High King Fingon the Valiant - Epic Character History

High King Fingon, son of Fingolfin, was the heir to the throne of the Noldor, yet he survived the horrors of Morgoth as much as any other great hero in the First Age. Thank you all so much for watching, let me know your thoughts on Fingon in the comments below! As always, a great thanks to the online artists whose visual works made this video possible! If you are one of the artists, please let me know and I will post your name and a link to your work in this description!
#Silmarillion
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High King Fingolfin, Challenger of Morgoth - Epic Character History:
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Húrin Thalion, He Who Was Cursed by Morgoth - Epic Character History:
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[@kitamibu]

Your videos bring me so much comfort. I was just diagnosed with cancer and chemo is not fun. However, your videos take my mind off feeling horrible and even 10mins is a welcome relief sometimes.

[@MenoftheWest]

My friend, I am so sorry you are going through that pain. I’m glad my videos and I can be there for you in some capacity. Keep heart, and never give up hope. Your friends in this community are by your side.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

"Of all the children of Finwe he is justly most renowned: for his valour was as a fire and yet as steadfast as the hills of stone; wise he was and skilled in voice and hand; truth and justice he loved and bore good will to all, both Elves and Men, hating Morgoth only; he sought not his own, neither power nor glory, and death was his reward."

[@orrointhewise87]

"I'm going to save him." I'll admit aside from saving Maehdros and dying horribly I didn't know much about him. He had the makings of a great long lived king. But makes you think; if Gandalf, and even Glorfindel stood against one Balrog, how would standing against many would have been.

[@skillsmachine9164]

Yes and everyone who killed one died himself. Gandalf the grey, glorfindal, ecthelion...

[@DavidWesley]

Thanks for using my artwork!👌

[@MenoftheWest]

Thanks for creating it, my friend!

[@1spacecadet4]

Fingon's story is such a sad one. He and Maedhros almost (ALMOST!) managed to unite the Noldor against Morgoth and potentially could have won if other things hadn't gone against them. The whole "Of the fifth battle" chapter of the Silmarillion is, for me the saddest of any in Tolkien's books.

[@three3thou]

And so it was aptly named for unnumbered tears indeed were shed... By volume of people slain (and notable names indeed) I'd agree with you but the tale of The Children of Hurin just shattered me... As Tolkien stated, in that tragedy was wrought some of Melkors most evil works...

[@indio4-215]

The Noldor and their allies would have never been able to assail Angband and overthrow Melkor and his forces on their own without the Valar's assistance. It was stated as such, and it is folly to think otherwise. Fëanor in his last moments foresaw this.

[@aarondemiri486]

Reading how he fell in battle against Gothmog always saddens me.

[@istari0]

Fingon was definitely his father's son and like Fingolfin one of the very greatest of the Noldor. Still, I am sure he had to spend some time in the Halls of Mandos for his participation in the kinslaying at Alqualondë.

[@AlphariusDominatus]

Poor Fingon was done so dirty at Unnumbered Tears

[@herbthompson8937]

Fingolfin and both his sons were just so awesome! Turgon is my favorite Elf!

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Turgon is so underated

[@herbthompson8937]

@talesoftheeldar8688 Turgon just chilling with his boys Ecthelion and Glorfindel!!!

[@specialk8888]

The Battle Of Unnumbered Tears really paints a picture of why the Easterlings were so hated by men and elves. It saw the High King of the Noldor slain and the humans painted in a very bad light. Such a tragic tale, like most of the Silmarillion

[@paulwagner688]

"That was a grim meeting". I got chills when I read for the first time Gothmog turning to Fingon in the Nirnaeth. Even more than "Last of all Hurin stood alone".

[@rafaelgustavo7786]

One of the heroes, alongside Maedhros, most underrated in the Legendarium. What I like about him is his tactical sense in addition to his courage. See its use in the Horse-Archer tactics (created by him(?), inspired by the knights of Oromë) in the War of the Silmarils.

[@shadowofchaos8932]

The Siege of Angband was a mistake of the elves of the First Age. Melkor used this time to plan and build his forces. If more attention was paid to attack instead of defense, the war could have changed. The numbers and kingdoms weren't established yet but after a few centuries, they should have tried to assail the dark forces.

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Well by the time there Kindoms were established ,Morgoths Armys had recovered

[@herbthompson8937]

I thought it was said Angband could never be assailed by the Eldar

[@istari0]

The Elves never had the strength to break into Angband and they reproduce slowly so the numerical imbalance grew over time. It was Fëanor's Folly to think that the Noldor and their allies would have ever been able to defeat Morgoth.

[@teleportedbreadfor3days]

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense

[@NightsmokeFTB]

They should've listened to fingolfin when he first wanted to build a massive alliance to assault morgoth, but everyone was too content

[@lordsofarnor4128]

Fingon is quite possibly my favorite elf of the First Age. He united the Ñoldor twice by rescuing Maedhros and joining with him in the Nirnaeth. He may have died at the hands of Gothmog but I do wonder what would have happened had the other balrogs not intervened.

[@forfun6273]

He probably would have won a 1v1 vs gothmog. I mean idk. I believe Fingolfin would have beaten gothmog. It’s tough because he is a miar. But Fingolfin damn near beat Morgath. If he didn’t tire and the ground didn’t get pitted then I think Fingolfin had a good chance of beating Morgath. I wonder if Ecthelion would have killed Gothmog if it wasn’t for the fountain. He stabbed him with the spike on his helmet as he tackled him into the fountain and that extinguished Gothmogs fire and they both drowned. I’m pretty sure he tackled him because he was disarmed. So I wonder if the tackle would have been enough to let him get his sword back or something like that. But yeah I think if Ecthelion could kill Gothmog 1v1 then Fingon and definitely Fingolfin could have. I’m not sure if Gothmog beat any of the high kings 1v1. Maybe I’m wrong. Idk.

[@lordsofarnor4128]

From the way Tolkien wrote the confrontations with the balrogs I don’t know if Fingon would have survived but I do think it would have been like an Ecthilion or Glorfindel act of sacrifice and he and Gothmog would kill each other

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

I'm always trying not to picture Thorondor hovering in place like an oversized hummingbird whiel Fingon is trying to free Maedhros.

[@kaidorade1317]

If superheroes existed in Tolkien’s world, Fingon would rank among the best

[@NightsmokeFTB]

Fingon, fingolfin, ecthelion, and glorfindel definitely

[@SWOTHDRA]

​@@NightsmokeFTBFinrod as well

[@saladinbob]

I wonder why so many of Tolkien's stories end in tragedy? Some, like Túrin Turambar are cautionary tales against pride, but many others seem to be tragedies for their own sakes.

[@three3thou]

Nah there is a deeper metaphysical lesson in all... Beren and Luthien - Love prevails. Always. Maeglin - Evil desires (Power and Lust) Gondolin - Pride in your own works. Stubbornness. Kinslaying - Evil begets evil. Crossing of the Grinding Ice - Resilience and Leadership (in my view perhaps the greatest of all elven victories - how glorious Fingolfins banners must have been as they unfurled as the moon rise for the first time ever) Too many to mention....

[@alekssavic1154]

The story of the elves in general is one of diminishing and decline, so tragedy fits that theme naturally (hard to have meaningful victories when everything is meant to fade and crumble in the end). I suspect it comes from the medieval literature Tolkien took a lot of his inspirations from, and his own Catholicism. The view Catholic historians & theologians took during the middle ages was that humanity was slowly declining from our "golden age" in paradise through the (relatively, supposedly) peaceful classical era to what we'd now call the middle ages, which even at the time they sometimes described as the dark ages (which more recently historians have been trying to avoid using). That view seeped into a lot of medieval stories and folklore, so even if that narrative has been toned down a bit in more recent times (although to my understanding Catholicism is still rooted in those themes even if it's harder to argue literally these days) given Tolkien's background and the works he was taking inspiration from it most likely heavily informed his own writing.

[@marionbaggins]

Man, Fingon acted powerful to help in the early days of Middle Earth, I was so close while watching calling Fingon a "Good Boy" and then I realized his name would be great for a Dog!!! And man, I forgot and it makes me Laugh, Fin is Sindarin for Hair...So many characters have Hair in their name!!! Thanks Mellon, for Fingon's ECH...Until, What was Aragorn's After Gandalf Died?...Marion Baggins Out!!!

[@upschutt4842]

Thank you. The elves are fascinating, indeed.

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Men of the West What if Fingon killed Gothmog and reunited with Hurin and Turgon ?

[@jmagn]

Possible what-if idea: What if first age Morgoth had the mind, desires, and intent of 2nd/3rd age Sauron, but 2nd and 3rd age Sauron had the mind desires and intent (not powers or abilities) of first age Morgoth. Morgoth seemed to just want to watch the world burn and hate everything, while Sauron desired a twisted perfection with himself as the sole judge and jury.

[@SherlockHolmesb-kp4ru]

Well then that would go against the very character of morgoth and what he is supposed to represent .If he was alike in mind with sauron ,then he would have never rebelled in the first place .Mairon or sauron's goal was to create an efficent world with no waste and one in which everyone had everything they need and aswell everything they will ever need .In the second age he had been so completely and utterly corrupted by morgoth that he no longer desired his original goal but rather a twisted and depraved version of it in which he is the soul judge,jury and executioner .Even if he somehow had sauron's mindset and great intellect ,he obviously would have been much much more successful in his campaigns against the noldor and whatnot and he would not have wasted his essence and spirit as carelessly as he had in the original timeline ,but instead he would have used his powers in a much more efficent manner than carelessly wasting it an dhe would have achieved victory much earlier against the noldor

[@forfun6273]

Morgoth would have been very dangerous. Like he probably could have twisted some valar to his side. I don’t think he would have declared his intent right when he got in Arda. But i don’t think Sauron would have faired too well. I guess he could have still made the one ring without making the others. Then just made an underground kingdom in Mordor and pumped out orc armies from year 500 of the second age after he was convinced the valar didn’t care about middle earth anymore. The elves would of had no idea he was just building armies if he never got caught for making the one ring. So they might have not been prepared or told the Numanorians about his return. So he could have ran through the elven kingdom’s without much resistance.

[@its2early4dis]

Your lore vids are great, but I’m really disappointed that in the use of AI images when there is so much good Tolkien art out there. Glad you at least shouted out the guy who generated the images.

[@Sandbarfight]

Great episode

[@likac92009]

Correction. 3:50 Feanor's forces defeated in a battle when? Actually, they were the ones who won The Dagor-nuin-Giliath (Battle-under-Stars) and obliterated Morgoth's forces, saving Cirdan and his people in the process. Do not confuse that with Feanor being ambushed by Balrogs and mortally wounded. That happened much later (one year later).

[@melkhiordarkfell4354]

Hot take but I don't care what the lore says, I consider Fingon the father of Gil-Galad.

[@crazykids2004]

Many things went wrong during this time but he was a powerful king did some bad things but also good

[@AlecEburhard]

Love your content. Is there a possibility to do a video on the big and important differences between men and elves?

[@Mellowcanuck33]

It's harder to be good.

[@spinster9187]

Love your videos!

[@shanenolan5625]

Thanks.

[@bloog3600]

Would you consider doing a 'what if' of if there were a small clan of orcs that wanted to help the Fellowship/the free peoples?

[@lordofthehouseofstormcrows8615]

I've always wanted to believe that Sting belonged to Fingon. When he freed Maedrhos maybe he used Sting. I dunno, something to wonder. Great job Mellon! ECTHELION!

[@Dannywise527]

Wow . What a Valiant being indeed. I didn't even know that he wasn't married nor did he have any children until now.

[@SWOTHDRA]

Fingon, son of the Legendary Fingolfin, brother of Turgon, cousin of Maedros and Finrod

[@ariolys2339]

10:24 or make sure to have kids before doing any thing stupid as dying.

[@AlphariusDominatus]

Gil Galad was The Son of Fingon. I don't care what Christopher Tolkien said

[@bc-mv5se]

Good art sourcing, as usual. But a few of these were a little too ai-uncanny valley of death for my tastes. On that note, would you do an ai-generated tolkien story video? Discuss.

[@SeventhSwell]

Thanks for mentioning AI images 33 seconds in. I'll go watch something else.

[@skillsmachine9164]

The only issue I have with this video. It sounds like you're pronouncing fingle-fin instead of Fingol-fin lol.

[@RantingThespian]

Not really happy that you are using AI for images. Not only is it a bit unethical, it's also very jarring and uncanny looking. I really would suggest not to use AI going forward.

[@pattonramming1988]

What if Feanor were wise enough to persuade the Teleri to lend their ships in their quest to slay Morgoth and reclaim the Silmarils What if he took the council of his son Maëđros and sent the ships to Fingon and his followers would Feanor have a stronger position in Hithlum? Would the Noldor be in a stronger position to stand against Morgoth

[@likac92009]

1. Feanor tried to persuade them, to remind them of their friendship, to ask them to come along, offered to buy the ships and anything that crossed his mind and if he couldn't persuade them then no one could and that was because the Teleri were afraid of the Valar and their wrath. 2. the ships could never be sent back, because the Noldor were already under the ban. The ones who reached Middle-earth were banned from coming back to Valinor. There were no one who could return those ships back, regardless of Feanor's own decision to burn them.

[@MJC1891]

❤❤❤❤

[@TheSaneHatter]

Fingon isn't very well-developed as a personality in the Legendarium, and can't be called as "interesting" as many others. But few can question his character, and no one his courage or his inherent goodness.

[@stephens8925]

Please commission actual artists dude. Generating art that, due to the nature of modern ai software, has to be based on essentially stealing the style of actual artists who put in the time and effort to develop their skills, is exploitative. I feel very confident that based on his opinions on industrialization et al, Tolkien himself would be very much opposed to its use. I’ll stick around on your channel for awhile to see if anything I’ve said resonates with you, but if not, I can’t keep watching your videos. Sorry for rambling but I hope you take this in good faith because I seriously don’t mean it as an attack 😅

[@trenchcoatkitty]

Literally this is like Melkor! AI "art" cannot create, only distort what already exists!

[@JohnAmidon-c6r]

👍👍

[@thelordchancellor3454]

Man, you really shouldn't use AI images in your videos. As a channel dedicated to celebrating the art of Tolkien, the use of AI endorses the thievery of art and the corruption of it, in like way to Melkor's corruption. I love your work and will continue watching your videos, but I offer you this counsel.

[@klnz1107]

Tolkien barely drew anything. Ai is fine here

[@thelordchancellor3454]

@klnz1107 Thats not exactly true, and even if it was, there are still many artists who have made their careers off of painting, drawing or otherwise bringing Tolkien's world to life through visual art. Just because we don't have everything drawn out by Tolkien's own hand doesn't mean that my point is invalid, in fact the authorship of the art does not matter so long as it was made by human craft and not composited from the work of others by an ai.

[@jkjlkjkljlkj]

Shut up.

[@MellyMacrame]

It’s actually a digital rendition of my cousins. Two brothers, in Tolkien fashion. Image was created years ago.. shout out to the artist Rick Ritchie! It’s saved on his profile. I have pics of the bros, to compare with the faces. Give the channel some grace. ❤

[@HyoushinKitsune]

Another person who’s not a fan of the ai art here. I’m surprised that you would even consider using it, really.

[@bradylewis9698]

AI art? Really? You're vetter than that.