Things of Middle-earth
Oath of Finrod to Barahir
Type: Miscellaneous
Description:
The vow of help at need made by the King of Nargothrond to Barahir of the House of Bëor in the Dagor Bragollach; symbolized by the Ring of Barahir:
Now King Finrod Felagund had no wife, and Galadriel asked him why this should be; but foresight came upon Felagund as she spoke, and he said: 'An oath I too shall swear, and must be free to fulfil it, and go into darkness. Nor shall anything of my realm endure that a son should inherit.'
The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 15, Of the Noldor in Beleriand
King Finrod Felagund... was cut off from his people and surrounded...; and he would have been slain or taken, but Barahir... rescued him.... Thus Felagund escaped...; but he swore an oath of abiding friendship and aid in every need to Barahir and all his kin, and in token of his vow he gave to Barahir his ring.
The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 18, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
[Finrod] gave to Barahir his ring, an heirloom of his house, in token of the oath that he swore unto Barahir to render whatsoever service was asked in hour of need to him or to any of his kin.
The War of the Jewels, HoME Vol 11, Part 1, The Grey Annals
'... By this ring —
the token of a lasting bond
that Felagund of Nargothrond
once swore in love to Barahir,
who sheltered him with shield and spear
and saved him from pursuing foe
on Northern battlefields long ago....
The Lays of Beleriand, HoME Vol 3, Ch 3, The Lay of Leithian, Canto IV, Lines 1085-1091
Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 14Mar10
