The Oath of Feanor
The gates opened, and Feanor marched into the city. He held high a torch of fire, for all of Valinor
had been dark since Melkor and Ungoliant had slain the Two Trees. The Gods had banned Feanor from
entering Tirion, but he defied them. Feanor was one of the Noldor, one of the three kindreds of
Elves who came to Valinor. The residents of Tirion, his Noldorin kinsmen, gathered around him and
followed him to the center of the city.
"We Elves first awoke beside the Lake of Cuivienen, ages ago now. We lived in peace and
happiness beneath the stars. We had wide realms to rule for our joy and for the good of all
Middle-Earth. But the Gods found us and summoned us to Valinor, and many of us came. We
thought they meant us good, but what good have we received since we came here? What have we
gained? In truth, the Gods feared us; they feared that we would rule Middle-Earh and become too
powerful for them to contain. They brought us here to control us, and now we are their prisoners.
"I have discovered that a second race, weaker than we Elves and with short lifespans, will
arise soon in Middle-Earth. The Gods have kept this secret from us, but we could not remain deceived.
They now want us to perform for them and to decorate their halls with our jewels, while they give our
lands to this mortal race. We will do so no longer!
"The Gods are weak. They could not protect their own land from Melkor, their enemy. He brought
with him Ungoliant, the dark spider from the south, and marched into Valinor. Melkor killed the Two
Trees; Ungoliant devoured all their light, leaving nothing but darkness. And the Gods deserve this
darkness, for their treachery and for hoarding the light from the rest of Middle-Earth. Yavanna
wanted to steal and destroy the Silmarils, my Silmarils! The Two Trees were her most precious work,
and she needed the light from the Silmarils to rekindle them. But the Silmarils are my most
precious work. Do you remember their beauty? They radiated with their own light, for they contain
inside them the inner fire of life itself. Even in the deepest darkness, they shine like diamonds.
They were more beautiful than Varda's stars and Yavanna's trees. Why should I have given them up so
Yavanna could rekindle her trees? I did not stand for this injustice and refused Yavanna.
"But now those Silmarils are gone. Melkor stole them and killed Finwe, my father and your king.
The Gods could not protect Finwe from being murdered, or me from being robbed. I no longer name
him Melkor ('Mighty'), but Morgoth ('Black God') and Bauglir ('Oppressor'). He is indeed kin to the
Gods, in descent and in deeds. Are they not all black and oppressing? The light and beauty
of the Silmarils now shine in the darkness and desolation of Angband!
"The Gods just sit in their halls and mourn, and take no action. Let them mourn! We Noldor will not just sit here, nor we will cheer the Gods with our songs. No more! I will go to Middle-Earth and win back my Silmarils. As the oldest son of Finwe, I now claim the kingship of the Noldor. Which of you will follow your king, Feanor son of Finwe, to war against Morgoth Bauglir in Middle-Earth?"
Feanor stirred up the hearts of the great host of the Noldor with this speech. Only from the other
members of the royal house did there arise any dissent. But great was that dissent, and Feanor
debated long with his brothers Finarfin and Fingolfin. Feanor was more clever and persuasive in
speech. The Noldor heeded his words. Even the children of Finarfin and Fingolfin were divided and
debated amongst themselves; in the end, thoughts of their own realms in Middle-Earth persuaded these
princes (and even one princess) of the Noldor to side with their uncle Feanor over their own fathers.
Feanor's seven sons rose to his side and drew their swords. All eight of them swore a terrible oath,
calling everlasting darkness upon themselves if they should break it and calling Manwe and Varda as
their witnesses: "We shall regard as enemies anyone who withholds from us a Silmaril -- whether
it be Morgoth Bauglir or one his offspring, or one of the mortals that will awake in Middle-Earth, or
even one of the Elves or one of the Noldor, or one of the Gods! We will fight to the death to avenge
our wrongs and to regain the Silmarils."
The host was assembled in haste and set out from Tirion. But many who had wished to leave Valinor did not wish to have Feanor as their king. Fingolfin and Finarfin, seeing that their counsel had failed, relunctantly went with the host; many of the Noldor took Fingolfin as their king. Divided, the host set out from Valinor to return to Middle-Earth.
- "The Flight of the Noldor" in The Silmarillion (1977).
I took the events of an excerpt of this chapter and expanded/changed the contents of Feanor's speech. I am very interested in how mythological references are used in persuasive arguments. Tolkien uses this motif in other places, but not in this story. I changed Feanor's speech so that he references the mythological events up to that time to build his case.
Read the excerpt (42 KB). - "The Flight of the Noldoli" in The Lays of Beleriand (1985).
Tolkien began a poem that went into detail about the Noldor leaving Valinor and coming to Middle-Earth. He abandoned this poem early on, after only about 150 lines; the lines that he did write cover the exact events of my story (Feanor's speech and the Oath). I have used this poem to find additional attitudes and emotions of the characters during these events.
Read the excerpt (39 KB). - Other chapters from The Silmarillion (1977).
I incorporated passages from other chapters in The Silmarillion. Some events, such as the awakening of the Elves, are mentioned in such brief passing that I do not include a reference; other events are described more fully and I have provided links to the original texts below:
History/Description of the Silmarils (37 KB).