Summary
Morgoth sent an army of Orcs against Fëanor and his people shortly after they landed, but the Noldor annihilated them. Fëanor himself recklessly charged ahead, was surrounded, and mortally wounded by Gothmog, lord of the Balrogs. Before he died, he foresaw that Morgoth would not be defeated until the very mountains of Thangorodrim were overthrown. He charged his sons to keep their Oath and to avenge him, and he died. The Sindar were amazed at the return of the Noldor, thinking them emissaries of the Valar sent at the very hour of their need.
Morgoth feigned surrender, and asked to negotiate with Maedhros. Maedhros didn’t trust him, but still was captured. When his brothers wouldn’t (and couldn’t, because of their Oath) agree to leave Middle-earth, Morgoth hung Maedhros from Thangorodrim by his wrist and left him there.
At around this time Fingolfin and his people show up. There’s distrust between the two hosts of Noldor, naturally, though many of Fëanor’s people were ashamed of the burning of the ships. Fingolfin’s son Fingon resolved to heal the breach and went alone to rescue Maedhros. This he was able to do, with an assist from Manwë by way of Thorondor, Lord of the Eagles - though he had to cut Maedhros’ hand off at the wrist to free him. This deed earned Fingon praise from everybody, and Maedhros ceded High Kingship of the Noldor to Fingolfin - something not all of his brothers approved of.
Elu Thingol wasn’t overly thrilled about all these mighty princes appearing in Beleriand, and wouldn’t lower Doriath’s defenses. Only Finarfin’s children were allowed in, as their mother was Olwë’s daughter/Thingol’s niece. Thingol told the Noldor where they had his leave to settle in Beleriand, but reminded them that he was King in that land. Thingol’s words angered the Noldor, especially the younger sons of Fëanor. They largely settled where he said they could, though, and intermingled with the Sindar and encountered the Dwarves. This was the beginning of a long period of peace, while the Noldor hemmed in Angband.
During these years of peace, Fingolfin’s son Turgon and Finarfin’s son Finrod were walking together and fell asleep by the river Sirion, beloved of Ulmo. He sent them both messages in dreams, telling them that they needed to prepare places of strength in case the peace ended. Later, Finrod was in Doriath with Galadriel his sister, and spoke to Thingol of his dream, and Thingol told him of the caves beside the river Narog. There Finrod, with the aid of the Dwarves, constructed the city of Nargothrond, and became known as Finrod Felegund, Hewer of Caves. And the Dwarves made for him the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves. Galadriel, meanwhile, stayed in Doriath because she and Thingol’s kinsman Celeborn were in love with each other, and she learned much from Melian. No one had yet mentioned the Kinslaying at Alqualondë to Thingol, though. Turgon, meanwhile, was shown by Ulmo a hidden valley, and he began building a city after the fashion of Tirion upon Túna.
Several times Morgoth sent forth armies to attack the Noldor, and each time they were driven back in defeat. Realizing that Orcs alone weren’t going to do it, Morgoth created Glaurang, the first of the dragons. But Glaurang revealed himself too soon, before he had fully grown, and was driven back into Angband.
Commentary
Welp. So much for Fëanor, but at least he died how he lived: charging ahead with no concern for consequences. In a book with some really spectacular deaths, including noble last stands and people going out in blazes of glory, Fëanor’s death is rather an anticlimax. But given his behavior since Finwë’s death, there’s really no other way it could have happened. He certainly isn’t going to stop and take stock now. And then with his last breath he’s still being selfish - he recognizes full well at the end that defeating Morgoth is beyond the Noldor, yet he still tells his sons to avenge him and keep the Oath. Fëanor, you remain, as ever, a supremely talented asshole. I appreciate that the whole “Spirit of Fire” nickname (remember, his real name is Curufinwë) is well-deserved, and upon death his spirit burns his body to ash. And he’s been sulking in the Halls of Mandos ever since. Achilles in his tent has nothing on Fëanor.
As for Maedhros: he tries. He means well. If only he hadn’t jumped up and sworn the Oath with the rest of his brothers, there’s a lot of things that might have been different. He does what he can to heal the breach with Fingolfin, and keep the peace afterwards, and keep his brothers in check.
Not too much to say about Fingolfin, beyond appreciation of just how much smarter he is than Fëanor. He sees Angband, but has the sense not to just press the attack like Fëanor would have.
A point to remember about Maedhros giving up any claim to kingship of the Noldor: it’s not necessarily obvious that primogeniture is the way that the Elves would do things. They’re supposed to be immortal, and it’s come up exactly two times. The first time, Elwë’s disappearance, it was his brother Olwë that became king of the Teleri, and Elwë didn’t have kids yet anyway. Finwë was literally the first Elf to be slain in Arda, so this is the first inheritance with multiple claimants.
Time to learn more Elves, ones I said not to worry about earlier. The younger generation is stepping up. Of the ones that matter at this point, you have Fingolfin’s children: Fingon is the older one, and Turgon is the younger. All respect to Fingon as a bad-ass. Finarfin’s children are his son Finrod Felagund, and his daughter Galadriel (and we get our first mention of Celeborn as well). And of Fëanor’s brood, it’s Maedhros + the rest. I can’t keep Maedhros’ brothers straight for the most part, and I’ve never really tried.
As far as the Sindar go, Thingol might appreciate the help the Noldor gave (remember, the Sindar were ultimately defeated in the First Battle of Beleriand), but as King of Beleriand he’s understandably not too thrilled about all these great princes showing up in his kingdom “eager for new realms.” There’s certainly a colonialist attitude among the Noldor, especially (though not confined to) Fëanor’s sons. But as Maedhros points out, there’s plenty of room for the Noldor in the places the Sindar aren’t living in any numbers, and Thingol couldn’t stop them anyway. And of course everyone has the sense not to tell Thingol, “Yo, we killed a bunch of your kinsfolk on the way here,” because I’m sure that would go over well.
Two final things to talk about. First, the visions Ulmo sent to Turgon and Finrod, warning them to build strongholds against dark times ahead. Nargothrond and Gondolin are the result, and they get name-dropped several times in LotR, and Gondolin even gets a mention in The Hobbit. The swords that Gandalf, Thorin, and Bilbo claim from the trolls were works of Gondolin, and Gandalf’s sword actually belonged to Turgon himself once upon a time. And Ulmo is playing a long-game here, and being (as I said earlier) the only one of the Valar who really seems to give a shit what happens in Middle-earth. Or at least the only one willing to do something about it.
And meanwhile, Morgoth is still doing his thing. The Orcs get their asses kicked every time they attack the Noldor, but Morgoth isn’t one to keep doing something that obviously isn’t working. So we get our very first dragon, Glaurang. (Point of information: he doesn’t have any wings.) He puts in an appearance before he really should, but he’s going to come up again.
Friday we get a geography lesson when we learn Of Beleriand and its Realms. Fair warning, even I consider this chapter coming up to be dull.
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