He is considered the greatest of all the Noldor
- an incredible craftsman, warrior and a master of words. While his fire would burn bright and brief,
his actions and his oath would drive the events of the entire First Age of Middle-earth. Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the
life and travels of Feanor. Feanor is born in the Year of the Trees 1169
in Tirion, the son of Miriel and Finwe, the very first King of the Noldor. It is said that Feanor drew so much of his
mother’s energy when he was born that Miriel grows weary of living. She leaves for Lorien, where she voluntarily
leaves her bodily form and dies. In an incredibly rare occurrence among the
elves, Finwe remarries. With Indis he has four more children - Fingolfin,
Finarfin, Findis, and Irime. Among his children, Finwe’s favorite is
Feanor - which if history tells us anything - is bound to cause issues. When he is born, he is initially known as
Finwion, meaning son of Finwe. As he grows and his abilities become clear,
his name is lengthened to Curufinwe, adding the word for “skill”. It was his mother-name that most resembled
his best known moniker - Feanaro meaning “Spirit of Fire”. As he comes to adulthood, Feanor becomes a
skilled smith, linguist, and loremaster. In the Year of the Trees 1250, he creates
the writing system of Tengwar - which would also be known as the Feanorian alphabet. While this was a great achievement, Feanor
is understandably most associated with his craftsmanship. As mentioned in a previous video, it is he
who created the Palantiri - the great seeing stones that would survive into the Third Age. He also creates the Feanorean Lamps - lamps
that emit a blue light from a flame contained within a white crystal. These lamps could not be extinguished by wind
or water. We see them in a couple instances in the First
Age - Gelmir has one when he meets Tuor, and Gwindor takes one of these lamps with him
when he escapes captivity in Angband. However, all these creations would be secondary
to his later - and greatest creation. Before he creates great gems in Valinor, Feanor
would marry Nerdanel - the daughter of Mahtan, another great elven craftsman. Feanor and Nerdanel have seven sons - Maedhros,
Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, and Amras. In 1400, Melkor, having been held captive
in the Halls of Mandos, convinces the Valar that he has repented of the great evil he
had brought to the world. They allow the dark lord to live among the
people of Valinor and he immediately seeks to corrupt the Noldor and use them for his
evil purposes. Feanor experiences a shadow of foreknowledge,
and being mistrustful of Melkor, he begins to think how the light of the Two Trees could
be preserved. Many believe Feanor comes up with this idea
after seeing the Hair of Galadriel, which is both gold and silver (the same colors of
the two trees). Feanor would ask Galadriel for a single tress
of hair three separate times, and Galadriel refused him each time, for she perceived a
darkness that she hated and feared. In 1450 - after toiling for an entire year
of the trees (which we know from the Nature of Middle-earth may actually mean 144 of our
own years rather than 9.5) - Feanor succeeds in capturing the light of the two trees in
three great jewels - the Silmarils. Feanor treasures these gems above all else,
and would come to guard them from all except his close family. Meanwhile, Melkor covets these jewels and
works to manipulate the elf who he hated. Melkor spreads lies, which reach the ear of
Feanor - lies saying that his half-brother Fingolfin planned to usurp him as heir to
the kingship of the Noldor, and that Fingolfin would take the Silmarils for his own. Fingolfin is told that Feanor had planned
to expel him and his family, with their father on Feanor’s side. The Noldor begin forging weapons, a first
for any elves in Valinor. Over the years, Feanor’s malice toward his
brother grows to the point that, in 1490 he threatens Fingolfin’s life. In response to this, the Valar exile Feanor
to the fortress of Formenos. Feanor takes many treasures with him, including
the Silmarils. In a show of support, Finwe moves to Formenos
as well. Melkor disappears, the Valar now knowing that
he was behind Feanor’s deeds. In 1492, Melkor turns up at Formenos, attempting
to further manipulate Feanor. However, Feanor perceives that Melkor’s
true intention is to take the Silmarils for his own. Feanor slams the door in Melkor’s face and
Melkor, in a rage - flees once again. In 1495, the Valar attempt to make amends
between Fingolfin and Feanor, and to reconcile the Noldor with the Valar themselves - for
due to Morgoth’s influence, the relationship between them had become strained. They all congregate in Valimar, where Fingolfin
offers his hand to Feanor, recognizing his half-brother’s place as the eldest of their
family. Feanor reluctantly accepts. Meanwhile, Melkor goes south to the land of
Avathar, where he enlists the help of the giant spider-like monster Ungoliant. They make their way north and, as Feanor and
Fingolfin reconcile with one another, they destroy the Two Trees, plunging Valinor into
darkness. Going to the trees, Yavanaa finds them dead
and declares that she can only restore them by using the power of the Silmarils. Manwe, the lord of the Valar, asks Feanor
to give them the silmarils for this purpose, to which Feanor refuses, saying that he will
not willingly give up his Silmarils. He also tells the valar that if they forced
him to do so, they would be no better than Melkor. In that moment, messengers arrive from Formenos. While the elves and valar were distracted
by the death of the trees, Melkor came to the fortress in an impenetrable darkness,
like a black fog. Feanor’s father Finwe was killed by the
dark lord - the first to be killed in the lands of Valinor. In his victory, Melkor had raided Feanor’s
vault, taking with him many jewels - including the Silmarils. Melkor and Ungoliant fled to Middle-earth
via the Helcaraxe - the harsh frozen lands in the north. Flying into a great rage, Feanor claims the
kingship of the Noldor and names Melkor “Morgoth” meaning “Black Foe” or “Dark Tyrant”. He rouses the Noldor, giving an impassioned
speech that they should leave Valinor and pursue their enemy with war. Long he spoke, and ever he urged the Noldor
to follow him and by their own prowess to win freedom and great realms in the lands
of the East ere it was too late; for he echoed the lies of Melkor that the Valar had cozened
them and would hold them captive so that Men might rule Middle-earth Then Fëanor swore a terrible oath. Straightway his seven sons leaped to his side
and each took the selfsame oath; and red as blood shone their drawn swords in the glare
of the torches. Little did Feanor realize that even his speech
contained the very lies of Melkor. Straight away, Feanor’s seven sons join
him and swear the dreadful Oath of Feanor - vowing to fight anyone - elf, man, maia,
or vala - who should withhold the Silmarils from them. Invoking the very name of Iluvatar himself,
their oath would lead to great tragedy and bloodshed. Feanor leads his people to the shores of Aman,
specifically the port of Alqualonde, where the Teleri elves lived. Feanor demands the Teleri to give him their
ships so he may sail to Middle-earth. When the Teleri refuse, the king orders his
followers to take them by force. The Teleri resist, and an all out battle breaks
out, leaving many of the Teleri, who were far less armed, dead. Many Noldor, such as Galadriel arrived only
after this first Kinslaying. As the Noldor make their way north, Mandos
pronounces the doom of the Noldor - foretelling the suffering that shall come to their people,
and their banishment from the lands of Aman. Finarfin, one of Feanor’s brothers and the
father of Galadriel, leads a small group of Noldor back to Valinor, where they repent
of their choice to leave and are forgiven. Meanwhile, Feanor leads his people north,
until they reach the Helcaraxe in 1497. With not enough ships to carry all the Noldor
across the sea, Feanor, his sons, and their followers take the ships in secret and sail
to Losgar, finally arriving in Middle-earth. Rather than send them back for Fingolfin and
the rest of the Noldor, Feanor burns the ships, saying he considered the host of Fingolfin
and Finrod to be “needless baggage on the road”. Because the world is flat at this time, Fingolfin
and the other Noldor see the ships burning in the distance, and choose to press on through
the dangerous and deadly Helcaraxe. Meanwhile, in Angband, Morgoth learns that
the Noldor have come to pursue him. He launches an attack upon Feanor’s encampment
in the area of Mithrim. This battle, the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, lasts
for ten days. In the end, the Noldor are victorious and
Morgoth’s armies are scattered. Still burning with rage, Feanor leads his
sons as they press on to Angband, coming to Dor Daedeloth - the very lands of Morgoth. Here, Feanor is ambushed by a force of balrogs. Having few of his kin around him, Feanor fights
valiantly, hewing his foes even after receiving several wounds. In the end, they were too much for the king
of the Noldor, and he is mortally wounded by Gothmog, the lord of balrogs. In this moment, the sons of Feanor and their
great force, drive off the demons of Morgoth. They carry their king back to the slopes of
the Ered Wethrin. There, seeing from afar the peaks of Thangorodrim,
Feanor curses Morgoth three times. But with the eyes of death, Feanor knows that
the elves can never throw down those dark towers unaided. With the passing of his fiery spirit, Feanor’s
body is reduced to ashes. Never before, nor since, had any death like
this been seen or heard. His sons, having survived the battle, are
still bound to the oath of their father, which would lead to conflict, tragedy, and disaster. As for Feanor, his spirit would travel to
the Halls of Mandos. There it would remain, never to be reincarnated
so long as the world would last. In Tolkien’s abandoned apocalyptic storyline
of the Dagor Dagorath, it is said that Feanor would finally reclaim his Silmarils and break
them, so that Yavanna could finally restore the Two Trees.
