The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Reading Room: Fëanor - a re-reading of his speech to the Noldor (and some gems from the 2013 readthrough): Edit Log

I re-read Fëanor's speech to the Noldor (Sil., Flight of the Noldor) and I noticed something I wasn't equipped to notice back when we last did that chapter as a readthrough (2013) Then I was also struck by several of the comments in that discussion and thought I'd haul them out of retirement to see how relevant or otherwise they are to our current topic.

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Fëanor was a master of words, and his tongue had great power over hearts when he would use it; and that night he made a speech before the Noldor which they ever remembered. Fierce and fell were his words, and filled with anger and pride; and hearing them the Noldor were stirred to madness. His wrath and his hate were given most to Morgoth, and yet well nigh all that he said came from the very lies of Morgoth himself; but he was distraught with grief for the slaying of his father, and with anguish for the rape of the Silmarils. He claimed now the kingship of all the Noldor, since Finwë was dead, and he scorned the decrees of the Valar.

So that is interesting for starters: Fëanor's words are his own, "but yet well nigh all that he said came from the very lies of Morgoth himself" Those are the ideas he turns to in his anger and distress "distraught with grief for the slaying of his father, and with anguish for the rape of the Silmarils".

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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, before 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 in Middle-earth. Many of the Eldar heard then for the first time of the Aftercomers. ‘Fair shall the end be,’ he cried, ‘though long and hard shall be the road! Say farewell to bondage! But say farewell also to ease! Say farewell to the weak! Say farewell to your treasures! More still shall we make. Journey light: but bring with you your swords! For we will go further than Oromë, endure longer than Tulkas: we will never turn back from pursuit. After Morgoth to the ends of the Earth! War shall he have and hatred undying. But when we have conquered and have regained the Silmarils, then we and we alone shall be lords of the unsullied Light, and masters of the bliss and beauty of Arda. No other race shall oust us!

So it is a conspiracy theory of the kind much more familiar today than it was (to me) in 2013. The assertion that the elite have tricked us (for some reason - why they'd do this seems not to matter) and are really in cahoots with another group who will replace us.

It might be fun to play "evil radiation or psychic amplifier" with Fëanor's situation. Is he in the grips of an evil force external to himself, or is there some fault or weakness in his character that is coming out in these stressful circumstances. Or both, or other things too.
And a further (equallyunanswerable?) question is whether he really believes this conspiracy theory, or whether it is what will get sufficient of the Noldor fired up enough to give him what he wants. That is, to what extent has he gone Machiavellian?
And furthermore, what role does Fëanor's fury play in all of this?

Looking back on that 2013 readthrough, I'm struck by some great points by our still-sorely-missed comrade Brethil (OP Questions in bold, her answers in regular weight type):

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6) Would the Valar have compelled Fëanor to give up his stones? Would they have been right to do so? Perhaps related to this - there is a recurring theme about the uniqueness and non-reproducibility of someone’s greatest achievement. Yavanna cannot remake the trees; Fëanor cannot remake the Silmarils; and later, the elves of the Teleri will not give up their beautiful ships to carry the Noldor away (Fëanor and his followers take them by force). There is an irony (at least) that Fëanor would not willingly hand over the Silmarils, but feels it’s OK to mug the Teleri.
If they taken direct action, gone against his Free Will and had compelled him, what would have happened? Would he have died then and there of grief; somehow I don't think so because he would not be sad, he would be angry. Would he have destroyed the Trees a second time? Not sure if I see that either. Would he have spent time near the Trees, in their Light...hmm. That's a possibility. Somehow I think that he might have tried again to re-create the Jewels, but I think it would have failed. Then, perhaps, I think he might have given up; but then there would be no Fall. So maybe what JRRT is saying here is that choice and Free Will is at the heart of every fall from grace. I think Feanor sees taking the Teleri's ships as secondary to his Creations; at this point I think he sees everything secondary to his creations, which ties up with JRRT's idea that politicizing the world and reducing everyone and everything else to their minimal, utilitarian meaning is a huge act of rebellion against Good. The Teleri, their lives and their ships mean only to Feanor in that moment what he needs them to be; all their merits and life and kinship mean nothing because Feanor is too focused on getting his way.

7) Fëanor’s outburst about being summoned by Manwe: is he actually accusing the Valar of being part of a conspiracy to steal the Silmarils? Or is he feeling guilty that he might have been able to save his father? Has that concern suddenly (perhaps temporarily) triumphed over his “greedy love” for his possessions? Or does he wish to have been at Formenos only to have been able to guard his treasures?
I think it is the overflow of emotion here, and I think (too late perhaps) he does love something more than the Jewels, in that moment, for we read that he valued his father was dearer to him than the peerless works of his hands. So that guilt and rage I think gets channeled at the Valar; I think on the strength of that emotion though his anger congeals and the Valar are an easy target as he is confident that, unlike Melkor, the Valar will not strike at him.
Brethil, post in discussion about Flight of the Noldor, 2013

Re-reading the end part of Brethils' answer to (6) I'm struck how psychopathic Fëanor's behaviour is at this point - there is nothing more to people or things than whether they are a tool to get what he wants or an obstacle in his way.

How about the following mob of Noldor -- evil or not? I don't think I can add anything more to this survey of motives from that 2013 discussion:

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After a debate, the greater part of the Noldor resolve to depart, and Fëanor drives them on in haste, fearing that he will lose them if there is a delay. As the Noldor set out a messenger from the Valar arrives to tell the Noldor that they may leave (i.e. refuting Fëanor’s allegation that they are effectively being held prisoner), but that their quest has no chance of success. Morevoer, Fëanor is declared banished. This fails to calm things down. [added 2025: I think Fëanor is determined not to let things calm down: he'll lose to mob if things do calm down.]

What’s driving the Noldor? There’s a hard core (Fëanor & sons) bent on revenge and recovery of the Silmarils. In any case, Fëanor has just been banished by the Valar. But clearly Fëanor knows that the whole group is not behind this; and that his hold on the rest is shaky (so he is at pains to get them all committed fast). What motivates the others? A further group are interested in the opportunities that might await in Middle-earth - for example Galadriel “was eager to be gone...she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and rule there a realm at her own will.” Others are more reluctant. Fingolfin (Feanor's step-brother) is in the classic moderate’s bind that “he would not be sundered from his people that were eager to go, nor leave them to the rash councils of Fëanor”.

Last of my points rediscovered from 2013, I an struck by this from maciliel:

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re rebellion:

i'm also not quite understanding the label of "rebellion." it seems to me, that would only apply to some of the noldor: feanor, for coming to tirion; anyone involved in the kinslaying. but plenty of noldor had no part in either of those activities. why wouldn't they be free to depart for middle earth? what laws had they broken?

although i think that the elves should never have been called to live in valinor permanently, at the same time i think it's a sort of madness to go to middle earth at this time, with morgoth on the loose. especially with the valar saying "no take-backs" and that they're not going to help.

rather a wretched scenario. they're going back to middle earth, where they were +supposed+ to be in the first place (and i invoke, as supporting evidence, lines from lotr to the effect "a land of middle earth enriched by the elves remembers them long after their departure"), but in a no-win situation. yes, feanor bears a lot of responsibility -- but i think the greater authors in this mess are the valar, who could have kept morgoth at bay in the first place, and who should never have called the eldar to live in aman permanently in the first place.

which leads me too....

what's driving the noldor?

yes, feanor is quite the orator. but that's perhaps not the main thing that drives them.

i think what drives them is that their fear and hoar are being called back to middle earth, where they belong.

why do the vanyar and teleri not feel this calling? well, they're not stirred up as the noldor are. perhaps if they had their own feanors, they'd also be packing up their poetry books and unfurling their sails.
maciliel-thoughts, 2013

I like that idea, and if I have understood it, it suddenly strikes me that here we have a failure of the Valar's plan to 'embalm' the elves.

And I find I'm humming:

Your elves are running and off theyl go, and if you don't know
The piper's calling them to join him
Dear Manwë can you hear the wind blow
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind, oh

ooops, sorry "No Stairway", I forgot

~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.

(This post was edited by noWizardme on Aug 3, 3:01pm)

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