Finrod in The Rings of Power: Who Is Galadriel’s Brother in The Lord of the Rings Series?

After making a very prominent appearance in the first episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, here’s everything you need to know about Finrod Felagund, played on the show by Will Fletcher, the eldest son of Finnarfin and Earwen and brother of Galadriel.

Rings of Power, set in the second era, begins with a flashback to a happier time.

Young Galadriel (Amélie Child-Willier) lives in the blessed kingdom of Valinor for the Tree Years, making small boats and being bullied by the other Elven children. Because of the fight, Galadriel was imprisoned and taken away by her older brother, Finrod Felagund. The latter then passes on a little brotherly wisdom to his little sister.

But when the war against Vala Morgoth begins, Finrod goes in search of the latter’s best lieutenant, Sauron.

As Galadriel tells it, Sauron struck the first blow. Finrod’s body was found after the War of Wrath, bearing Sauron’s personal mark. Galadriel, now played by Morphid Clarke, then seizes her brother’s blade and inherits his will, becoming determined to defeat Sauron himself.

This brief but important role only scratches the surface of the story of the original character created by Tolkien. There is much more to be said about Finrod as the Amazon series brings significant changes, including how the powerful figure of the First Age met his end.

The Rings of Power really tells an abridged version of how the Elves left Valinor for Middle-earth. Rather than a noble quest to defeat Morgoth and avenge the two trees of Valinor, the Clan Aldor were actually led by their king, Fëanor, who sought to recover the Silmarils – the 3 jewels that held the light of the trees of Valinor that Morgoth had stolen. .

This speech, called the Flight of the Aldor, was not in accordance with the will of the Valar, and Fëanor subsequently led his followers to commit horrific acts of violence against their own kind.

Although both Finrod and Galadriel joined Valinor’s journey to Middle-earth, they did so to avoid abandoning their people rather than joining Fëanor. However, their father abandons the journey and returns to Valinor with news of Fëanor’s violent betrayals, leaving Finrod and Galadriel alone to cross Middle-earth.

Note that The Rings of Power also depicts how Finrod left his one true love, Amaria, in Valinor.

The history lesson in the first episode of the series gives the impression that Finrod left Valinor in Middle-earth with the sole intention of destroying Sauron. But in Tolkien’s mythology, Finrod plays a larger role in the development of Middle-earth, his actions having consequences that carry over to both the Rings of Power and The Lord of the Rings.

To begin with, Finrod created the original Minas Tirith. This early Minas Tirith, located much further north than its namesake in Third Age Gondor, stood as a watchtower against Morgoth for several centuries until Sauron invaded and made the fortress a base of operations. However, when Minas Tirith fell, Finrod had already moved on.

Indeed, never abandoning the Valar as Fëanor did, Vala Ulmo, the water deity who supported the Elves and Men in their war against Morgoth, revealed to him a hidden network of underground caverns.

It is here that Finrod will build the great – almost inaccessible – city of Nargothrond, over which he will reign for more than three centuries, far from the sight of Morgoth, who will still try to find the city and destroy it. However, like Minas Tirith, Nargothrond does not survive Tolkien’s Second Age.

But Finrod’s influence on Middle-earth was largely determined by the friendships he made during his travels. In the First Age, elves and dwarves argued much less than in Rings of Power and Lord of the Rings, and even worked together.

So Finrod built Nargothrod with the help of the dwarves, whom he paid handsomely for the work. Finrod’s good relationship with the dwarves – who nicknamed him Felagund – is particularly mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and Gimli sings of “the mighty kings of Nargothrond” in The Fellowship of the Ring. Remember also Gimli’s respect for Finrod’s sister Lady Galadriel when she visited Lothlorien.

Diplomatic efforts with the dwarves are overshadowed only by Finrod’s excellent relations with the men of Middle-earth. He shared his knowledge with the mortals, learning their language and customs and helping to bridge the growing rift between them and the local green elves.

Finrod was especially close to Beor’s house and invited the latter to spend his remaining days in Nargothrond. This relationship is crucial in the stories that follow, as the House of Beor will be one of the three to settle in Númenor in the Second Age. Descendants of Beor go back to Elendil and Isildur… as do any of Aragorn’s descendants.

In the rings of power, Galadriel understands well how her brother died: he fought Sauron and Sauron won. His death is arguably the biggest change to the Amazon show. Indeed, his death, as written by JRR Tolkien The Silmarillion It is significantly different.

Tolkien’s First Age is defined by a series of major battles between Morgoth and the Elves that gradually lead to the Great War of Wrath. Dagor Bragollach is one of the most infamous of these skirmishes, resulting in huge elven casualties. Thus, Finrod might have been one such victim if he had not saved Barahir, a scion of the House of Beor.

Naturally, the honorable Finrod swore an oath to Barahir, offering a ring as a symbol of friendship, and this ring – a symbol of the bond between men and elves – is none other than the one given to Aragorn, who will offer it to his beloved. , none.

Although Barahir himself does not invoke Finrod’s oath, his son Beren does. Beren will definitely need the Silmaril stolen from Morgoth to appease the father of his lover, the Elven princess Lúthien. He then travels to Nargothrond to ask Finrod to honor his oath to join his mission.

Tragically, Beren and Finrod’s company is captured by Sauron and takes Mina to Tirith. It is here, as a prisoner, that Finrod gives his life to protect Beren.

The Rings of Power turns Finrod’s story into a quest for revenge rather than the quest for friendship that it really is, thus giving Galadriel a more personal motivation to hunt down Sauron. The first two episodes of the show really detail how Galadriel is alone in her decision to eliminate the latter. Avenging his older brother’s death is his ultimate motivation.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings about Finrod and Galadriel’s brotherly relationship are largely about their adulthood, but the pair are described as close, with Galadriel regularly visiting her brother in Nargothrond.

Tolkien also writes that Galadriel was closer to Finrod than his other brothers, Orodreth, Angrod and Aegnor, who were completely removed from the series.

As such, Galadriel never attempted to avenge her brother in this way, ultimately taking pride in Finrod’s honoring of Barahir’s oath. And while the incident certainly fueled her hatred of Sauron, Galadriel never swore to kill the Dark Lord himself.

The portrait of Finrod and young Galadriel in Rings of Power is that of a big brother watching over a little sister. Although not necessarily a contradiction, Tolkien wrote the family relationships between the elves in a more formal tone, and due to their immortality, the concepts of “big brother” and “little sister” were less pronounced than the predecessor implies.

Therefore, this more “human” portrayal of brotherly love in the series seems designed to make Morfid Clarke’s character’s personal journey more understandable, thus justifying his relentless quest for revenge against the still-hidden Sauron.

You can watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power weekly on Amazon Prime Video.