Quote:
Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin
Okay, yes. That certainly raises a material point- in Valinor, a race of immortals would have had no need for any concept of succession, save as a sort of hangover from the Great Journey and before. Which leads to the observation that Tolkien lost the plot a bit ca 1958 when revising QS: he has Feanor and Fingolfin squabbling over who was their father's heir- why? To what end? Inheritance would not have been a concept that any Elf of Valinor would have given the time of day to.
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I think it was more a matter of honour, of position, than a matter of material inheritance upon the death of the parent. Who is closest to the King? Whose word is second just after his? Feanor and Fingolfin did not desire to inherit Finwe's material wealth or the status of King, but they were squabbling over who should be the second
after Finwe. In other words, who is the favourite sibling, cause dada loves me best.
Besides, they were still familiar with the concept of death and succession based on other factors. The Elves had an extensive history in Middle-earth before coming to Aman, and we are given to assume that they were sometimes attacked by wild things and Morgoth's servants, and some of them disappeared mysteriously - but presumably at least some were just killed. Some of them disagreed with each other, or split up for other purposes, and chose/followed new leaders. So I don't think it's an outlandish concept for them to have, even though death in Aman was non-existent until Finwe - or, technically, Miriel.
With regard to Gil-Galad's inheritance, does anyone know how old he was when Earendil became the ruler of the remaining Elven folk? I assumed that Finwe's brother Turgon became King over Gil-Galad because the lad was too young to rule at the time, by whatever standards Elves had.