Arda Kompendium

Fëanor

Curufinwë; the maker of the Silmarils; the Oath-bearer

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Names and Titles

  • Fëanor — in Quenya Fëanáro, “Spirit of Fire”; his father-name Curufinwë — the name of his craft, for he was “the most skilled of all the Eldar”. -

By the gift of Aulë he was the greatest smith and jewel-worker of the Elves. His mother ‘’‘Míriel’‘’ gave him the name Fëanáro, Spirit of Fire, because his flame was so bright that it consumed her.

Life

  • Son of ‘’‘Finwë’‘’ and ‘’‘Míriel ‘’’ (Serindë), in Valinor he was the most brilliant, the most fiery, and the most proudly gifted of the Noldor: “he was… of all the Eldar the mightiest… and fairest in mind” — the maker of the Tengwar (in later lore, the deviser of the runes) and, above all, crafter of the three The Silmarils — jewels blending the light of the Two Trees, for which the Valar and all the world lusted.

  • The seed of pride: Melkor, released from his chains, sowed the seeds of distrust — the feud between Fëanor and his half-brother ‘’‘Fingolfin’‘’, the whispering that Fingolfin designed against him; Fëanor was exiled to Formenos with his sons, where his father dwelt with the jewels.

  • The theft and the Oath: When Melkor and Ungoliant slew Finwë and stole the Silmarils, Fëanor — maddened by grief and rage, and by Melkor’s taunt that the gems were “by their maker bound” — swore the terrible Oath with his seven sons, vowing to pursue the jewels “to the ends of the earth” and to kill any who kept them. His mother’s — the Oath is the engine of the whole Quenta.

  • The Exile of the Noldor: He led the greatest part of the Noldor from Aman, committed the first Kinslaying at Alqualondë (the Teleri’s swan-ships taken by blood), and after his half-brother’s reproach his host pressed on; at Losgar — he burned the swan-ships, leaving Fingolfin’s host to the Helcaraxë — the deepest impiety (the Doom of Mandos was laid upon the Noldor as they would have returned).

  • Death: In Beleriand he made war on Morgoth at once; at the Battle-under-Stars — in the battle at the doors of Angband he was surrounded by the balrogs and wounded by Gothmog — the account: — Fëanor, “the fire of his spirit”, was borne toward… he died at Thangorodrim, and his spirit departed to Mandos where (it is said) it reposes still, "and he has not… returned nor… " — “and the Valar held it not fully lawful to re-embody” him.

The Oath and the Meaning

Fëanor’s tragedy is the central dilemma of the Silmarillion: the greatest Elvish genius is also the greatest curse

— “the mightiest of the Noldor at their fall… and the author of their ruin”. His vow, just in its origin (the rescue of his father’s work and the avenging of his father’s death), becomes the instrument of endless murder. Tolkien’s gloss: the Oath is the terrible lex talionis which the proud swear without measure. His descendants (the House of Fëanor) carry it to their own destruction.

Verknüpfte Seiten

AulëMírielFinwëThe SilmarilsFingolfinThe Oath of FëanorNerdanelHouse of FëanorMelkorThe Swan-shipsConcordance — A to ZTengwarBalrogsThe House of FinwëThe Kinslaying at AlqualondëDagor-nuin-GiliathThe Exile of the NoldorThe Doom of the NoldorThe Doom of MandosThe Darkening of ValinorThe Light of ValinorHigh King of the NoldorGothmogFormenosAlqualondëTirionHalls of MandosMithrimThe Firth of DrengistLosgarQuenta SilmarillionLaws and Customs among the EldarMorgoth's RingThe Shibboleth of FëanorThe Peoples of Middle-earthQuenta 13 — Of the Return of the NoldorQuenta 9 — Of the Flight of the NoldorQuenta 6 — Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of MelkorQuenta 7 — Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the NoldorAmrasCaranthirMaedhrosCelebrimborRúmilCurufinIndisCelegormAmrodMaglorNoldor
Werke: die Quellen sind seitenübergreifend die Bücher von J.R.R. und Christopher Tolkien (Silmarillion, Hobbit, Herr der Ringe, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-earth, Nature of Middle-earth u. a.) — eigene Zusammenfassung. Siehe die Concordance und den README der Quelle für die Einzelbelege.
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