: I've never seen Tolkien use "of the House of" interchangeably with "household of". A "household" is a different matter from the people who are feudally attached to a lord. The feudal vassals may or may not be a part of the lord's household.

: On the other hand, looking outside of the Elven cultures, Theoden had "household knights" who apparently were not members of the House of Eorl, since it's strongly implied in "The King of the Golden Hall" that he, Eorl, and Eowyn are all who remain of Eorl's line.

: [snip]

: : If he is an heir, then all sorts of confusing (but not
: : necessarily impossible... just messy) things result. First, the
: : genealogies have to be revised... but not just revised (since
: : apparently they have to be changed anyway): a new individual
: : would have to be added. Second, Gildor and his band IMO become
: : much less heroic. They are in effect abandoning Middle-earth in
: : its hour of need (what if Elrond and Galadriel had done the
: : same thing? or Gandalf?). At the very least, he would need to
: : explain himself.

: If reconciliation between the texts is required, then Gildor need not become an heir. There is no reason why "Finrod" could not have been the name of some Elf other than Finrod Felagund. Tolkien reused Elvish names a number of times, and the Finweans were not the only house of princes among the Noldor.

I recall reading (Letters? Peoples of Middle-Earth?) that this was a problem, and that it was highly unlikely for the elves to reuse names like you are suggesting. If anyone has the quote I am thinking of, I would appreciate it being posted.
Finduilas

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