Eldarin kingship and succession

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by cellurdur

Does it? I can't recall. I do know that Maeglin thinks to himself Turgon has NO HEIR, which implies that Idril was designated as Turgon's heir. That's one of the reasons why he is keen to go to Gondolin.

As far as Idril and Gondolin goes, it is possible that Idril could have been Turgon's heir to the throne of Gondolin yet not a potential Heir of Finwë as High King--after all, Gondolin was a new realm, even if its ruler belonged to an established Royal House, and a realm, after all, whose subjects included a significant number of Sindar (I can't remember whether Tolkien says one-third or two-thirds, but that's somewhat insignificant to my argument).

What's more, it's also possible that Turgon hadn't definitively ruled on the subject--even with the precedent of kings dying well-established, it would be consistent with Elven nature not to require a succession plan (a chain of command, yes, but Turgon hardly intended on his realm being overrun). It is entirely possible Maeglin's opinion on the matter was merely one of many.