Aegnor
lord of the highlands; the brother who chose the war
Name and Lineage
Aegnor — son of Finarfin and Eärwen, brother of Finrod and Angrod and Galadriel; his mother-name Aikanáro, “the fell fire”, suited the fierce bright temper of his youth. With Angrod he held the northern highlands of Dorthonion — the pine-covered marches — the most exposed lordship of the Noldor.
The Death at the Sudden Flame In the
Dagor Bragollach (the Battle of Sudden Flame), as the flame burst from Thangorodrim and the land burned, Aegnor and Angrod — who could have retreated with a remnant — chose to stand and cover the flight: — the two brothers, they died within their lordship; the Quenta’s words: “Angrod and Aegnor were slain, and their folk were destroyed” — they are among the first great casualties of the age’s last wars.
The Lost Love (Athrabeth)
A note of special poignance: in the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, Finrod reveals that Aegnor loved Andreth the Wise-woman of the Edain — and refused her, choosing a war he knew he might not survive rather than bring a mortal wife to the doom of his kindred. — Aegnor — the lament: — Finrod’s account of the brother who loved and renounced is one of the most moving passages of the elder mythology, and his death is thereby doubly marked.