Summary
The Valar hold a council, and Yavanna says that while she can't recreate the Trees - there are some things that even the Valar can do only once - she could revive them if she acted swiftly, and had some of their light. Fëanor was asked if he would unlock the Silmarils, but he refused. They were the work of his heart, and as with Yavanna he could not make them again. The point becomes moot when a messenger arrives from Formenos: Melkor and Ungoliant had been there, the Silmarils were taken, and Finwë was dead. Fëanor fled the council in grief.
Meanwhile, Melkor and Ungoliant had fled to Middle-earth. Melkor was trying to elude her and hoped to reach the ruins of Angband, but he could not escape her. She still hungered, and demanded he fulfill his promise to give her more. He did so, reluctantly, giving her one by one the jewels he had stolen from Formenos and held in his left hand. When she had consumed all of them, she demanded he open his right hand which held the Silmarils. He refused, and she bound him in her webbing. He gave a great cry, which was heard by the Balrogs lurking in Angband who rushed to Melkor's aid and drove Ungoliant off. Melkor, with the Silmarils, settled in and rebuilt Angband.
Fëanor reappeared in Tirion. He claimed the kingship (which not everyone was cool with, Fingolfin being the preferred choice of most), and entreated the Noldor to follow him to Middle-earth to make war against Melkor (whom he named Morgoth) and recover the Silmarils. Fëanor and his sons swore an oath, naming Ilúvatar himself as witness, of unceasing war until to recover the Silmarils from whoever held them (not just Morgoth, anyone). Nearly all of the Noldor agreed to go, though many reluctantly, and the greater part of them didn't want anything to do with Fëanor's war. Finarfin's children Finrod and Galadriel were the chief movers of this faction. Fingolfin himself agreed to go more for solidarity than anything else. The Valar did nothing to stop them - they had arrived freely, and could depart freely. The idea that they were being held in some way was a lie of Morgoth.
Fëanor went to Alqualondë, and asked the Teleri for their swan-ships to cross the ocean. They refused, both because they didn't agree with going against the Valar, and because the ships were the works of their hearts that they could never make again. Fëanor and his people then tried to seize the ships, and there was battle between them. Many were slain on both sides, but the Noldor had the victory.
They continued north along the coast (Fëanor and his people in the Teleri's stolen ships, Fingolfin and his people on foot, as the ships didn't have room for everyone). Mandos appeared, and said if they left they would not be permitted to return. Further, he told them (as foresight not threat) that the Oath Fëanor and his sons had sworn would always drive them, but would also be self-defeating. All of their works would fall, and many would die. Fëanor answered that even if that were all true, he's still going, and his deeds would live on in song. Finarfin and some of his people at this point repented and returned to Tirion and were pardoned.
Fëanor (and a still reluctant Fingolfin) continued on until they reached the end of the road - the Helcaraxë, a narrow straight between Aman and Middle-earth filled with grinding ice. Fëanor decided to just take the ships and sail for Middle-earth, and landed in Beleriand. Maedhros, his eldest son, wanted to send the ships back for the rest, but Fëanor refused and had the swan-ships of the Teleri burned. Fingolfin and his people say the light of the fires and knew they had been betrayed. They chose to attempt the crossing of the Helcaraxë - many died on the way, but they made it, one of the most valiant feats ever done.
Commentary
When it comes to dense writing, in terms of story per page, The Silmarillion is up there with pretty much anything. There is so much that happens in this chapter even my 700 word summary only barely scratches the surface.
The idea that the dearest work of one’s heart is something that can only ever be created once is a bit of a theme in this chapter: it applies to Yavanna with the Trees, Fëanor with the Silmarils, and the Teleri with their Swan-ships. The ripple effects of Morgoth’s actions (I’ll be calling him Morgoth going forward, to match the text) ensure a great deal more than just the Trees are destroyed forever. On a related point, I feel like it’s a nice touch that Aulë says, “Hey, let’s give him a minute, this is a bigger thing we’re asking of Fëanor than most of you understand.” All of this makes me wonder if Tolkien lived in mortal terror of losing all his notes on Middle-earth to a fire or something.
Now this quote is one I spent several days turning over in my head:
The Silmarils had passed away, and all one it may seem whether Fëanor had said yea or nay to Yavanna; yet had he said yea at the first, before the tidings came from Formenos, it may be that his after deeds would have been other than they were.
This had been itching at me, and I finally figured out why: it is the same point Gandalf will make to Frodo, sitting by the fire in Bag-End thousands of years after these events:
‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed [Bilbo’s] hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.’
Another point I want to draw attention to is that many of the arguments that Fëanor used to convince the Noldor to leave Valinor came directly from Morgoth’s lies. He’s a much more subtle manipulator here than I remember ever really noticing before. I tend to think of Morgoth as something of a blunt instrument, while Sauron the Deceiver is more of the thinker and the schemer. It gets to be more the case as the Sil proceeds, but here Morgoth is still a cunning actor.
And here comes Galadriel, one of the leaders of the revolt, though emphatically not of Fëanor’s faction (she never liked Uncle Fëanor at all).
The Oath of Fëanor. This is big. Really really big. Fëanor and his sons have literally sworn an oath of unending war with no hope of ultimate victory, as will be pointed out - no matter what they do, they have no means of overcoming Morgoth himself. And they’re swearing war against anyone but themselves who gets a Silmaril. And they’re naming God himself as witness. Oaths are a Big Deal in Tolkien’s works - remember the Army of the Dead, who broke theirs?
The Kinslaying at Alqualondë is so upsetting to me. The Teleri were hurting no one, were largely disconnected from everything going on in Valinor proper, and though they didn’t think the Noldor were doing the right thing, they also didn’t seek to hinder them - just provide council to wayward friends, as Olwë says. And Fëanor attacks them, kills them, and steals their ships. See again the difference between Fëanor and Aulë - Aulë immediately understood how big a deal unmaking the Silmarils would be to Fëanor, and treated Fëanor’s reluctance with understanding. Fëanor should have understood the Teleri felt the same way about their ships, but the value they had to the Teleri doesn’t appear to even slow him down. And then he just burns them. This whole chapter could be titled “Fëanor leaps across the moral event horizon” and it wouldn’t be inappropriate.
Moving onwards to the Doom of Mandos. The emphasis that the Oath Fëanor swore will both drive him and his sons and at the same time destroy them certainly carries a promise of a certain degree of poetic justice. And Fëanor’s response that whether or not they die they shall be magnificent harkens back to Ilúvatar’s rebuke of Morgoth and the notion that anything Morgoth does will only serve to increase Ilúvatar’s glory. That’s exactly what Mandos is saying here will happen to the Noldor - but oh boy will there be a cost.
Maedhros: less of an asshole than your father. Good job?
Whew. That was a hell of a chapter. One can make the case that it’s the most important in the book. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts, especially from first-time readers.
Next time, we get back to Beleriand and learn Of [what] the Sindar have been up to all this time.
留言