Henneth Annûn Story Archive

From what I've read, it seems as though Feanor was a little "high" on himself, and thought he was all that and a bag of chips. Does anyone know anything else about him, though, besides his knack for causing a lot of trouble, and becoming kind of senile? Also, how would someone like that speak? Thanks! CLF

 

Hi, When you ask does anyone know anything about him, do you mean Silmarillion stuff or other details generally? From the Silm there's loads of stuff, his background, family, interesting little madness... From the Resources Library here there's...well...quite a lot of stuff, you just have to type 'F*anor' and then search like that, it comes up with as much as it can... Not being sure what exactly you want to know, I thought this bit was interesting, if I'm thinking rightly (probably not, but hey!) "in the pursuit of all his purposes eager and steadfast. Few ever changed his courses 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." "He was "driven by the fire of his own heart only, working ever swiftly and alone; and he asked the aid and sought the counsel of none that dwelt in Aman, great or small, save only and for a little while of Nerdanel the wise, his wife." (The Silmarillion, QS, Ch. 6 - Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor) "He was not gentle. He was proud and hot-tempered, and opposition to his will he met ... with fierce resentment. He was restless in mind and body, though... he could become wholly absorbed in works of the finest skill of hands; but he left many things unfinished. " His pride more and more clouded his reason, and of all the children of Finwë he became the most arrogant. (The Peoples of Middle-earth, HoMe 12, Last Writings, Shibboleth of Fëanor) There you are - lots about Feanor! And probably none of it useful! DD

 

I don't know if he was "senile." Don't have books with me so I can't quote things at you, but I can paraphrase and give summaries of things he did. He is an arrogant, impulsive SOB, but very charismatic. Also jealous and stubborn and posessive. Became very angry when he heard that Fingolfin had been complaining about him to Finwe. He pointed a sword at Finwe in a threatening manner and the Valar exiled him from Tirion for twenty years, since pointing swords at your kin is not legal. He also decided on impulse to abandon Fingolfin and then to burn the ships. According to HoME the ship-burning was so sudden and badly planned that he didn't make sure everyone was off the ships before he burnt them. He ended up getting killed when he got separated from his host by riding ahead and fought a balrog all alone. Very posessive of Finwe and super posessive of the Silmarils. After a while he wouldn't let anyone except for his sons and father see them. Yet he gave a rousing speech and a lot of Noldor followed him into exile. . But nonetheless he was brilliant and created a lot of things, including an alphabet. He was a linguist and just to be contrary pronounced "s" like "th" because the Vanyar -- the kin of Indis who he didn't like -- pronounced the "s." Feanor's mother used the "th" so Feanor used the "th," insisted it was correct and ethe "s" wasn't, and made his sons do the same. Just proving a point there. I could write an essay here, but I am late to do about 839084032 things, so I will leave you with that and add more or someone else will add more later.

 

Thank you both for the help! That's very interesting stuff. CLF

 

Actually, Feanor pronounced the "th" because that was how it was originally pronounced in his language, but the Noldor were changing it to "s". (And yes, his mother did prefer "th".) The Vanyar still used "th", but Feanor ignored them. Indis had switched to using "s" because her husband and the people she lived around used it. Beruthiel

 

Oh, Feanor. Is there really a starting point? He's arrogant yet extremely intelligent, which was pointed out already, he threatened to kill his brother (though has anyone else noticed he's always fighting with Fingolfin and hardly ever Finarfin), and, in some versions of the tale, he accidentally burns one of his sons alive (Amrod). It's also said that he took after his mother more than his father, but that isn't much help as we know very little about Miriel. He plays favorites to some extent with his children, as Curufin is mentioned as his favorite because he was the most like Feanor, both in looks and attitude. Feanor's 'fatal flaw' is probably that he has too much faith in himself and his opinions - to the point that it basically destroys his life, and the lives of a lot of other people. He led a rebellion against the Valar because he believed they had 'enslaved' the Elves and that he could run his life better on his own. He was also arrogant enough to ride far ahead of his army and attack a Balrog, and he was then killed by said Balrog. Although he's a jerk, he probably had some redeeming qualities. We're told that he loves the Silmarils (to an unhealthy degree) but he loved his father more. He also obviously loved his children - all seven of them (save Amrod in the one story, who plans to return to Nerdanel) follow him into exile, take the Oath, participate in the Kinslayings, etc etc. IMHO, they wouldn't have followed him if he treated them poorly. He also sees beyond appearances. Nerdanel is described as plain (she's not a beauty queen), yet he falls in love with her and marries her, and they're very happy together for awhile. So the guy is a bit full of himself, but he's not a monster.

 

Actually, Feanor pronounced the "th" because that was how it was originally pronounced in his language, but the Noldor were changing it to "s". (And yes, his mother did prefer "th".) The Vanyar still used "th", but Feanor ignored them. Indis had switched to using "s" because her husband and the people she lived around used it. Yeah, I knew that. I was writing that really fast and couldn't look anything up at that moment. That's what I get for posting in the middle of insane!errands.

 

He was probably posessive and controlling of his children as well. Just before he left Valinor, Nerdanel came to him to ask that he not take the two youngest sons, but he told her to forget it and if she was a good wife and mother, she would join him in exile. Or look at the behavior of his seven sons! Some of them are prettty screwed up individuals. The apple doesn't fall far from the three. But I agree that he had many redeeming qualities and surely could be a nice guy. Like Ria said, I don't think the Noldor were so pliable that they would have otherwise followed him. To convince people that the Valar were enslaving them, that they needed to leave their wonderful lives in Aman, and to attack the Teleri, he had to have been incredibly charismatic and charming and been liked enough by his people to be listened to.

 

Feanor rocks! The guy just wants a little spotlight, that's all! He is one of my favourite characters... *sigh*

 

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