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Feanor – life and character by elvishmusician

The character of Feanor is very much summed up in the meaning of his name ‘Spirit of Fire.’ From the first descriptions of him we already begin to get a sense that there is something different and more outstanding about him. This is shown first in his birth. Following his birth his mother is spent and begs to be released from life saying to Finwe ‘…strength that would have nourished the life of many has gone into Feanor.’ Thus she was released from life for it had become a grief to her and her spirit departed to the Halls of Mandos. (Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor, Ch 6, Silmarillion).

‘Feanor grew swiftly, as if a secret fire were kindled within him. He was tall, and fair of face, and masterful, his eyes piercingly bright and his hair raven-dark; in the pursuit of all his purposes eager and steadfast. Few challenged his course by counsel, none by force. He became of all the Noldor, then or after, the most subtle in mind and the most skilled in hand…Seldom were the hands and mind of Feanor at rest.’ (Of Feanor and the Unchaining of Melkor, Ch 6, Silmarillion)

From this description we can see that he was incredibly gifted in many areas and worked with a passion for all his purposes. However we can also see an arrogance about him developing as ‘few challenged his course by counsel’ meaning he would rarely listen to advice from anyone. As the description continues we see that Feanor has a passion for ruling and that unlike his wife he desired to rule minds not necessarily understand them.

Feanor made many things of great beauty however he pondered how the light of the Trees, could be preserved imperishable. After much work he achieved this and made three jewels –the silmarils ‘And the inner fire of the Silmarils Feanor made of blended light of the Trees of Valinor… The heart of Feanor was fast bound to these things that he himself had made’ and as time went on he ‘seldom remembered now that the light within them was not his own.’ This shows how these jewels became so dear to him that he began in his heart to take all credit for their creation, rather than remember where the light in them originated. (Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor, Ch 7, Silmarillion).

Despite Feanor’s strength of mind, the lies of Melkor were kindled in his heart. He began to speak openly of rebellion against the Valar. During this time Fingolfin spoke to Finwe saying ‘Kind and father, wilt thou not restrain the pride of our brother, Curufinwe, who is called Spirit of Fire, all too truly?’ From this we see that not all in Aman were happy with Feanor and felt that Feanor’s pride was too much. Fingolfin basically tells his father that Feanor’s attitude is one of arrogance and usurpation. As the story continues Feanor arrives on the scene and hearing Fingolfin accuses him of trying to usurp his place and following this draws a sword on him. (Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor, Ch 7, Silmarillion).

For this Feanor is banished. However rather than remember ‘who and what’ he is, he becomes bitter toward the Valar and his brother. Finally after his banishment, Fingolfin extends his hand saying ‘I remember no grievance’ Feanor merely looks at the hand and doesn’t even speak until Fingolfin says ‘Half brother in blood, full brother in heart will I be. Thou shalt lead and I will follow. May no new grief divide us.’ It is only at this point that Feanor speaks saying ‘So be it.’ This action in its self shows his desire to be in control and his lack of ability to see when he has done wrong or feel regret for it. (Of the Darkening of the Valinor, Ch 8, Silmarillion).

Shortly after this time the Trees are destroyed by Morgoth. Yavanna, their creator claims that she can never again remake their likeness, but says she could if she could regain a portion of the light that was in them. It is at this point the Valar request Feanor to surrender the Silmarils to them so that Yavanna may heal the Trees. This Feanor refuses. Here we see some selfishness in Feanor’s character as he is willing to deny all of Aman the light of the trees so that he may keep the works of his hand. This action also though can be seen to reflect the passion and the love Feanor has for his craft and as they are his greatest works, the likes of which he says he can never make again, we can understand that for him, this decision was not an easy one.

Shortly after this the Silmarils are stolen by Melkor and his father is slain. This causes Feanor to lead the people into rebellion. His ability to speak and convince people is shown clearly in this as he arouses many of the Noldor to leave Aman. He uses the desires of their hearts coupled with the whisperings of Melkor that had been fed to them so many years before to convince them to leave. It is at the height of this summoning that he and his sons swear the dreaded oath that would become a curse to them all for the rest of their days. ‘They swore an oath which none shall break, and none should take, by the name even of Iluvatar, calling the Everlasting Dark upon them if they kept it not…to pursue with vengeance…whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from their possession.’ Even at the coming of the herald from Manwe, Feanor voice grows so great and so potent that even the herald bows and departs.(Of the Flight of the Noldor, Ch 9, Silmarillion).

It seems following this that Feanor’s actions become more and more irrational and when he finally arrives in Middle Earth a great many things have already happened. He led the people in an attack on the Teleri elves for their ships and causes the first taking of elvish blood by elves. Following this he takes his sons and their people (those not loyal to Fingolfin) and burns the ships, forcing the Noldor of Fingolfin to cross the Grinding Ice. This is despite his words of agreement with Fingolfin before the throne of Manwe.

Upon arriving in Middle Earth Feanor leads an attack on the armies of Morgoth and perishes at the hand of the Balrogs, for being consumed by his wrath had drawn ahead of his hosts. However true to his name ‘Spirit of Fire’ there was no burial for him ‘for so firey was his spirit, that as it sped his body fell to ash, and was borne away like smoke.’ (Of the Return of the Noldor, Ch 13, Silmarillion).

Portraits of a Mad Genius: Artistic Interpretations of Fëanor by Morwinyoniel

Of all the Tolkien characters, the most difficult to portray are probably Lúthien and Fëanor; Lúthien because of her otherworldly beauty, Fëanor because of the combination of his great looks, power, and madness, which seem almost impossible to be captured in the same picture.

In the Silmarillion, he is described like this:

He was tall, and fair of face, and masterful, his eyes piercingly bright and his hair raven-dark; in the pursuit of all his purposes eager and steadfast. (Of Fëanor)
For Fëanor was made the mightiest in all parts of body and mind, in valour, in endurance, in beauty, in understanding, in skill, in strength and subtlety alike, of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and a bright flame was in him. (Of the Sun and the Moon and the Darkening of Valinor)

His power comes out in pictures like this one by Luis Bejarano:

In it, he doesn’t look very beautiful though, neither in Daniel Govar’s portrayal, which provides a glimpse of his madness, though:

And, the combination of power and madness is definitely portrayed by Per Sjögren:

On the other hand, there are pictures that capture his beauty, but not necessarily the other aspects, like this sketch by Marta Aguado:

A glimpse of his fiery temper, combined with boyish charm, is visible in one of the drawings by Darkmage:

The most beautiful picture about him that I’ve seen so far was probably made by Ivanneth:

A very interesting portrayal, which comes quite close to capturing all the prominent characteristics of Fëanor, was made by CoE member Ecthelion_of_the_Fountain:

But, the ultimate portrait of the Noldorin mad genius still waits to be painted.

Lost in the dark, hungry and afraid- Bilbo is all alone- or is he?

This week, in our discussion of ‘The Hobbit’, the book club moves on to Chapter V. ‘Riddles in the Dark’. Bilbo has been separated from the Dwarves and Gandalf, and he is soon to meet one the most vile creatures in all of the world. How does he handle himself?