Welcome Guest 

Register

Forum Home » Books Discussion » BC Archive: The Silmarillion » Masters of Mythology: Fire! Fire!
Author Topic:
atalante_star
Scholar of Imladris and Theodens Lady
Posts: 1365
Send Message
Avatar
Post Masters of Mythology: Fire! Fire!
on: March 02, 2005 10:37
I have something to admit - this is totally Figgy's idea. I saw that she had written a bit about fire in one of PB's threads, and I thought it should a good idea, I'd take it up here. And its a good excuse to talk about Fëanor again



Fëanor

So - in this chapter, we have a good number of references to fire, associated with our favourite arrogant elf:
"for he was fey, consumed by the flame of his own wrath"

"Long he fought on, and undismayed, though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds"

"he had neither burial not tomb, for so fiery was his spirit that as it sped his body fell to ash, and was borne away like smoke; and his likeness has never again appeared in Arda, neither has his spirit left the halls of Mandos. Thus ended the mightiest of the Noldor, of whose deeds came both their greatest renown and their most grievous woe."

Everything about Fëanor was fiery. Even his name - his mother name - was Spirit of Fire, so what else could he continue to be associated with?

In his final battle, fire fought with fire. The Balrogs' whips of flame against Fëanor, wrapped in fire. He is depicted as something like an otherworldly being - wild, fey, unpredictable, fire providing his life energy, but also burning him away and consuming him.

There seems to me to be a connection to Tolkien's favourite Anglo-Saxon tales here. Norse mythology contains a world of fire, Muspelheim, which encompasses energy and change without permanence or form - which sounds pretty applicable to Tolkien's fiery beings. And Fëanor himself - could we possibly relate him to Loki?

Loki was associated with fire, he was an agent of chaos, hated the gods of Asgard and wanted to overthrow them [Gods = Valar?] And when he got trapped, he got trapped until the end of days and Ragnarok, like Fëanor's spirit staying in the Halls for the rest of Arda.
"According to some scholarly theories Loki is conceived of as a fire spirit, with all the potential for good and ill associated with fire."

"Loki... is the creature who transgresses all boundaries; even more significant, Loki represents the boundary itself... Loki may most properly be seen as representative of more than either the boundary or the boundary crosser; in the character and role of Loki, the boundary, difference itself, has collapsed." -- Karen Swenson

But more on that another day, I think.


Morgoth, Maedhros and vomiting volcanoes

And then we have references to fire *not* associated with Fëanor:
"the Sun rose flaming in the West"

"There Maedhros in time was healed; for the fire of life was hot within him"

"suddenly there were earthquakes in the north, and fire came from fissures in the earth, and the Iron Mountains vomited flame"

"Again after a hundred years Glaurung, the first of the Urulóki, the fire-drakes of the North, issued from Angband's gates"

Here we have both fire as life (Maedhros) and fire as death and destruction (dragons, volcanoes). A few quick points to consider:

- Maedhros - the fire of life - is this an expression of the spark of life Melkor searched and searched for? A bit of an ironic result then ...
- vomited flame - isn't that just a fabulous phrase???
- where fire is used to describe Melkor, his fortress and his creatures, there is often mention of rock and stone too - permanent and unyielding even to fire. The combination of the two must have been particularly powerful.


Morgoth and Fëanor

One last point! In a much earlier thread, we pondered on the similarities between Fëanor and Morgoth. Well, here's one more - fire and flame. Burning and consuming all around them.

[Edited on 8/10/2009 by PotbellyHairyfoot]
pv
Council Member
Posts: 523
Send Message
Avatar
Post RE: Masters of Mythology: Fire! Fire!
on: October 17, 2009 06:50
According to some scholarly theories Loki is conceived of as a fire spirit, with all the potential for good and ill associated with fire."


In other cultures, fire is associated with goodness and purity, not evil - in Zoroastrian Fire Temples, fire is a symbol of God:

Thou art the reality and fire is thy replica. When I bow before the fire, I worship not the fire but thee alone, Ahura Mazda. Fire is but a sacred symbol that stands for thee and reminds me of thee. I will fix my wandering thoughts on thy fire, I will concentrate my mind upon it, I will meditate daily on it. In the enlightenment of the fire I will see thee, in its inspiration, I will know thee. Verily it is said that fire is thy son, and through the son, will my soul soar unto thee, the Father.
http://monstersandcritics.wordpress.com/
Members Online
Print Friendly, PDF & Email