Finwë

Finwë is a fictional figure in J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium, most fully described in the Silmarillion and related writings. He is the first High King of the Noldor in Aman and a central progenitor in the Noldorin line. As a prince of the Noldor in Valinor, Finwë eventually became their ruler in Tirion.

Finwë’s family life is notable for its two marriages and the lineage that followed. His first wife, Míriel Serindë, bore Fëanor, the gifted but controversial creator of the Silmarils. Míriel died shortly after Fëanor’s birth. Finwë later married Indis, and with her he fathered Fingolfin and Finarfin, who would become important leaders in their own right and ancestors of many key figures in the subsequent histories of amon and Middle-earth.

In his reign, Finwë is described as a venerable and capable king of the Noldor in Valinor. He witnessed the early discontent among the Noldor that would culminate in the exodus from Aman and the subsequent tragedy that befell their people. His role as the first High King situates him as a foundational patriarch of the Noldorin lineage, from which several major houses and their leaders emerge.

The circumstances and timing of Finwë’s death are not consistently specified in Tolkien’s published works; most accounts place his passing before or during the early stages of the Noldor’s exile from Valinor. His legacy persists through his children and the generations that follow, shaping the fates of the Noldor and the broader timeline of the Silmarillion.