An Essay on the Sons of Fëanor: Part Three

[clotho123.livejournal.com]

And here is Part Three

Rating: As before - probably teens for discussion of violence and that Thangorodrim incident, but nothing here that's not in Tolkien

Additional Note:  This section was largely complied before I discovered Dawn Felagund's bio's on the Sons of Fëanor and I refrained from reading those until I'd finished it.  I hope it will be seen as a different take on the same subject rather than an attempt to relace those
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3. The Sons as Individuals

 

 

Amrod and Amras

 

There is really not very much said about Amrod and Amras in Tolkien’s writings, indeed it may well have been their fairly marginal role in events that led him to consider killing one or both of them off at an earlier stage. In the list of Noldor princes we are told that they were “twin brothers, alike in mood and face. In later days they were great hunters in the woods of Middle-earth”. [S 5 ] It is interesting that their hunting is linked specifically with Middle-earth, unlike Celegorm, who was already a noted hunter in Aman. Perhaps in elven terms they were still pretty young at the time of the flight of the Noldor, and had not yet had time to make their mark as hunters, or anything else. 

 

 In Beleriand they were the only sons of Fëanor to have their lands set back from the war zone rather than being on the northern border. We are told that most of the Fëanorian followers lived in the north and came south only for hunting. “But there Amrod and Amras had their abode and they came seldom northward while the Siege lasted; and there also other of the Elf-lords would ride at times, even from afar, for the land was wild but very fair.” [S 14] The impression this gives is that of all the brothers they were the least concerned with prosecuting the war. They may have been useful in making alliances however, for, as has been said they seem the most likely to have won the friendship of the Green-elves. It is also worth remarking that they apparently had no objection to visits from their western relatives, nor it seems did the other princes object to visiting them. This perhaps carries a suggestion that they were not as turbulent or quarrelsome as some of the older brothers.

 

One other point about the two youngest brothers is that in Tolkien’s annalistic writings they are portrayed as the leading figures in the attack on Sirion. The words used are “[Amrod] and [Amras] ravaged Sirion and were slain. Maidros and Maglor were there, but they were sick at heart.” [LR 2 iii] The twins have not shown any marked Silmaril lust before this, nor have they seemed especially aggressive, indeed if anything they have been the least war-like of Fëanor’s sons; but as said above, the workings of the Oath seem particularly powerful at this point, so it may be that they simply held out against it less well than the two eldest brothers rather than that they were naturally more ruthless.

 

 

Caranthir

 

Caranthir is distinguished among Fëanor’s sons mostly by not being distinguished, except for temper. He is given no distinctive skills or interests, but is singled out as “the harshest of the brothers and the most quick to anger”. It was Caranthir who took particular offence over an admittedly rather haughty message from Thingol, and took out his anger by insulting the messenger – his cousin Angrod, who in his turn took offence and told Thingol about the Kinslaying. We are told that “the Noldor, of both followings, hearing his [Caranthir’s] words were troubled in heart, fearing the fell spirit of the sons of Fëanor that it seemed would ever be likely to break forth in rash word or violence.” [S 13] An understandable reaction, although Caranthir did get a telling off from Maedhros.

 

He also appears as the loner amongst Fëanor’s sons. Amrod and Amras seem virtually inseparable, Celegorm and Curufin usually work as a team, and although Maedhros and Maglor are more likely to appear independently they do pair up quite a bit. Caranthir, for whatever reason, seems the odd man out.

 

Caranthir’s people were apparently the first of the Noldor to come into contact with the Dwarves, but although both sides were eager to learn from the other relations were cool, “for the Dwarves were secret and quick to resentment, and Caranthir was haughty and scarce concealed his scorn for the unlovliness of the Naugrim, and his people followed their lord.”   Caranthir appears in an unattractive light here, although also a pragmatic one since he nonetheless concluded an alliance with the Dwarves, and when they began trading with other Elves “all the traffic of the dwarf-mines passed first through the hands of Caranthir, and thus great riches came to him.” [S 13] It’s possible that he and the Dwarves of Belegost warmed a bit more to each other later since Tolkien says in his notes on Eöl “he had become very friendly with the Dwarves of Nogrod, since those of Belegost to the north had become friends of Caranthir son of Fëanor.” However this is Eöl’s point of view, and it is possible that Caranthir’s relations with Belegost were, in fact, purely businesslike. [WJ 3 iii]

 

A somewhat better light is cast on Caranthir in the account of his dealings with the Haladin, one of the three peoples of the Edain. When the Haladin first settled in the south of Caranthir’s territory he and his people paid little attention to them. Later, however, after the Haladin had proved their courage against attacking Orcs we are told “Caranthir looked kindly upon Men and did Haleth great honour; and he offered her recompense for her father and brother.” [S 17] Haleth, although she thanked Caranthir, chose to head westwards anyway, so his change of view came to nothing, but it does show he was capable of it.

 

Caranthir was evidently not a great judge of character for it was he who recruited the sons of Ulfast, Easterlings who proved treacherous, into his service after the Dagor Bragollach. Where he was living at that time is not clear, we know that after the Dagor Bragollach he had joined Amrod and Amras in the lands east of Doriath but, as has been said, there is evidence at least the southern parts of Thargelion were recovered and the Easterlings in Caranthir’s service settled there. Evidently Caranthir was eager to build up his strength, and it may well be it was his earlier good impression of the Haladin that led him tragically astray here. Dwarvish influence might be suspected also, for Dwarves and Easterlings got on rather well. There is a further irony in that Tolkien remarks that Ulfast’s people were not good-looking, so if Caranthir had kept to his policy of judging by appearance it would have been better all round. [WJ 1] It is a strange and unemphasised tragedy that Caranthir’s ability to change his mind did harm rather than good in the end. It seems a pity that we hear nothing of his reactions to the Easterlings’ treachery, which much surely have been painful, but Tolkien was concentrating on other things. After the disaster little more is said of Caranthir in the legends, except that he was killed in the attack on Doriath.

 

There is contradictory evidence as to whether Caranthir was Fëanor’s fourth or fifth son. In the list of the princes of the Noldor [S 5] Caranthir is listed fourth and Curufin fifth, and this order is repeated in the genealogical tables attached to the published Silmarillion. However Curufin is the fourth son and Caranthir is the fifth in the account of the Oath swearing [S 9], in the early list of Anglo-Saxon translations of the names of Fëanor’s sons [SM III], and in the late list of their Quenya names. [PM 2 xi ] The last of these at least is evidently intended to list the sons in order of birth since Tolkien reversed the order of the two youngest sons when revising their story; moreover in a related note he specifically calls Curufin Fëanor’s fourth son. [PM 2 xi] It seems probable that Caranthir was placed directly after Celegorm in the list of Noldor princes to juxtapose their nicknames of ‘the Fair’ and ‘the Dark’, but that still leaves two possibilities. 1. Tolkien sometimes thought of Caranthir as the fourth son and sometimes as the fifth. 2. Caranthir was always meant to be the fifth son, despite the list of princes, and the order in The Silmarillion family tree is a mistake by CT.

 

 

Celegorm and Curufin

 

Although they had quite different tastes these two appear acting as a pair so often it is most convenient to discuss them together. Of all Fëanor’s sons they seem the most turbulent and inclined to evil (Caranthir is arrogant and quick-tempered, but not notably malicious in action), but even with these two there are traces of more positive qualities.

 

Celegorm was initially characterised as a hunter and companion of the Valar Oromë. “A hunter also was Celegorm, who in Valinor was a friend of Oromë and often followed the Vala’s horn.” “Often they [Fëanor and his sons] were guests in the halls of Aulë, but Celegorm went rather to the house of Oromë, and there he got great knowledge of birds and beasts and all their tongues he knew.” [S 5] From our perspective it may seem rather an odd sidelight that Celegorm the hunter – and no doubt also Oromë – should know the tongues of those he hunted, but presumably it did not seem that way to Tolkien. Although Celegorm’s ability to talk to birds and beasts is not mentioned again it would surely have been a useful means of gathering information in Beleriand.

 

Fëanor’s regular visits to Aulë seem most likely to date from the period before, egged on by Melkor, he started to display hostility to the Valar and we do not know what happened to Celegorm’s friendship with Oromë after that. However he must have had good qualities in Valinor for Oromë to befriend him at all, and for Huan, the hound that Oromë gave to Celegorm (and who plainly had rather more of a moral sense than your average dog) to stay faithful during the rebellion against the Valar.

 

There is a further mention of Celegorm in the account of the first battle between the Fëanorians and the forces of Morgoth, when Morgoth attacked the Noldor in Mithrim. The Orcs were defeated and fled eastwards with the Noldor in hot pursuit. Other forces of Morgoth, who had been besieging Círdan’s people, came north to join those who had been attacking the Noldor and “Celegorm, Fëanor’s son, having news of them, waylaid them with a part of the Elven-host, and coming down upon them out of the hills near the Eithel Sirion drove them into the Fen of Serech.” [S 13] This is one of the few times that Celegorm appears separate from Curufin, and creates an impression of him as a capable war leader.

 

Curufin is said to have been Fëanor’s favourite son, and the one who came closest to inheriting his skill in craftsmanship. However it is noticeable that unlike his father, or his son Celebrimbor, no exceptional works of craft are attributed to Curufin. This could mean that Curufin was clever with his hands but not inventive, or it could be simply that he never had time, owing to too much of his life being taken up with the war against Morgoth. He is also said in one of Tolkien’s notes to have inherited Fëanor’s linguistic interests, although he applied himself mostly to the language of the Dwarves. [PM 2 xi] Curufin resembled Fëanor in appearance as well, but in character he appears decidedly more Machiavellian and less hot headed than his father, a trait reflected in his nickname ‘the Crafty’ (in the sense of ‘wily’ or ‘calculating’ – see Appendix I on this). Fëanor could be described as a lot of things, but I don’t think most people would choose ‘Crafty’.

 

Curufin was not always a troublemaker, and we learn in one of Tolkien’s notes that he got on well with Dwarves. Indeed it is said he was “the only one of the Noldor to receive their friendship. It was from him that the loremasters obtained such knowledge as they could of the Khuzdûl.” [PM 2 xi] The statement about Curufin being the only one of the Noldor to be friends with the Dwarves seems a bit of an overstatement even if we assume it only refers to the First Age (and therefore excludes the elven smiths of Eregion), but perhaps it depends on how one defines friendship. At all events we can accept that Curufin did gain the friendship of Dwarves, and may perhaps wonder if this had any influence on the Second Age friendship of his son Celebrimbor with the Dwarves of Moria. 

 

Tolkien made an interesting note on Curufin when considering the story of Eöl: interesting not least because it shows his own concern not to make the character too purely villainous. “The meeting between Eöl and Curufin … is good since it shows (as is desirable) Curufin, too often the villain (especially in the Tale of Tinúviel) in a better and more honourable light – though still one of dangerous mood and contemptuous speech.” [WJ 3 iii] Personally my sympathies in the encounter had always been with Eöl, especially as Curufin seemed to have no reason beyond Noldor snobbery for being rude to him. (Apart from the fact that he had married Aredhel of course, but Curufin doesn’t appear to think Aredhel was unwilling, if he had thought she was held in Nan Elmoth by force it was thoroughly callous of him not to do something about it.)

 

According to Tolkien’s jottings, however, Curufin did have a reason: Eöl had been trying “with some success to stir up unfriendliness to the Noldor” among the Dwarves of Nogrod, which the Fëanorians, who had done well from the help of the Dwarves, understandably resented. Tolkien goes on “Curufin could have slain Eöl (as he greatly wished!) and no one beyond the few men with him at his camp (who would never have betrayed him) would ever have heard of it – or much mourned it. …But this would have been in Eldarin law and sentiment murder; Eöl came alone, on no errand of mischief that time, but in distress.”   A note adds some further comment on Curufin’s statement that he was forbidden by law to kill Eöl, “the Eldar … were forbidden to slay one another in revenge for any grievance, however great.” [WJ 3 iii]

 

The point, evidently, is that Curufin did draw the line somewhere and killing Eöl under these circumstances was apparently it. (There is an interesting contrast here with Turgon who, however good his motive, had no hesitation in threatening Eöl with summary execution if he should attempt to leave Gondolin; and when Eöl protested justified himself with the argument that his word was the law). And in fact Curufin went so far as to give Eöl some sound advice, his parting words being “my heart warns me that that if you now pursue those who love you no more, never will you return.” [S 17] This of course is a true prophecy, and a warning Curufin was under no obligation to give. Tolkien also noted that Curufin and Celegorm could, if they wished, have confined Eöl entirely in Nan Elmoth, and prevented his visits to the Dwarves, which they had so far refrained from doing, despite the rivalry. [WJ 3 iii]

 

There is an additional oddity in Tolkien’s own notes on Aredhel’s story, namely that in considering why Celegorm and Curufin did not send word of Aredhel’s whereabouts to Gondolin he takes it for granted that they knew where Gondolin was. This is not what we would expect; given the emphasis elsewhere on both the secrecy of Gondolin’s location and Turgon’s understandably bad relations with Fëanor’s sons, it is quite surprising they would have been let into the secret. (It is clear from the phrasing that Tolkien pictured an actual visit to Gondolin by the brothers or duly accredited messengers, not simply a message sent by a passing eagle.) [WJ 3 iii]. The obvious explanation for the lack of communication with Gondolin – that they simply did not know where the city was and had no means of making contact – had clearly not occurred to Tolkien, just as he seems to have forgotten in making his notes that in the story as written Aredhel had not actually made contact with Celegorm and Curufin during her stay in Himlad since they were away visiting Caranthir at the time. Why he took it for granted that Fëanor’s sons would have known the whereabouts of the Hidden City must remain mysterious.

 

When their lands were overrun in the Dagor Bragollach Celegorm and Curufin fled west with some of their followers, and eventually ended up in Nargothrond. It is not clear why they chose this route, which would have involved passing through the lands north of Doriath, Nan Dungortheb, whose dangers Tolkien stresses. [S 14 ; also WJ 3 iii] Perhaps Morgoth’s forces had cut off all other lines of retreat, but it is worth wondering if Tolkien ever intended a connection with the abandoned story of the old friendship of Celegorm and Curufin with Angrod and Aegnor.

 

In the latest form of his annals Tolkien wrote a version of Celegorm and Curufin’s arrival at Nargothrond which did not make it into the narrative, although it is not incompatible with it. According to this story a force under Sauron “besieged the fortress of [Finrod], Minnas-tirith upon Tol Sirion. And this they took after bitter fighting, and Orodreth the brother of [Finrod] who held it was driven out. There he would have been slain, but Celegorn and Curufin came up with their riders, and such other force as they could gather, and they fought fiercely, and stemmed the tide for a while; and thus Orodreth escaped and came to Nargothrond. Thither also at last before the might of Sauron fled Celegorn and Curufin with small following; and they were harboured in Nargothrond gratefully, and the griefs which lay between the houses of [Finarfin] and Fëanor were for that time forgotten.” [WJ 1]

 

There is no suggestion that Celegorm and Curufin had any ulterior motive at this point, although it was obviously in their interests to help an ally. That they had actually rescued Orodreth makes their presence in Nargothrond something other than mere generosity on Finrod’s part. They were present as allies whose help was worth having. Even in the text of the published Silmarillion, it may be noted, they are portrayed by Finrod as rather more than tolerated refugees. “They have shown friendship to me in every need” [S 19] he tells Beren. Evidently they were good guests to have until the Oath got going again.

 

As Tolkien himself seems to have been aware, Celegorm and Curufin are used rather as villains of convenience in the Tale of Lúthien and their motives are handled in a somewhat throw-away manner. Initially their opposition to Finrod helping Beren comes from the Oath (naturally they would not want the Silmaril to fall into the hands of other Elves, or to be sent to Doriath where it would be inaccessible behind the Girdle of Melian); and the desire to oust Finrod as ruler comes across as something of an afterthought both to them and to Tolkien, although it might have been powerful if given more development (and it is quite interesting that Tolkien attributes their “dark thoughts” to the Curse of Mandos, rather than naked ambition alone). The further twist of Celegorm falling for Lúthien seems almost a motive too many, as well as being extremely sudden (but then every male who saw Lúthien fell in love with her).   And why does Curufin try to shoot Lúthien when it’s Beren who has just taken his knife and horse – apart from Tolkien wanting an opportunity for Beren to be heroic?

 

There is a certain confusion also over Celegorm’s project to marry Lúthien for why would Celegorm send to Thingol for permission to marry Lúthien, when Thingol’s hostility to the sons of Fëanor was well known? Short of a bad attack of amnesia it is difficult to see how he could possibly have expected Thingol to agree. The real life explanation, I think, is that the Tale of Beren and Lúthien was written before the idea of Thingol’s profound dislike of the sons of Fëanor had emerged and was never revised; within the story we can only speculate.

 

Although the story as written gives a rather two-dimensional picture of the brothers there are some interesting touches nonetheless. Celegorm is the one who speaks first in opposition to Finrod, perhaps impulsively, and does so drawing his sword in what may be a deliberate echo of the Oath-swearing scene – indeed his words seem to be a version of the Oath and were perhaps intended to be a direct repetition. [See Appendix II]. Curufin, we are told, spoke with as much power, but “more softly”. Later on the ejection from Nargothrond “there was a light of malice in his [Celegorm’s] eyes, but Curufin smiled.” In both these extracts Celegorm appears the more openly fiery – and interestingly it is he who is compared directly to Fëanor in his speech in Nargothrond “as potent as were long before in Tirion the words of his father that first inflamed the Noldor to rebellion.” Curufin, by contrast, appears cooler and more calculating. [All quotes from S 19] Another point here is that, however maliciously spoken, the brothers’ speeches may have held an element of genuine foresight since everything they predict (Celegorm’s speech is developed a bit more fully in the poetic version [LB III vi]) did in fact happen. Then again it might not have needed any foresight to predict war and ruin, especially with a Silmaril involved.

 

In his early verse telling of the story of Beren and Lúthien Tolkien makes some further distinctions between the brothers that do not appear in the prose form, although they are compatible with it. Curufin is seen as the moving spirit and more calculating schemer, prompting his brother’s actions: Tolkien made a marginal note that “‘It is Curufin who put evil into Celegorm’s heart.’ ” CT rightly notes an implication in the text that “Celegorm has some authority – or is felt by Curufin to have some authority – that Curufin lacks.” [LB III viii] The impression is that Curufin is the subtler, more cunning and perhaps more ill-disposed, whereas Celegorm is the more charismatic and respected as a leader.

 

There is no evidence of where the brothers spent their time between their ejection from Nargothrond and the battle of Nirnaeth Arnoediad, presumably somewhere in the eastern territories. We are told, however, that after Thingol refused to return the Silmaril “Celegorm and Curufin vowed openly to slay Thingol and destroy his people, if they came victorious from war and the jewel were not surrendered of free will.” [S 20] There is an oddity here, although the malice rings true enough, for what made them think they could get through the Girdle of Melian? Perhaps they were starting to lose their grip on reality. An oddity appears also in one of Tolkien’s accounts of the preparations for battle of the Nirnaeth where it is said that only half of the folk of Haleth joined the battle because “The treacherous shaft of Curufin that wounded Beren was remembered among Men.” [LR 2 vi]. It seems strange that the people of Haleth, who had no known connection with Beren, should take it so hard, unless it was more of a pretext for not going to war than a real motive. The story is not present, however, in the latest version of the preparations, where it is implied that the people of Haleth were not at all reluctant [see WJ 1 and 2 xiv] and so had presumably been either abandoned or forgotten by Tolkien.

 

Like the other sons of Fëanor their actions in between the Nirnaeth Arnoediad and the sack of Doriath are obscure; although in some of Tolkien’s late jottings on Húrin this note appears   “News of the fall of Nargothrond came to sons of Fëanor and dismayed Maedros, but did not all displease Celegorn and Curufin.” (Are we surprised?) [WJ 3 i ]. As said above it was Celegorm who took the lead in proposing the attack on Doriath, and it seems unlikely Curufin took much convincing. Tolkien never described the Fall of Doriath in much detail, but it is noted that Celegorm was killed by Dior [WJ 3 v ]. No details are given of Curufin’s end. The abandonment of Dior’s young sons in the forest is attributed by Tolkien to “cruel servants” of Celegorm (in context probably armed followers rather than household help, ‘servants’ in the sense that Sauron was a servant of Morgoth), presumably as an act of vengeance. [WJ 3 v] Who these servants were is not explained. Celegorm and Curufin’s original surviving followers had refused to accompany them from Nargothrond, so these must have been recruited later. They would not necessarily have been Noldor, perhaps not even Elves, but whoever they were their actions here should probably be seen as a reflection on Celegorm’s own character. Like leader, like followers.

 

 

Maglor

 

Maglor is a difficult character to assess because, apart from his musical talent, he does not really develop an individual personality until the very end of the Silmarillion legends. By the time of the attack on Sirion he is heartsick and weary of the Oath, but we have no means of knowing whether Maglor had always been a reluctant Kinslayer or whether he developed a conscience only at a very late stage. He is not said to have objected to the previous Kinslayings, although, as noted, the first seems to have been unpremeditated and Tolkien has very little to say about the attack on Doriath at all (it may or may not be relevant that Maglor is not said to have joined Maedhros in the search for Dior’s sons).

 

We must assume, however, that Maglor took part in the ship-burning (at least in The Silmarillion version of events), since only Maedhros refused to do so, and there is nothing to suggest he was either reluctant or repentant. There is also an alternative version of Fingolfin’s installation as king of the Noldor where he is chosen as king by ‘the council’ and “ill did the sons of Fëanor take this choice, save Maidros only, though it touched him the nearest. But he restrained his brethren…” [WJ 1] Maglor is here clearly coupled with his younger brothers as resenting the displacement of their family, which I think is significant even though it does not appear in the more usual version of events, according to which it was Maedhros’s choice to pass the kingship to Fingolfin. Prior to the attack on Sirion there is no mention either of Maglor ever supporting Maedhros in his various attempts to prevent troublemaking by some of the younger brothers, which there surely would have been had Tolkien conceived him as a serious moderating influence at this stage. On the other hand Maglor was apparently ready enough to have dealings with the western princes, attending the Feast of Reuniting (although that might have been for the audience…) and going hunting with Finrod. The overall impression is that Maglor, although not as much of a troublemaker as some of the other brothers, did not display any more of a moral sense until after the destruction of Doriath; but there is so little information about him that it can be only an impression. 

 

His role as a singer and songmaker has an important part to play in the supposed transmission of the legends, for to Maglor is attributed the Noldolantë, the great song of the Fall of the Noldor. He was the only one of the Noldor said to be able to equal the Sindar as a singer (although still second to Daeron of Doriath). Taken together with the fact that Míriel, the mother of Fëanor, had silver hair (generally a feature of the Teleri/Sindar – and only a few of them) this is enough to make one wonder if Míriel was part Telerin; in which case maybe the term ‘kinslaying’ should after all be taken literally, and not just as a reference to the killing of Elves by Elves.

 

Tolkien has little to say about Maglor as a warrior, although we do know that he killed Uldor at the Nirnaeth. It is important though, I think, not to assume that because he was a poet and singer he was not warlike. Tolkien is at pains to note that the loremasters of the Noldor were not “a separate guild of gentle scribes…. They were mostly even as Fëanor the greatest, kings, princes and warriors, such as the valiant captains of Gondolin, or Finrod of Nargothrond….” [PM xi 2] There is no reason to suppose he saw poets any differently, and some strong evidence that he did not. We may note that Fingon, unquestionably one of the Noldor’s greatest warriors, took a harp with him on a dangerous rescue mission – and used it – and that an early note of Tolkien’s says that Ecthelion, one of the great heroes of the Fall of Gondolin, “had the fairest voice and was most skilled in musics of all the Gondothlim”. [BLT2 3] Moreover elven song could be a weapon in itself – as witness the duel of Finrod with Sauron. Maglor held the most vulnerable part of the northern borders, the only part where there was no protection against attack from Angband, and he evidently held it well for a long time. He also survived a long list of battles, probably more than any other named Elf except Maedhros. We can assume he knew how to handle himself on a battlefield.

 

Maglor features most strongly in the final dialogue with Maedhros yet, although we are clearly meant to take his part there, his argument is puzzling to me because it seems unrealistic. The evidence that the Oath cannot be broken is strong, the likelihood of the Valar returning the Silmarils small to non-existent. Maglor’s hope that they may “come into our own in peace” [S 24] sounds like wishful thinking (note that he evidently does not accept they have forfeited their right to the gems); and whilst the assertion they would do less evil breaking the Oath than keeping it is undoubtedly right, yet it remains uncertain how he intended to do that – we have seen what came of the brothers’ previous attempt to resist the Oath’s power. Unless Maglor was planning on suicide if the gems were not returned, then I believe Maedhros was right in saying they would have ended by breaking the peace of Valinor (again). The fact that Tolkien chooses not to report what arguments Maedhros used to convince his brother leaves the right interpretation of what Maglor had in mind unclear. It is probably relevant, however, that his relationship with Elrond and Elros gives him more to lose than Maedhros has by this time.

 

The fostering of Elwing’s sons by Maglor is a memorable story, yet it must be noted Tolkien was not entirely consistent, giving a different summary of the history of Elrond and Elros when explaining the meaning of their names in one of his letters. Whilst still saying they “were carried off by the sons of Fëanor” he goes on, “The infants were not slain but left like ‘babes in the wood’, in a cave with a fall of water over the entrance . There they were found: Elrond within the cave, and Elros dabbling in the water.” [Letters no. 211]. It is not clear whether this was an intended revision or if he had just forgotten the details of the brothers’ history, perhaps confusing them with the sons of Dior. Certainly no such change seems to have made it into his drafts and jottings for the Silmarillion, and he later came up with quite different explanations for how Elrond and Elros came by their names [PM xi, xii]. 

 

Alone of Fëanor’s sons Maglor’s ultimate fate remains uncertain. In The Silmarillion he is last heard of wandering and singing in regret by the sea; whether he eventually died, was permitted to sail west, or remained to fade in Middle-earth is not explained. One of a number of loose ends in the legends, the tale of wandering and regret was a fate Tolkien seems to have been fond of giving to musicians, for a similar story is told of Daeron. He did add a coda to the story of Maglor, which did not make it into the text of the published Silmarillion. “Yet not all the Eldalië were willing to forsake the Hither Lands… and among these were Maglor, as has been told; and with him for a while was Elrond Halfelven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be among the Elf-kindred; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men.” [LR 2 vi]. Make what you will of that. 

 

It was not, however, Tolkien’s final word on the fate of Maglor. In the letter, written in 1951, that is printed as an introduction to The Silmarillion second edition, Tolkien had this to say, “The last two sons of Fëanor, compelled by their oath, steal [the Silmarils], and are destroyed by them, casting themselves into the sea, and the pits of the earth”. Deliberate revision or forgetfulness? Once again it’s not clear which is the case. However the revisions to the poetic Lay of Leithian, made after LOTR was finished and therefore later than the last version of the Silmarillion’s final chapter, have this to say about Maglor:

 

forgotten harper, singer doomed

who young when Laurelin yet bloomed

to endless lamentation passed

and in the tombless sea was cast [LB IV]

 

Whatever idea lay behind this passage seems never to have been recorded fully, but it confirms that in later years Tolkien intended that Maglor’s life should end in the sea.

 

 

Maedhros

 

In a fragment of an alliterative poem on the flight of the Noldor Tolkien gives us this quote from the moment of the Oath swearing

 

the eldest, whose ardour   yet more eager burnt

than his father’s flame, than Fëanor’s wrath [LB II]

 

This is rather striking – someone outshining Fëanor in a moment of great passion, and hints that at this stage of his thinking Tolkien may have attached rather more importance to Maedhros as a character than is clear from the completed texts. Even as things are Maedhros is one of the most frequently mentioned of Fëanor’s sons, and arguably the most developed as a character. Possessed undoubtedly of great strength of will, he is also for most of the story the most consistently well-disposed of the brothers, acting as a restraining influence on the others and with an appreciation of the Noldor’s need for unity that was too seldom shared, although of course it all comes to nothing in the end.

 

Up to the arrival in Middle-earth Maedhros, like the other brothers, acts chiefly as his father’s shadow, but the original version of the ship-burning at Losgar brings him forward as a character in his own right, one with a stronger sense of loyalty than his father (or presumably his brothers) and capable of standing up, at least in some degree, to Fëanor.

 

His brothers appear to accept his lead after Fëanor’s death, but his next action, trying to trick Morgoth, is neither moral nor sensible, and leads to his long captivity and torture at Morgoth’s hands. From Tolkien’s Grey Annals an outline of this time can be reconstructed which is fairly mind boggling when you recall Tolkien intended one year in Aman to be roughly equivalent to ten years of the sun. [WJ 1]

 

Aman Year 1497 Captured by Morgoth

Aman Year 1498 Sent to Thangorodrim

Aman Year 1500 = Sun Year 1 Fingolfin reaches Middle Earth (his trumpets are heard by Maedhros on Thangorodrim)

Sun Year 5 Rescue by Fingon

 

There are certain ambiguities here since it is not clear how far into their respective years the various events take place, nor whether the year 1500 was equal to a full ten sun years or was curtailed. However we add it up though, it comes to more than fifteen years on Thangorodrim, and a fair period in Angband before that. How Maedhros even stayed alive all that time on Thangorodrim is hard to think, even though Noldor Elves are said to have significantly more vitality than mortals. There is evidence elsewhere in Tolkien’s writing, however, that Morgoth could actually prevent his captives from dying, believable enough for a Vala, even a fallen one. We are told of Húrin (also held prisoner on Thangorodrim) that “he could not move from that place, nor die, until Morgoth should release him”. [CH 3]. If Sauron, who had much less native power, could create rings which kept mortals from dying of old age, then keeping a particular captive or two alive in circumstances which would normally have been fatal should have been easy enough for Morgoth. Elves appear, under normal circumstances, to have been able to die of their own will, and as Maedhros certainly wanted death something of that sort seems likely to have been effective here. 

 

What might have happened to Maedhros in Angband is similarly left unclear, but it seems unlikely that Morgoth was simply content to wait for the reply of the other brothers to his messengers. Morgoth, we are told, endeavoured always “to break wills and subordinate them to or absorb them into his own will and being” [MR 5]. It is hard to believe he would not have attempted this with the eldest son of Fëanor, once he had him in his power. Evidently he failed. 

 

That Maedhros was able to function at all after years, even decades, of torture is remarkable, and testimony to his strength of character. That, apart from the missing hand, he made a full physical recovery is striking also, especially since it contrasts with Tolkien’s account of Gwindor of Nargothrond, who was severely weakened by his time in Angband, although it must be said that Gwindor had less time in which to recover. Maedhros’s recovery may have been attributable to the fact that he was only recently come from Valinor, which is implied to give special strength to the Noldor. It is also noted in the L&C, however, that the elvish spirit or fëa had stronger influence over the body than is the case for mortals [MR 3 ii], so it may also be that Maedhros had a particularly strong will to recover.

 

Equally remarkable is the act of surrendering the kingship to Fingolfin which followed, not simply because it shows a basic appreciation of the need for unity that was all too often lacking amongst the Noldor (and we should not rule out a genuine desire to make amends for the ship-burning even though Maedhros had not taken part), but also because he was able to impose the settlement on his brothers. We know that at least some of them were not happy about it, and given what we hear of them, or some at least, elsewhere, they are not likely have agreed to such a thing readily or easily. To induce such a turbulent bunch to fall into line argues a forceful character, a good deal of persuasiveness, or both.

 

The apology was not simply a matter of words, in support of it, Maedhros “gave back the goods of Fingolfin that had been borne away in the ships” [LR 2 vi] (this might explain how Finrod came to have carried more treasures out of Aman than any of the other leaders, otherwise we have to picture him obliging the Noldor to drag his property across the ice!). We learn also of Fingolfin’s horses that “many of the sires came from Valinor, and they were given to Fingolfin by Maedhros in atonement of his losses, for they had been carried by ship to Losgar.” [S 14] Once again this must have been imposed on his brothers.

 

In the years that follow Maedhros is found more than once acting as a restraining influence (‘restrain’ is Tolkien’s consistent word) on his brothers, reinforcing the impression of a strong character, and one possessed of either greater moderation or greater appreciation of the need for alliance than at least some of the other brothers. To begin with after Caranthir’s ill-tempered outburst against Thingol and Angrod we are told Maedhros “restrained his brethren” and soon afterwards took them off the east in what was apparently a deliberate bid to stop further trouble. [S 13] (The exposed nature of the eastern territories is underlined in an additional comment, “he was very willing that the chief peril of assault should fall upon himself.”). The same image of Maedhros ‘restraining’ the others appears in the alternative account of Fingolfin’s becoming king of the Noldor already cited, which although not part of the mainstream Silmarillion legends is consistent in the portrayal of Maedhros. 

 

The same picture emerges again, later in the First Age. One of Tolkien’s later annalistic notes under the year 505 describes the sons of Fëanor holding a council over the Silmaril in Doriath, “Maidros restrains his brethren [from instant attack presumably] but a message is sent to Dior demanding the Jewel. Dior returns no answer.” A similar course of events can be deduced in the years before the attack on Sirion, where Tolkien’s annalistic note reads “Sons of Fëanor learn [that the Silmaril is in Sirion] but Maidros forswears his oath.” [WJ 3 v] It is not stated what the other three surviving brothers thought about that, but the implication is surely that Maedhros was once again able to keep them in check. 

 

Of course in the cases of both the Second and Third Kinslayings the restraining influence proved only temporary (although in the latter case it was also of great importance, since if the Fëanorians had attacked earlier then Sirion would have been destroyed before the marriage of Elwing and Eärendil and the birth of the twins Elros and Elrond, which were to have far-reaching consequences). Undoubtedly Maedhros’s influence over his brothers did have its limits, especially when the Oath was involved. In the case of the attack on Doriath we are never told how far Maedhros may have been influenced by the arguments Celegorm put forward, whatever those may have been, or whether he joined with the others only reluctantly. The tale that he searched in vain for Dior’s sons, however, does imply that he still possessed more of a conscience than the other remaining brothers, who are not said to have helped him. Later in the attack on Sirion both Maedhros and Maglor are said to have been reluctant, but afterwards it is Maglor who cares for Elros and Elrond in what becomes a permanent shift in their roles. Up to this point it has consistently been Maedhros who is the family voice of moderation and conscience (when anyone at all is); after the sack of Sirion it is Maglor who assumes the role, for although Maedhros is not said to have objected to his brother taking on the twins there is a clear division between them in the final debate about the Oath. We can only speculate on the reasons for this.

 

Co-operation was always important to the success of the Noldor, although often not forthcoming. Maedhros for much of the time had a particular awareness of this. The Dagor Aglareb or Glorious Battle was clearly won by intelligent co-operation and shared strategic planning with Fingolfin and of course alliances were crucial to the ambitious, and finally ill-fated Union of Maedhros. Maedhros did not, however, give Fingolfin the support Fingolfin wanted when trying to plan a new assault on Angband [S 18]. This seems uncharacteristic, and we can only wonder what lay behind it, and whether there had been some new rift amongst the Noldor. It would be conceivable that Maedhros was willing to help, but on this occasion failed to sway his brothers; however Tolkien’s statement that only Angrod and Aegnor were willing to listen would be against that. (Although it does leave you wondering what Finrod and the normally fire-eating Fingon were thinking of, unless Fingon’s co-operation was taken for granted as his father’s deputy and apparently the regular war-leader in Hithlum.)

 

Tolkien’s notes give some additional scraps of information about the warfare of the period, in which Maedhros was heavily involved and emerges as one of the most formidable of the Noldor both as a warrior and as a war leader. In the latest annals this entry appears under the year 402 (note that Tolkien later revised his chronology to put the first appearance of Men further back) “Here there was fighting on the north-marches more bitter than there had been since the routing of Glaurung; for the Orcs attempted to pierce the pass of Aglon. There Maidros and Maglor were aided by the sons of [Finarfin], and Bëor was with them, the first of Men to draw sword in behalf of the Eldar.” [WJ 1] Interesting that it should have been Maedhros and Maglor who are named here, although Aglon was in the territory belonging to Celegorm and Curufin.

 

In the assault of the Dagor Bragollach Maedhros was able to hold Himring, and with the aid of fugitives from the neighbouring land managed to again close for a while the Pass of Aglon, from which Celegorm and Curufin had been driven back. There was apparently hard fighting around Himring, we are told in the longest version of events that Maedhros “did deeds of surpassing valour, and the Orcs could not endure the light of his face; for since his torment on Thangorodrim his spirit burned like a white fire within, and he was as one who returneth from the dead, keen and terrible”. [LR 2 vi] It is worth remarking that for the Elves ‘one who returns from the dead’ was not necessarily a fanciful comparison.

 

Later there is some information about events after the Dagor Bragollach in annals under the year 462. “In the east he [Morgoth] had been foiled. Himring stood firm. The army that had driven into East Beleriand had been broken by Thingol on the borders of Doriath, and part had fled away south never to return to him, part retreating north had been stricken by a sortie of Maidros, while those who ventured near the mountains were hunted by the Dwarves.” [WJ 1] 

 

Finally Tolkien’s expanded version of the Tale of Túrin gives the story of the great dragon helmet originally given by Azaghâl, Lord of the Dwarves of Belegost, to Maedhros “as guerdon for the saving of his life and treasure, when Azaghâl was waylaid by Orcs upon the Dwarf-road in East Beleriand.” Maedhros afterwards gave the helmet to Fingon, who gave it to Hador, from whom it descended to Túrin, who appears to have lost it. [UT 1 ii] No further details are given and the event is not dated, although it must have been after Glaurung’s first incursion into Beleriand (as the helm’s crest was modelled on him) and before Hador’s death in the Dagor Bragollach.   The location is interesting; the Dwarf-road on the Silmarillion maps does not appear to run through Maedhros’s territory, although it is within the Fëanorian lands. Presumably Maedhros was prepared to carry the war to the enemy in any part of the eastern lands. As the eldest son he could reasonably have assumed overlordship of his brothers’ territories.

 

Fitting in with that, there is some evidence that Maedhros used the title of king, or it was used of him, although it is easy to miss. There is a brief reference in The Silmarillion to “the kings of the three houses of the Noldor” [S 17] which must mean the houses of Fëanor, Fingolfin and Finarfin. Elsewhere Tolkien has a reference to the Noldor after the death of Fingolfin being divided into separate kingships under Fingon, Turgon, Maedhros and Finrod, [PM 2 xi] but this is confusing as the reference to the kings of the three houses dates from the first coming of Men into Beleriand, which is before Fingolfin’s death, and the statement about separate kingships also contradicts what is said in the Silmarillion about Fingon succeeding Fingolfin as overlord of the Noldor. [S 14; 18] It does, however, reinforce the evidence that Maedhros was sometimes called king, although the title is never directly used of him as it is of Finrod.

 

A small number of other passages relating to Maedhros in the HOME are worth highlighting. One occasion we are told that “while Lúthien wore that peerless gem no Elf would dare assail her, and not even Maidros dared ponder such a thought.” [SM III]   What is interesting about this passage is that Maedhros does not appear by any means the most Silmaril obsessed of the brothers (until the very end); indeed one would expect Celegorm and Curufin to take the lead in any project of assaulting Lúthien. The implication is presumably that Maedhros was the least easily over awed of the brothers, not really surprising after his experiences.

 

There was also an early and apparently abandoned notion of Tolkien’s that Maedhros made an attempt to reclaim the overlordship of the Noldor after the sack of Sirion, and even succeeded to some degree, after the Third Kinslaying we are told, “the folk of Sirion perished, or fled away, or departed of need to join the people of Maidros, who claimed now the lordship of all the Elves of the Outer Lands” [SM III] The thoroughly surprising concept of Sirion survivors joining the followers of Maedhros is repeated again in the annals made around this time, but seems to have been dropped by Tolkien later, probably when the idea of the haven of Círdan and Gil-galad on Balar developed.

 

There is a brief final comment on Maedhros in one of Tolkien’s notes on the Dagor Dagorath, the battle that was to take place at the end of Arda, and the events which were to follow. Part of Tolkien’s early conception was that the Silmarils would be broken open at last and the Trees restored. In most of his notes it is Fëanor who either breaks the Silmarils or gives them to Yavanna to be broken, but in one version it is Maedhros who breaks them. [SM III] The idea is never developed and the whole notion of breaking the Silmarils disappears in Tolkien’s later writing, but it remains as a tantalising fragment.

 

z

Comments

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this rather handy summary! Random thoughts:

Re Celegorm and Curufin: I vaguely recall a very early version of the Leithian, where Celegorm was King of Nargothrond instead of Finrod, so his connection there seems to go back a long way in Tolkien's thought. The sudden devotion to Luthien I agree can probably be attributed to Luthien's demonstrably powerful personal charisma both as a demigoddess and as someone of extremely strong and determined character (she would make a terrific heroine in a Chinese martial arts film). Possibly Curufin tried to kill her (a) because she rejected Celegorm, with whom he got on well, (b)sheer spite at being thwarted, (c) general chauvinist outrage that an Elf could prefer a mortal over her own kind.

Re Caranthir: On the evidence, I've always considered him one of the more practically-minded of the family. Despite being a Noldorin chauvinist, he is clearly able to appreciate the good points of other species enough to work with them in mutually useful ways - Dwarves are worthy of respect for technological and fighting skills, Haleth's humans by the time he meets her have proved themselves (by surviving) potentially useful as military allies, and he clearly got along well enough with the Laiquendi to persuade them to come and fight at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. So he wasn't necessarily a particularly amiable chap, but he seems to have been a competent ruler. There's no indication that he suffered particularly from Jewel-lust either. I put his bad temper down to a clear-minded appreciation that the Sons of Feanor were in an absolutely no-win situation in Middle-earth, which would make anyone grumpy.

[clotho123.livejournal.com]

I vaguely recall a very early version of the Leithian, where Celegorm was King of Nargothrond instead of Finrod, so his connection there seems to go back a long way in Tolkien's thought.

I've sometimes wished he'd taken that idea a bit further. Not that I'd want to lose Finrod from The Silmarillion, but a draft outline of where Tolkien would have taken the story with Celegorm as the king who swore the oath to Barahir would have been *very* interesting