Curufin
the Crafty; the father of Celebrimbor
Name and Nature
Curufin — “the Crafty”, the fifth son of Fëanor and Nerdanel; his father-name Curufinwë (the “skilled Finwëthe wiliest of them all”, and his very likeness to his father doubled the shadow he cast.
Life
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Swearing the Oath, he went into exile, and in Beleriand (with Celegorm, to whom he was closest) he ruled the lands of Himlad about the upper Aros south of the passes.
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The deed of infamy: When Beren’s quest was in despair and Lúthien sought aid, Curufin and Celegorm carried her off, in hope to wed her to Celegorm and so, through her, to lay claim on the Silmaril — but Huan himself (whose loyalty was to love) freed her; and at the pass, Curufin, fleeing after the shame, shot at Beren and Lúthien as they went — the arrow — it is one of the blackest pages of the Quenta, the Fëanorian who tried to murder the hero out of malice. The Oath and the malice of the fathers swallow whatever generosity the brothers had.
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The father of Celebrimbor: Curufin’s greatest legacy is his son Celebrimbor — who repudiated his father (for the kin-slaying and the shame) and remained in the West, the smith of the Elven-smiths of Eregion in a later age — the Only Fëanorian blood to be redeemed by another Craft.
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The Death: Celegorm fell in the assault on Doriath in the Second Kinslaying; Curufin was also slain — cut down (according to the annals) in the battle of the Fëanorians with Dior’s people — his line (save Celebrimbor) ended with the ruin.
Significance
Curufin is the “shadowed craft”: the maker grown, like his father, from mastery to malice. His dealings with Celebrimbor (and the later Rings) are Tolkien’s enduring caution against the pride of the craftsman — the very theme of the Silmarillion, re-told in the Second Age.