Fëanor's Death, Convenient?

[Finwe]

I don't think that Fëanor would have done anything differently if he had lived. He was too proud of himself, his sons, and the works of his own hand. Look at what Maedhros and Maglor did at the end of the War of Wrath. They stole the Silmarils even when they knew that they didn't have a right to them any more. Fëanor would have done just that. He would have flung himself against the Gates of Angband until he burst through, and would have gone after both Morgoth and the Silmarils till the end, everyone else be damned.

I don't think that any of those who crossed the Helcaraxë forgave Fëanor or his sons (except maybe Maedhros). They had gone through too much. I mean, Turgon had to see his wife perish, and his daughter nearly die (Idril was barely saved, but Elenwë couldn't be). There were many more losses like those among the host. After something like that, I don't think ANYONE forgave Fëanor. They might have forgiven his sons for a little, but they still hated them. I think that Fingon and Aredhel were probably the only children of Fingolfin who still kept their friendship with the sons of Fëanor.

I don't think that it was grief for his father's death and Morgoth's lies that drove Fëanor to do what he did in Aman. He was born a leader, nothing would have changed that. He was probably being smothered in Aman. None of the Elves had much opportunity to be a leader, except for maybe the Kings (Ingwë and Finwë). Fëanor knew that he would probably never become King, and always have to put up with the "Sons of Indis," whom he hated with a passion. Perhaps, subconsciously, he wished for his father's death so that he could do away with his competitors to the throne. After Finwë's real death, then Fëanor was probably consumed by guilt on top of everything else. I'm sure that he had wished for his father's death more than once in his life, and now that it actually happened, he was probably feeling quite guilty about doing that. That added to his mental stress.

Fëanor was also the type that would do what he wanted to do, whether anyone stood in his way or not. He wanted to get to Middle-earth, and all of Olwë's admonitions and pleas wouldn't change that. After listening for a while, he probably just lost his patience, and took the ships by force.

I also think that the reason he disliked Fingolfin so much was that the latter was actually greater than him. If you read carefully in the Silmarillion, it says that Fingolfin was the mightiest, and bravest of the Noldor, whereas Fëanor was the most skilled. There is a great difference between skill and strength, and even though skill was greatly prized among the Eldar, strength was probably prized more. The fact that this usurping half-brother actually was better than him at something probably rankled in Fëanor's mind, and that was probably why he left Fingolfin behind, to show that it was Fëanor who was stronger and better, not Fingolfin.

Even if Fëanor had survived the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, I don't think that he would have helped the fight against Morgoth any. As I said before, Fingolfin was the strongest of the Noldor. If he couldn't kill Morgoth, then how do you expect Fëanor to? Fingolfin was also more levelheaded than Fëanor. He weighed things before acting, instead of rushing in blindly like his brother. If Fingolfin had been driven to near-madness by the destruction that he saw, what do you think it would have done to Fëanor? He would have become fey a long time before, and tried to kill Morgoth, resulting in the eventual death of one of the greatest Eldar. Either way, he would have died.

Sorry for the extremely long post guys!

[ June 25, 2003: Message edited by: Finwe ]