An 'editorial' footnote
According to an 'editorial' footnote by Tolkien, which I think people might find interesting:
The name was borne by a princess of Gondor, through whom Aragorn claimed descent from the Southern line. It was also the name of a daughter of Elanor, daughter of Sam, but her name, if connected with the rhyme, must be derived from it; it could not have arisen in Westmarch.
Earlier, Tolkien said that The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon and The Last Ship 'must be derived ultimately from Gondor', and that the poems were 'only re-handlings of Southern matter'. So while the stories are of Gondorian origin, we can't be sure what was in the mind of the original Gondorian composer, though I like the suggestion of Nerwen:
"Firiel" would be some unknown person's idea of how the "sailing into the West" business worked, rather than a true story.
|