Thoughts on Finrod and Amarië
The Grey Annals says that Amarië was ‘not permitted’ to go into exile. This may be me projecting my own desires onto her, but I would hate to be stuck in Valinor while other people were having adventures in Beleriand! The fact that she was not permitted to leave is not explained, and I have so many questions. Who exactly did not permit her to go?! It can’t have been the Valar—Eönwë says, ‘No aid will the Valar lend you in this quest; but neither will they hinder you’—so I can only assume it was her family, or a higher authority among the Vanyar. Whoever it was, it really frustrates me that Amarië has to be cooped up in Valinor during the entire First Age while stuff is going on in Middle-earth! And that she was ‘not permitted’ to go kind of implies that she wanted to, but couldn’t.
The thing that makes me sad about Finrod and Amarië’s relationship is that he goes away to Beleriand and has all these experiences without her. Of course, many of the things he went through—like crossing the Helcaraxë, fighting in the Dagor Bragollach, and dying a horrible death—are not things that anyone would want to experience. But Finrod also got to experience so many good things in Beleriand that Amarië didn’t get to see. He met so many people she would never meet. He encountered new cultures. He learned new languages. He built a kingdom. By the time they reunite, he’s been through so much—including death—that she will never understand. Not only do they have all this lost time, but there’s this gulf between them because of centuries spent leading different lives.
That isn’t to say that they can’t fall in love again—because I think they do. Because I don’t think that Finrod’s time in Beleriand, or in Mandos, changed him so much that he would have become unrecognizable to Amarië. Perhaps that’s something that she worried about, before they were reunited. But I think that when they were actually together again, she would have felt the same connection to him that she did before, which would be all the more poignant because they were separated for so long. I don’t think that the passage of time changes a person completely; I think it just makes their character more clear and defined—like white light refracted through a prism showing all its colors. I think that when Finrod and Amarië were reunited they both felt the distance between them—a distance born of the passage of time and the physical separation of the Sundering Seas—but underneath it, a feeling of familiarity and recognition.
And so I think when Amarië saw Finrod after he came back to life, she fell in love with him all over again. And for Finrod, I think that seeing Amarië again was coming home. (The Quenya word for home, mar, may even be the etymology of her name.) I think there’s something so touching about their relationship, because they fell in love for the first time before Finrod went into exile, before the Darkening of Valinor, before all the tragedy happened; and then we have the fact from the Grey Annals, again, that after Finrod comes back to life, he ‘dwells now in Valinor with Amarië.’ They got their happy ending—after all that time, after all the different things they had been through, they fell in love again. But the sadness! The yearning! They missed each other for centuries.
And they had so much catching up to do. I think it would be hard for Finrod that he can’t share the joys of his life in Beleriand with her. He can tell her stories, but it’s not the same. I can’t help but think, as happy and relieved as Finrod would be to be home, a part of him would miss Beleriand and the friends that he made there. And there’s just something so bittersweet about the fact that, when he was in Beleriand, Finrod was missing his father and mother, and his home, and Amarië, but in Valinor he’s missing Beleriand and all the people he met there, some of whom have departed from the world forever.
I was thinking about all of this, and I realized somthing... If Amarië didn’t get to leave Valinor and experience the outside world, and Finrod didn’t get to share his experiences of the outside world with her, and even in Valinor Finrod misses the Edain... then there’s a way to fix this. They have to go to Númenor! Together! It says in the Akallabêth that Elves sailed from Tol Eressëa to Númenor sometimes: ‘...this distant land was not indeed the Blessed Realm of Valinor, but was Avallónë, the haven of the Eldar upon Eressëa, easternmost of the Undying Lands. And thence at times the Firstborn still would come sailing to Númenor in oarless boats, as white birds flying from the sunset.’ What if Finrod and Amarië were among them?
This is the best possible outcome! Think about it. Finrod has so much curiosity about other cultures, and this fundamental desire to learn and explore. It’s simply unjust to shut him away in Valinor, unable to interact with Men and Dwarves. But if he can go to Númenor, he would get to see the Edain again! And the Dwarves, if they’re visiting the island! And the Númenoreans are descended from Beren; for Finrod to get to see one part of Beren and Lúthien’s legacy—do you know how much that would mean to him?!
And Amarië, who was ‘not permitted’ to go into exile, has been stuck in Valinor this whole time! No offense to Valinor—it’s a beautiful place, but what if you weren’t allowed to leave? I want her to visit Númenor so she can see the world like she’s been wanting to. Let Finrod’s stories of Beleriand feel real because Amarië can actually meet the Edain. Let Finrod and Amarië get to know each other again while visiting a new place together!
I think going to Númenor would allow the two of them to become closer than ever, because Amarië would come to love the Edain like Finrod does, and she would come to understand, really understand, why he gave his life for Beren. And Finrod would finally get to feel like he could share part of his life in Beleriand with Amarië. I just want so badly for Finrod to get to see Men again, and for Amarië to get the amazing experience of encountering different cultures and languages and places so different from what she’s used to. And it’s a wonderful experience that they can actually have together, after centuries apart.
