Right, I looked through the books and it seems indeed to be as you expected: Nowhere is Finwë named "High King", he is merely King. Even for Turgon as High King I found no evidence - Hidden King yes, High King no, although it's feasible that he might have born the title between the Nirnaeth and the Fall of Gondolin? Whatever. The first who seems to have gone on record as "High King of the Noldor" is Fingolfin. Anything else (including the Ardapedia article) appears to be more or less well-informed conjecture. And frankly, it makes sense: A High King would (as you say) have seniority over other kings (or at least lords), which does not apply to Finwë, nor (strictly speaking) to Fëanor or Maedhros - only when the Noldor spread out in Beleriand, founding their own realms, does Fingolfin become "High King". Of the Noldor, not of the Eldar-in-general, to avoid arguments with the Sindar, I presume!
(I'd suspect that many people don't rightly know just what "High King" means, anyway, or assume that since Fingolfin bore the title, his predecessors and descendants all did so as well, or just copied what they found elsewhere, or just don't think about it in the first place?)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-06-01 12:03 pm (UTC)(I'd suspect that many people don't rightly know just what "High King" means, anyway, or assume that since Fingolfin bore the title, his predecessors and descendants all did so as well, or just copied what they found elsewhere, or just don't think about it in the first place?)