High King of the Noldor
the crown of the Noldor; the kingship of the exiles
The High King of the Noldor
The Office
The High Kingship of the Noldor is the royal office of the greatest of the Elvish kindreds, held (from the years of Aman) by the descendants of Finwë through his line: the acknowledged “king of the Noldor” — in Valinor the king of the fair city (Tirion); in exile, the leader of the host and the crown of the real politik of Beleriand; and at the last, the sovereign of the remnant in Lindon.
The Line
- Finwë — the first King of the Noldor (from the awakening to the slaying at Formenos). -
After him (in exile): Fëanor (by right and oath, slain early), then — by Maedhros’ surrender and the reconciliation — Fingolfin, then Fingon, then Turgon (of Gondolin), and after Gondolin’s fall Gil-galad — the last High King, whose death at the Last Alliance (S.A. 3441) left the kingship silent, “and there was no High King of the Noldor of the West again”.
The Meaning
The High Kingship is the measure of the Noldor’s unity and their fall: at once the bond of the kindred (their “kingdom of the star-light”) and the crown that the Oath, the feud and the Doom passed from hand to hand until the age’s sorrows brought its end. Its hereditary principle (through Finwë) is the spine of the whole genealogical structure of the legendarium.