: : You don't have to inherit anything to be an heir. Heirship is
: : a legal status. For example, one could be an "heir" of a
: : penniless man. To the extent that the right to rule Doriath
: : belonged to Thingol and could legally be passed on, it most
: : definitely passed to his heir and belonged to Dior.

: I agree. "Heirship", in the strictest sense, is a legal status. Any surviving member of Thingol's family would be his heir under the laws we use, and we have no reason to assume it would be otherwise under Elvish law. But the heritage in question -- the rule of the kingdom of Doriath -- isn't subject to that definition. There was no Doriath after Thingol's death. Dior reestablished the kingdom. There was simply nothing for him to inherit in the way of title or authority.

I think its analogous to Isildur's line. Arnor was no more and they were not considered kings. However, the intangible "right" of kingship was still passed from father to son. When Arnor was reestablished lo those many years later, the right of kingship ripened and the current heir stepped into that role.

Dior, as Thingol's heir, probably had the intangible right to succeed to the kingship that Thingol had. However, that right did not ripen into anything tangible until Doraith as a society was reestablished.

Sort of like today, we still have Russian Grand Duke's and German princes running around at cocktail parties all over Europe. The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy after Napoleon might be considered as well.

Russ