musical talent in his youth, Findis introduced him to Elemmírë, who became his tutor. Unfond as she was of Fëanáro, she could bear no grudge against his son, and indeed hoped that perhaps a Vanyarin-trained musician in the House of Finwë might do some good to heal the rift between the children of Indis and Míriel. Elemmírë moved to Tirion so he might teach Makalaurë, and Findis offered to accompany him, for she loved him greatly. Together they removed from Valmar, though they returned often to perform among the Vanyar, Makalaurë in tow. It was in this time that Elemmírë discovered there was a discordant chord within the Song of his fëa, and first of anyone turned to Findis with the hesitant revelation that she was, in fact, a nís. Findis supported her friend wholeheartedly, and stood by Elemmírë as she transitioned into a new social position. Soon Findis and Elemmírë realized their profound love for one another, and were glad. Though two níssi were not permitted by the laws of the Valar nor the customs of the Eldar to wed, the confusion around Elemmírë’s true identity allowed for a loophole wide enough for Findis and Elemmírë to join in marriage with the blessing of Manwë and Varda, and none spoke against their love. Within only a matter of years, Elemmírë and Findis were blessed with a child: Laurefindil Alcarinquë, named like his mother for a shining star. As he grew, Laurefindil took a great interest in his Noldorin kin, and much to his mothers’ grief he would follow his dear friend and cousin Turukáno Ñolofinwion into Exile when the Noldor rebelled against the constraints of the Valar. When the Two Trees were killed and Valinórë fell into Darkness, Findis and Elemmírë clung to one another in their grief, mourning the departure of many loved ones into the East, far from the protection of the Valar. Though Findis’ faith in the Powers was shaken by her father’s death and the subsequent Darkening of Valinor, she trusted High King Fëanáro even less, and refused to follow him. She welcomed Indis her mother into her house in the wake of the Flight of the Noldor, and though once they had been estranged, now they grew close in heart and mind. Laurefindil son of Findis marched across the Grinding Ice in the train of Findis’ brother Ñolofinwë, and arriving in Middle-earth accompanied his son Turukáno to the hidden city of Ondolindë, where he became a great Lord and the head of the House of the Golden Flower. Mighty were his deeds in Endórë, and there he found the freedom to love his long-time friend Ecthelion, a fellow lord. Yet Laurefindil, known now as Glorfindel, found his end at last in the Fall of Gondolin, slaying a Balrog to protect the fleeing survivors of the once-great city he loved. When Findis and Elemmírë learned of their son’s death, they mourned deeply, and knew not if he would ever be returned to them. Taking strength in one another, they resolved to bring another child into the world, and soon thereafter Findis bore a daughter, Faniel Luinil, named as her brother had been after one of Varda’s stars. Faniel grew up hearing stories of her brother’s bravery and heroism, and always yearned to visit Middle-earth where he lived and died. Her mothers feared for her safety, but reluctantly allowed her to sail to the isle of Númenor, a halfway point between the East and West. There Faniel fell in love with the Secondborn, and became a frequent patron of the arts in the port city of Andúnië. She fell a second time for a common-born weaver, Indilzar of Andúnië, and though it troubled her mothers’ hearts she and Indilzar were wed on the shores of Elenna during the rule of Lady Moruinë and the Queen Tar-Telperiën. Laurefindil returned to life unlooked-for, but much to his family’s joy. Elemmírë and Findis were eager to introduce him to his little sister, and many tears were shed at their meeting. Laurefindil traveled to Númenor to meet Indilzar, now aging and infirmed, and found himself melancholy thinking of his own beloved: he and Ecthelion had plighted their troth upon the very eve of Gondolin’s fall and their own deaths, and though he lived and breathed again, Ecthelion yet remained in the Halls of Mandos. Laurefindil did not long remain in Aman, for as the Shadow lengthened once more in Middle-earth, the Valar looked to a champion among the Eldar to serve as an emissary to those left in the far lands. Laurefindil was an obvious choice, for he was a hero of old and faithful to the Valar’s teachings, so far as they knew. It was difficult to leave his family, but with Ecthelion still lingering in death, Laurefindil found a new purpose in this charge and departed to Endórë again, this time to serve the great-grandson of his King, Elrond of Imladris. Though she was deeply grieved by the passing of her spouse, Faniel remained in Númenor long after Indilzar’s death, for though they never had children she considered all Andúnië as her family. Her heart did not truly break until the sentiments of resentment toward the Eldar forced her to depart Númenor forever, and when its eventual demise came, she wept long and bitterly for the downfall of the people she had come to call her own. Not long after Númenor’s fall, Ecthelion was at last reborn, but Laurefindil was not there to greet him. Instead Faniel took her would-be law-brother into her home, and together they built a new life in Aman, waiting alongside Findis and Elemmírë for Laurefindil’s eventual return. It was not until well into the Fourth Age that Laurefindil at last sailed for Valinor, bringing with him Elrond’s twin sons Elladan and Elrohir as well as his dear friend Erestor, and at long last he and Ecthelion had their happy ending. They reunited on the blessed shores and were finally wed beneath the Sun, their loved ones bearing witness, and hope and gladness were born anew for all.