#fengel

It’s about the 14th and 15th kings of Rohan. Appendix A tells us King Folcwine’s twin sons fell side by side on a campaign in Gondor, leaving his youngest son, Fengel, as his heir. Fengel ultimately became a greedy and unlikeable king, often at odds with his marshals and his family and known for his love of gold and food. “He is not remembered with praise.”—Tolkien.

Also on AO3 here.

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Not With Praise

Fengel has draped himself in luxury again, strutting into Meduseld in beautiful new silks, velvety furs, buttery leather. No prince of the Mark has ever been clothed in fabrics so grand, nor so expensive, and Folcwine can feel the disapproving glares as his son sweeps by in raiment whose price could feed all of Edoras for a week.

Will you say nothing against this? an incredulous advisor whispers.

He would if he could.

The waste is obscene, the political damage incalculable, and that is to say nothing of the rot that has begun to infect Fengel’s soul, turning him from a loving youth into a greedy, dissolute man. But who is Folcwine to criticize indulgence after his own act of profligacy? Fengel may drain the treasury for fine clothes, precious gems and imported wine to ease his aching heart, but Folcwine has spent two whole sons for only the glory of Gondor. No other king has ever been so wasteful. And so he closes his ears to the clucking tongues, he swallows his disgust, and he offers his only remaining son a gift that costs nothing but what is left of his own good name.

You look splendid, my boy.

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Thus concludes my failed drabble attempt. It’s 200 words rather than the classic 100, but that’s as close as I could get!

I'm digging into deep Rohan lore today and I hitched on the story of the family of Folcwine King.

Rohan had recovered its strenght after decades of war. The king had twin sons, Folcred and Fastred; an unnamed daughter (of course), and a younger son, Fengel.

Gondor called for aid as the Haradrim were attacking in great numbers, and the twins convinced their father to let them ride there in his stead.

They got killed there, and buried in Ithilien. The Steward of Gondor, Túrin II, sent a great treasure of gold to Folcwine as compensation for their death.

And then the daughter was overlooked (of course), so greedy, moody young Fengel became the heir, and "he was not remembered with praise".

Two things catch my attention here: how do you receive gold in return for the death of two sons, two brothers, two heirs to the crown? And how does it feel like to be overlooked because of your gender, and your brother ends up being actively despised by everyone who knows him or works with him AND his family and heir, and THEN history fails to even mention you?

Literally, the appendix doesn't even say "Folcwine had a daughter". You have to understand her existence from the sentence "[Fengel] was the third son and fourth child of Folcwine." One couldn't erase her more if they TRIED!

men of middle-earth ♞ house of éorl ♞ headcanon disclaimer

men of middle-earth ♞ house of éorl ♞ headcanon disclaimer

Uups. Jetzt sind “wir” also auch ühu. Nein: keine Ankündigung für eine hippe Party im Exhaus. Ich hatte im letzten Frühjahr(2020!) einige Gelübde abgelegt: “ICH WERDE DAS C-VIRUS WEDER MALEN NOCH ZEICHNEN. ICH WERDE ES NICHT BENENNEN”. Attentäter müssen nicht noch mit õffentlicher Aufmerksamkeit bedacht werden, so mein Credo vor einem Jahr. Das ist jetzt überholt, glaube ich. Oder bin ich nur…

Let me start by saying that I find Thengel and Morwen’s story incredibly fascinating. (A brief summary if you’re not familiar with it: Thengel and Morwen were Theoden’s parents. Thengel didn’t get along with his father, Fengel, and ended up leaving Rohan for Gondor soon after coming of age. He was a soldier there for a couple of decades during which time he met and married the much younger Morwen of Lossarnach. In 2953, Fengel died and Thengel reluctantly returned to Rohan with his family to become the new king.) The politics involved, particularly in Rohan, are only hinted at but what they suggest is a very complicated tale with far-reaching consequences.

Okay, so Thengel’s family. Because he’s a king, we actually know a lot more about his family than Morwen’s. There’s the previously mentioned story about the circumstances of him becoming king and we also know he had two older sisters (whose names we aren’t told because Tolkien).

First up is Fengel, his father. We know that he wasn’t a good king or even originally supposed to be one. He had a pair of older twin brothers, but they both died in battle without heirs. (Also his father wasn’t particularly fond of him apparently which probably didn’t help.)

Moving on to Thengel’s mother and finally getting to the headcanon. Ceolfled was the eldest daughter of a powerful noble who Fengel married largely in an attempt to shore up his own power. Unsurprisingly, their marriage was not happy. Ceolfled would be mostly remembered for her political ability (considerably greater than her husband’s) and nepotism.

Thengel’s oldest sister, Leoffled, inherited her mother’s political skill. She married Athelwulf, the son of a wealthy noble, and they had two sons, Coenwulf and Brandulf. As Fengel began to decline, they increasingly took over power (Ceolfled having died of sickness) and had it been up to them, it’s fairly likely that Thengel wouldn’t been invited to return. After all, there was precedent for a nephew inheriting and they had two adult sons, the elder of whom had sons of his own. Fortunately for Thengel and Theoden, Coenwulf wasn’t as ambitious as his mother. Thengel’s early years as king still were quite difficult due to the amount of influence Athelwulf and Leoffled had over the court.

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