Tears unnumbered ye shall shed...

1 - The Kinslaying: at the point where Thingol insitutes the ban, he has just received information that the Noldor committed a Kinslaying where, and I quote canon, "a great part of their [Teleri] mariners that dwelt in Alqualonde were wickedly slain." Lots of ways that can be read but "great part" suggests the death toll is not insignificant, and based on my calculations re how large the Teleri fleet would have had to have been to carry Feanor's people + all the Noldor cargo across, that's an estimated 1000 - 2000 deaths at least. This puts this on par with some of the most notable pogroms of the contemporary Indian history, for context.

I realise this sounds incendiary to say (and to be clear I don't think they're 1:1 in terms of intent), but I think it's worth saying because I do think that we gloss over what these deaths mean & how they would have been received by the Elvish mind. Bear in mind that till that moment, the most violent act and Elf had ever committed against another Elf was to threaten the other with death. Thingol doesn't have this context, where the possibility of such violence occurring is a spectre haunting them all. Thingol and his people live in a land where Elf on Elf violence is unimaginable because the very possibility of it has never haunted them until this moment, when they are confronted by the existence of a mass slaughter that's been kept secret from them for fully 67 years since the rising of the sun and the ~30 years before that. Moreover, it's not a mass slaughter of unrelated Elves. It's specifically a subsection of Elves who were his people, who left under his brother, but who nevertheless as a result would have had kinship ties with the Sindar of Middle Earth (and I use kinship here in the sense that we would, of families with blood or marital ties viz. uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, parents, children etc). It is not merely shared ethnicity, though that is part of it, but familial ties.

If we were to imagine the Sindarin reaction to such news, I think we could agree that their response would have been shock, horror, grief, anger (latter two straight up named in Thingol's response to the news) and also, I think, fear and paranoia: Elves who have killed kin once, have been willing to lie about it and appear otherwise unrepentant, may very well choose to kill again if denied what they see as their entitlements. There is no reason for the Sindar to believe themselves safe from the Noldor if they refuse them desired aid - unless they can demonstrate their willingness to retaliate if need be, and demonstrate a show of strength. There is no reason for the Sindar to identify with the Noldor as kin and therefore safe, because the Noldor have already disidentified from considering them kin, in having killed the Teleri for their ships.

2 - The military might & general political approach of the Noldor so far: crucial to this aspect of showing strength is the fact that the Noldor very much do look on themselves as the military saviours of the Sindar, for having pushed back Morgoth's forces at a time when they were besieged and having delivered Cirdan's people, especially, from total annexation by the Orcs. They look down on Thingol as a two-bit king with little control (Maedhros' infamous a king is he who holds his own continues: "Thingol does but grant us lands where his power does not run.") Tolkien himself explicitly points out what Thingol's worry is:

Now King Thingol welcomed not with a full heart the coming of so many princes in might out of the West, eager for new realms

i.e. Thingol knows perfectly well that the Noldor are hungry for new territory, that they've already claimed territory where the Sindar used to occupy - which they fled only because of Morgoth's assault - and that they do look down on him as a ruler, rather than see him as equals. This is reflected very much in his response to the first diplomatic sally by the Noldor:

elsewhere there are many of my people, and I would not have them restrained of their freedom, still less ousted from their homes. Beware therefore how you princes of the West bear yourselves; for I am the Lord of Beleriand, and all who seek to dwell there shall hear my word.

This is a basic diplomatic response of reassertion of both power and territoriality, but also specifically in aid of ensuring the continued freedom of the Sindar outside of Doriath rather than their annexation under the Noldor & their military might. As inward political symbolism, it is a demonstration to Thingol's people that he will continue to look after their interests and will continue to lobby for them and represent them politically, even if they don't live within his borders - and crucially, that he isn't bending the knee to the Noldor and taking them as overlords just because of their military might, and therefore, that neither are they obligated to do so; the Sindar can and will remain a separate and independent peoples in the face of what seems to be a superior occupying force, barring a couple of hold-out territories.

3 - The rumours already floating around amongst the Sindar, that Cirdan brings to Thingol's attention, that finally prompts the confession:

It was not long before whispered tales began to pass among the Sindar concerning the deeds of the Noldor ere they came to Beleriand. Certain it is whence they came, and the evil truth was enhanced and poisoned by lies; but the Sindar were yet unwary and trustful of words, and (as may well be thought) Morgoth chose them for this first assault of his malice, for they knew him not. And Círdan, hearing these dark tales, was troubled; for he was wise, and perceived swiftly that true or false they were put about at this time through malice, though the malice he deemed was that of the princes of the Noldor, because of the jealousy of their houses. Therefore he sent messengers to Thingol to tell all that he had heard.

Lots of implications packed into this single paragraph. Its important to keep in mind that these tales and rumours exist within the context of the Sindar speculating why the Noldor have come to Middle Earth when they did - especially since they first believe that they come as emissaries of the Valar to deliver them in the time of need (Ch. 13, The Return of the Noldor), only for a) another group of Noldor to turn up after having crossed the Ice, b) to be seemingly at odds with the first group and c) both groups largely tight-lipped about the Valar in a way that would be surprising for "emissaries". It becomes very easy for Morgoth et al to get a foothold in there by asking whether this is "deliverance" or "occupation". If it isn't deliverance, if the Noldor clearly aren't there at the behest of the Valar, and if this is occupation - why and how? Why are these princes at odds with each other? What happened to drive such a wedge between them?

Its in this context that the implied existence of the Kinslaying begins to circulate amongst the Sindar specifically outside of Doriath i.e. the Sindar existing in closest proximity to the Noldor. If the princes of the Noldor are not from the Valar, are an occupying force, are at odds with each other and have killed fellow Elves in the past, what does this mean for the Sindar? Are they about to become "collateral damage" in a Noldor civil war? Are the Noldor about to annex them in competitive pursuit of individual power? Have they got rid of one threat, only to be visited with an even more dangerous threat? What happens if they refuse the Noldor? What happens if they choose the "wrong" side in what seems (to them!) to be a simmering Noldor conflict that could break out at any moment? Does their king know about this and not care? Is Thingol kneecapped and unable to respond to this because he's surrounded by the Noldor on each side? Is Thingol hiding this from them? I imagine these might have been some of the questions and rumours that might have been floating around at the time.

Its a politically tense and fraught situation that requires an immediate and decisive response that both reassures the Sindar that Thingol is not impotent, but also which demonstrates to the Noldor that Thingol is not impotent as well - that he still commands power in these territories even if its not obvious to them - and therefore, that if they so much as think about repeating such an act here, it will invite retribution. I wrote a little about this previously and what it symbolises in more modern political terms: i.e. that the expulsion of Finrod et al is very clearly an expulsion of Noldor diplomats much as modern states will engage in sabre-rattling by expelling each others' diplomats before coming to the negotiating table and hashing out a middle ground.

In that context, the Quenya ban, has symbolic value as an act of embargo to denote escalations & a breakdown of diplomatic relations between their people. It is first and foremost, an outward means of displaying displeasure. But no less important is the fact that it demonstrates to the Noldor that Thingol commands the loyalty of the many Sindar who range through their lands, and on whom, presumably, the Noldor are still somewhat dependent on for a) agricultural supplies and supply chain logistics for their huge armies and b) navigation through the unfamiliar terrain of Beleriand.

Its the first step in escalation against what can easily be read as an act of hostility/deception on the part of the Noldor, demonstrating to them that Thingol wields not insignificant soft power that has the potential to kneecap the Noldor. It is executed in the face of a) the scope of Noldor military power, b) the seeming intent of the Noldor to occupy and rule lands without much interest in the sovereignty of local populations and c) the cover-up of what is clearly considered one of the most awful crimes in Elvish law - but not just one murder, but mass murder.

However, the Noldor are not the primary target of the Quenya ban.

In fact, given that the Kinslaying targeted Sindar kin in Valinor, it is a very measured response and its primary target is internal i.e. the Sindar. It is a reassertion of Thingol's authority, a reminder of his strength & that he means to resist Noldor dominance, but it is primarily a reminder of kinship and ethnic grouping, loyalties & of the violence that has been committed against kin - not just in the sense of Elvish kinship, but specifically in the sense of blood & marriage. It is therefore, also a caution about what it will mean to swear full fealty to the Noldor:

But Thingol was long silent ere he spoke. ‘Go now!’ he said. ‘For my heart is hot within me. Later you may return, if you will; for I will not shut my doors for ever against you, my kindred, that were ensnared in an evil that you did not aid. With Fingolfin and his people also I will keep friendship, for they have bitterly atoned for such ill as they did. And in our hatred of the Power that wrought all this woe our griefs shall be lost. But hear my words! Never again in my ears shall be heard the tongue of those who slew my kin in Alqualondë! Nor in all my realm shall it be openly spoken, while my power endures. All the Sindar shall hear my command that they shall neither speak with the tongue of the Noldor nor answer to it. And all such as use it shall be held slayers of kin and betrayers of kin unrepentant.’

Now, we can take a very high-minded approach to this and suggest that Thingol should have seen the Noldor as allies in a fight against Morgoth. I want to stress, Thingol does just that BUT ONLY re. Fingolfin & Finrod's people: in our hatred of the Power that wrought all this woe our griefs shall be lost. He explicitly takes time to recognise that Morgoth is the originator of all these griefs. What he does not do is absolve the sons of Feanor of the Kinslaying - and frankly, neither does he have reason to.

Every instance of their recorded actions so far shows a disdain for the Sindar, a clear sense in their minds of "us" and "them" which they then attempt to enforce on Finrod et al in "choosing" the "right" side of their heritage. Between their high-handedness, clear drive for domination of territory and their willingness to conceal the Kinslayings, their actions only kind of hammer home a kind of entitledness driven by the might of the sword. The ethnic divide between the Noldor and the Sindar is born first and foremost out of the Kinslaying & its continued at least 67 year cover up. The us and them existed at the point at which the Noldor seized the ships at the end of a sword, came to Beleriand and then suggested they had the right to the various lands because of the might of their sword - something that containts the implicit threat of slaughter if not obeyed with.

The Quenya ban reinforces this divide, but it exists only in the context of the Kinslaying. It is not unprompted retaliation, but a considered reassertion of both authority and a reminder of kinship. At the end of the day, its primary actionable target is not the Noldor but fellow Sindar. It calls for, primarily, disidentification from the Noldor and Sindar unity, for the development of a Sindar national identity that stands oppositional to the Noldor identity. It does pre-emptively threaten those who are too close to the Noldor with the accusation of disloyalty - and there's a lot to be said about the classic "pick a side" rhetoric on display here & Thingol strategically using it in this moment against the Northern Sindar whom he distrusts, which is rarely if ever said :) - but at the same time, to do a reparative reading for a hot second, since we're VERY fond of reparative readings elsewhere: it equally serves as a warning that to get too close to the Noldor will eventually force them to choose between their kin & their sworn affiliation, and that when the time comes to make such a choice, they may no longer be in a position to refuse the Noldor and be free from being implicated in another devastating crime against people even more nearly related. And you know, in that regard, Thingol pretty much was right!

As for whether or not this is cultural violence or suppression or "genocide" (as I've seen it put sometimes): no it is not. To be very blunt, the fact that we are debating this is frankly ridiculous & I highly recommend everyone read the text more closely before running their mouths. Thingol himself recognises the limits of his power and only targets his fellow Sindar in this ban. The Noldor are only targeted insofar as he bans them from entering his realm, which he is perfectly entitled to do as absolute monarch of his realm, especially considering, you know, the murders. If we were to take any kind of political analogue, it would be the relationship between Edo Japan and its ban on foreigners, except through very specific channels & only with specific states e.g. the Dutch traders, during the European age of sail - i.e. a regional power putting in protectionist measures against clearly conquering powers with significant military might. Thingol does not hold structural power over the Noldor, except insofar as he can command the soft power of Sindar unity & kinship. The Noldor recognise it; Thingol recognises it. His ban is even phrased in a way which recognises it (and therefore pre-empts humiliation if the Noldor fail to comply). There is nothing Thingol can do to make the Noldor toe the proverbial line and the fact that the Noldor do end up giving up Quenya is solely because they have to communicate with the Sindar they depend on - and they were doing this anyway because this is what the Silm says about language use in the context of the Mereth Aderthad (F.A. 20):

it is told that at this feast the tongue of the Grey-elves was most spoken even by the Noldor, for they learned swiftly the speech of Beleriand, whereas the Sindar were slow to master the tongue of Valinor

(h/t to folks at the House of Mirdain discord for finding the exact reference)