Finrod Felagund
the Friend of Men; King of Nargothrond; the faithful
Name and Titles
Life
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The first of the Eldar to see Men: On the far east of Beleriand, beyond the mountains, Finrod met the Father of Men, Bëor the Old, and the first Men he saw were the Edain; his friendship with them (“the Friendship of Finrod and Bëor”) set the alliance of Elves and Men —.
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Nargothrond: He dug (with the Dwarves — he made) the great hidden halls beside the Narog — Nargothrond, the stronghold of the House of Finarfin — and from there kept the South; his guest-friendship with the Elf-king — his ring the “Ring of Barahir” — he gave Barahir, who had saved him, his ring — the forebear of the heirloom later worn by Aragorn.
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The oath of friendship: When Beren came on his quest for the Silmaril, Finrod — bound by his oath to Barahir — renounced his kingship and went with Beren as one companion, though the quest was the death of his realm: “he left his people and his crown” — the great deed of renunciation of the Age.
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The werewolf’s dungeon: Captured by Sauron at the Isle of Werewolves, Finrod — stripped of his Elvish might in the false song-duel — sang his last: — in the contest of songs the power of Sauron overcame him, and in the end, to rescue Beren — when the werewolf came for the prisoners, Finrod — he “broke the fetters” — he fought the great wolf and was slain, dying free in the dark: “Finrod is dead” — the most noble death of the age. His body was borne by — and Mandos, in the end, restored him — “Finrod walks… in Valinor” (in the Athrabeth he returns from Mandos).
The Friend of Men
Finrod’s especial love was the mortal kindred; his speech to Men
(the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, in Morgoth’s Ring) develops the deepest conversation of the mythology — Elvish immortality against man’s Gift. His name, more than any other Elf’s, stands for openhandedness — “the friend of Men”.
Significance
Finrod is Tolkien’s noblest Elf: the king who gave up his kingdom for a promise, the loremaster who died singing, the first and best friend of Men. His death (and his return) makes him, in the legendarium’s own judgement, “the greatest of the House of Finarfin” — and the model by which all later kindness is measured.