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atalante_star
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Post Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: December 13, 2004 05:22
Well ... Fëanor ...

What can one say? Is he mad? A murderer? Evil? Misunderstood? A genius? The brightest of all the Noldor? A spirit of flame who burns so brightly he burns all around him?

I'd agree with most of those. He is probably the best and the worst of the elves - the brightest and most brilliant, but also the most arrogant, self-centred, and out-of-control.

Fëanor, son of Finwë and Miríel, was truly brilliant - the original shining star of the Noldor - but as stars are wont to do, he imploded. He fell from grace - plummeting from the highest peaks to the depths of madness. Did he deserve such a fate? Many would say that he did. Certainly he was arrogant, restless and hot-tempered, he invariably went against the wishes of the Valar, and certainly he thought he had the world at his feet.

And why shouldn't he think like that? He was the son of Finwë, by his beloved first wife Miríel. He was tremendously gifted, and the fire of life burned in him like a flame – threatening to consume but at the same time providing genius. He entwined the blended light of Telperion and Laurelin in the inner fire of the Silmarils – a working that took him above the ranks of the Eldar into another realm altogether. He had the world at his feet - and probably would have continued to do so if it hadn't been for the malice of Melkor.

There are hundreds of questions around Fëanor, but perhaps the best way to start is the simple question - what do you think of him instinctively? And what do you think of him after reading these two chapters? I'm sure I don't have to say this, but people tend to have very polarised views on this guy - so lets all be nice and agree to disagree where necessary

Three other particular things to think about from the 2 chapters under discussion (we'll keep going with this Fëanor thread for a while, so lets talk about the individual chapters as we get to them )


Fëanor and Melkor
"Melkor laughed in his secrecy, for to that mark his lies had been addressed, hating Fëanor above all, and lusting ever for the Silmarils."

"he urged the Noldor to follow him and by their own prowess to win freedom and great realms in the lands of the East ... for he echoed the lies of Melkor, that the Valar had cozened them and would hold them captive so that Men might rule in Middle-earth."

""Get thee gone from my gate, thou jail-crow of Mandos!" And he shut the doors of his house in the face of the mightiest of all the dwellers in Eä."

How much was Fëanor influenced by Melkor - both knowingly and unknowingly? Would it be more correct to say that Melkor was the agent of the rebellion rather than Fëanor?

And this has been mentioned in other threads, but do you think Fëanor and Melkor are similar in word and deed?


Fëanor and his parents
"The wedding of his father was not pleasing to Fëanor; and he had no great love for Indis, nor for Fingolin and Finarfin, her sons. He lived apart from them, exploring the land of Aman, or busying himself with the knowledge and the crafts in which he delighted. In those unhappy things which later came to pass, and in which Fëanor was the leader, many saw the effect of this breach within the house of Finwë, judging that if Finwë had endured his loss and been content with the fathering of his mighty son, the courses of Fëanor would have been otherwise, and great evil might have been prevented."

How much blame could one put on Finwë for Fëanor's character? And for the later events that Fëanor led? What do you think might have changed if Míriel had remained alive?


Fëanor's nature
But in the bearing of her son Míriel was consumed in spirit and body; and after his birth she yearned for release from the labour of living. And when she had named him, she said to Finwë: "Never again shall I bear child; for strength that would have nourished the life of many has gone forth into Fëanor.

"Fëanor grew swiftly, as if a secret fire were kindled within him."

Nothing like this was ever said about another elf. Is there something intrinsically special about Fëanor? A spirit of fire? Secret fire within?
Sitara
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: August 18, 2009 07:28
Indeed...Fëanor...

I completely agree with you, atalante. I haven't met too many people to view him with indifference; usually people tend to either adore him or to downright hate him. I've to confess I stand for the former and I'd like to explain my reasons.

In my opinion, he is the greatest of the Eruhini. Not for of his undeniable genius and brilliance or for his unparalleled accomplishments in the forge or in the library. As Tolkien hints in the published Silmarillion and says in HoME4, Fëanor's story did not end in the hour of his death, upon the Shadowy Mountains.

In the End, after Dagor Dagorath is fought and won, after the creature who once was Melkor, the mightiest of the Ainur is destroyed, Fëanor shall step forth again. A Fëanor who did unlearn of the lies of Melkor. A Fëanor who had overcome not only the said lies but also his arrogance, his willfullness and his wounds. Thusly, the real purpose of the Silmarils shall be fulfilled. Not just to rekindle the Two Trees but to be part of the key that Eru will use to unlock the door to Arda Remade.

True, he plummeted from the highest peaks to the depths of madness and folly more grievously than any other would have done it. But he's risen again. And the fire within him, ignited by Eru Himself , will fulfill its purpose. Along with the Silmarils.

I apologize for any grammar mistakes but I'm not an English speaker and I know how I feel when I see one in my own language. "cringe"
oiotari
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: August 21, 2009 06:15
Fëanor, my feelings about him are similar to how I feel about the Phantom of the Opera (yes, I know there are major differences, but bear with me). He is brilliant and it is not his fault that he fell from his glory (at least not entirely). Despite all the evil that comes about from his deeds, it is hard not to feel bad for him.

And you bring up an interesting point Sitara.
Unlike Melkor, who fell from his glory, Fëanor will repent and realize his folly, though it takes time.
pv
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: August 28, 2009 04:54
I think it finally comes down to a basic question - if your parent remarries and has children, effectively making you an outsider in your own family, how do you deal with it?
How, for instance would JK Rowling's first daughter feel about Jk's second husband and children?

The Valar show us exactly how not to handle a person dealing with such a problem. Preaching to them that they should learn to love their new family & punishing them if they do not. If Feanor openly expresses his anger and pain, he is not shown any understanding, but sent into exile.

I feel that the whole idea of forcing him to become a part of Finwe's new family was wrong. Feanor should have been allowed to distance himself from them & live free of them. The enforced closeness with his half-brothers was never palatable to him - he had a right to dislike them, and this right was not respected.
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cirdaneth
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: December 27, 2009 01:29
My instinctive feeling about Feanor is that he was a special instrument of of Eru … who “works in most mysterious ways” And what do you think of him after reading these two chapters?

Is he mad? Evil?
The human race has never satisfactorily defined either of these terms and for the most part we are unable to tell the difference between them. Neither of them was an intrinsic feature of Feanor’s character, though his weaknesses made him prey to both at certain periods of his life.

A murderer? A genius? Misunderstood?
Through that weakness he was indeed a murderer and a genius, and definitely hard to understand. People did get burned because although we cannot say if he was Mad or Bad … he was definitlely (like Byron) ‘Dangerous to know’.

Fëanor and Melkor
These two are very different creatures. Feanor has loyalty and passion, while Melkor is without love or shame, bent only on destruction. They share a certain arrogance, but once Melkor recognised this trait in Feanor he knew how to exploit it for his own ends. So Feanor was definitely influenced and I would agree that Melkor was the prime agent of the rebellion.

Fëanor and his parents
I don’t think we can attribute blame to either of Feanor’s parents for his character. It’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it. He inherited his passion and loyalty from his father and his stubbornness and creative skill from his mother; but there was something more. That extra fire, that burned Miriel out and led to her departure, seems to be a special Gift of Eru, which is why I see Feanor as an instrument. Naturally things would have been very different if Miriel had remained alive, but the world is ever full of ‘ifs’ so where do you stop asking?
zara678
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: January 01, 2011 01:48
hi
cirdaneth i read your post sharing with us. Its really helpful and informative to other persons who have need such kind of stuff.
Thanks for share us

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[Edited on 21/1/2011 by zara678]
starofdunedain
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: May 31, 2011 09:23
As you can probably tell by my avatar and signature I'm in the first camp. I've always felt sorry for Feanor and even liked him to a certain degree. I'm in complete agreement with pv about one of first big problems was the Valar mishandling his anger towards his family. I don't think a lot of people realise how painful it can be when you are indirectly responsible for your mother's death. And I know this isn't canon but I can imagine people whispering about it, about how he caused his mother's death, because elves very rarely if ever died at that time, and if Feanor heard that I'm sure it would affect him greatly.
At that point in the Silmarillion I saw the Valar almost as naive and young beings who don't have much experience with handling negative things such as anger, violence, and pain.
I have never heard of or even thought of Feanor as an instrument of Eru. But I don't see why not.
I don't see him as mad or insane. I see him as grieving and anger fueled. He did murder and hurt people in the process of going after Melkor, but I don't believe he was completly heartless like him. I would never put him in the same camp as Morgoth and Sauron, or even Saruman because he's not power-hungry.
Eraisuithiel_Crabantaure
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Post RE: Fëanor - the fallen angel of the Silmarillion
on: July 14, 2011 08:03
I think that Feanor was less mad and more misunderstood. His entire life he was placed into situations that no one had ever been in before. How on earth could anyone help him when no one could even understand him. I would imagine that he felt incredible guilt for his mothers death, bitterness at his fathers 'betrayal', and I suspect he felt extremely jealous towards his half siblings which would lead to hatred. Also, it is fairly obvious that no one else came close to his level of genius. Can you imagine how lonely it must have been to be so far above everyone. He literally had no one except for his father who then sought to replace him. At least that may have been how he saw it. It helps to understand why he might have hated his half siblings. They were normal children, loved and understood. They had everything Feanor didn't including two loving parents. So he throws himself into his work determined to be noticed, to be better than his half siblings, to be the one that stands out for reasons of his own making not of circumstance. Then he finally does, he has created the greatest work of the Noldor. He is applauded, praised and then everything is lost. He lost not only his greatest achievement, but also his father. He may have felt anger towards his father but, his father would have still been one of the few people, maybe the only one in his childhood, who really was close to him. But now he is gone, ripped away like everything else so that the only thing left to him is his anger, his grief and his pain. Morgoth did not need to tempt him to cause his downfall, all he needed to do was set him ablaze. Feanor now burned so fiercely that he could see nothing but the flames. The lies of Morgoth may have laid down fuel for the fire, but it was his actions that created the spark that started it. In that pit of endless grief, anger and pain, Feanor lost control of his fire and it burned him alive.

[Edited on 14/7/2011 by Eraisuithiel_Crabantaure]

[Edited on 14/7/2011 by Eraisuithiel_Crabantaure]
Thalia-the-Purple
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on: November 17, 2013 01:04
Fëanor was misunderstood. His father remarried
And has another 2 children. He feels excluded because of this and so wanders in auin.
He then made the Simirals because of the skills taught to him by Aüne. He had I think 7 sons and all of them became enemies of one country or another. Morgoth loved the Simarils and so tried to steal them. Fëanor's sons also died in rather unpleasant ways. So I think he is not mad but more has gone threw a lot.
Gandolorin
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on: December 04, 2013 04:35
As for Feanor being the greatest of the Noldor, at least in non-canonical writing (probably HoME) Tolkien puts Galadriel at least on the same level as Feanor. But then Galadriel was the character which went through the most change over the decades of writing. With perhaps 10 more years to give concentration to the legendarium with full vigor, we would probably have had a radically different Silmarillion. (But there were some round-earth-from-the-beginning musings about which I am happy that they never came off.)
For the comparison, Feanor was the most brilliant, knowledgeable in what we would call science & technology. Galadriel, however, was the wisest, and with Tolkien’s attitude toward S&T, it should be no surprise that he placed Galadriel a notch over Feanor.
As for his not being power-hungry, he very much was the leader of the rebellion and was not to be swayed in the thrust of his leadership or willing to have his decisions challenged.
I do think that there were some similarities between Melkor and Feanor, except for the utter nihilism of the former which was not even echoed in Sauron. I would add a third character to complete a trio on three levels: Melkor (Vala), Feanor (Elf), and Turin Turambar (Man). All three shared a willfulness, were not receptive to reasoned argument, while the letter two had much of what they did end up helping Melkor’s purposes. And last, yes, I do vaguely remember that Feanor, after the Last Battle, will finally hand over the Silmarils for the rekindling of the Two Trees. But somewhere it is also said that Turin will return (from the Halls of Mandos?), and he with his Black Sword will ultimately destroy Melkor (details are fuzzy in memory).
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