Silmarillion - Chapter 07 - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aiwendil · 02-02-2007, 08:35 PM

This is, in a sense, the final ‘preparatory’ chapter of The Silmarillion. With Feanor’s making of the Silmarils and the sowing of discontent among the Noldor, the stage is set for the great drama that follows. As such a chapter, ‘Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor’ is fairly short and not high on action (much like the two preceding chapters).

In this chapter we are finally introduced to the title ‘characters’ of the book. We are, after all, reading a story called the ‘Silmarillion’, ‘Of the Silmarils’; but until now no indication has been given of what the Silmarils are. Here, though, their importance is emphasized right away; we are told that no impure flesh may touch them lest it be burnt; Varda hallows them; Mandos foretells that the fate of Arda is bound up with them.

I called the Silmarils ‘characters’, and in a sense I think that they do have that function in the book. But their role as such is not as clear, I think, as the role of the Ring as a character in LotR. The Silmarils and the Ring are interesting to compare; both are objects of great power, the desire for which causes people to commit misdeeds. But it strikes me that the Silmarils are much more passive. Whereas the Ring has desires of its own and has real agential force in bringing those desires about, the Silmarils appear to have no will, only power. Does anyone else see a connection or contrast between the Silmarils and the Ring?

The early hatred between Feanor and Melkor is shown in this chapter. I find it interesting that his enmity was apparently mutual from the outset. Feanor is one of the few Noldor who never listens to Melkor’s counsels, and indeed shuts his door in the face of the most powerful ‘dweller in Ea’. Melkor similarly seems to have an innate hatred for Feanor.

Disaster looms over the seemingly perfect and paradisial land of Aman in this chapter. How does this come to happen? One agent of the evil going on here is obviously Melkor, who is largely responsible for the discontent among the Noldor. It seems that another source of strife is the tragedy of Miriel’s death, which sets the stage for the conflict between Feanor and his half-brothers. Is Feanor himself a third source of the strife? In the previous chapter’s discussion, I noted that I often misread the text as saying that ‘the Secret Fire’ was kindled in Feanor. It strikes me that perhaps this was a fortuitous mistake and that Feanor was somehow endowed with his own creative powers, for good or for evil, beyond what was normally given to the Children of Iluvatar.

The textual history of this chapter is rather simple; it evolved through the successive rewrites of the Quenta Silmarillion, beginning with the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’. It was part of the chapter ‘Of the Silmarils and the Darkening of Valinor’ until the 1950s revisions, when that chapter was expanded and split. It’s worth noting that the details and subtleties of the Noldor’s unrest developed gradually. For example, in the earliest ‘Lost Tales’ mythology, the House of Finwe had not yet been invented, so the whole element of tension between Feanor and his brothers is absent.

Additional readings:
HoMe I – ‘The Coming of the Elves’ (for the first account of the making of the Silmarils) and ‘The Theft of Melko’ (for the unrest of the Noldor)
HoMe IV and V – the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and 1937 ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ contain successive stages of the chapter.
HoMe X – contains post-LotR revisions
HoMe XII – ‘The Shibboleth of Feanor’ contains some late thoughts on the strife between Feanor and Fingolfin and tells how all this drama affected Quenya phonology.

02-02-2007, 08:35 PM	#1
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	Silmarillion - Chapter 07 - Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor This is, in a sense, the final ‘preparatory’ chapter of The Silmarillion. With Feanor’s making of the Silmarils and the sowing of discontent among the Noldor, the stage is set for the great drama that follows. As such a chapter, ‘Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor’ is fairly short and not high on action (much like the two preceding chapters). In this chapter we are finally introduced to the title ‘characters’ of the book. We are, after all, reading a story called the ‘Silmarillion’, ‘Of the Silmarils’; but until now no indication has been given of what the Silmarils are. Here, though, their importance is emphasized right away; we are told that no impure flesh may touch them lest it be burnt; Varda hallows them; Mandos foretells that the fate of Arda is bound up with them. I called the Silmarils ‘characters’, and in a sense I think that they do have that function in the book. But their role as such is not as clear, I think, as the role of the Ring as a character in LotR. The Silmarils and the Ring are interesting to compare; both are objects of great power, the desire for which causes people to commit misdeeds. But it strikes me that the Silmarils are much more passive. Whereas the Ring has desires of its own and has real agential force in bringing those desires about, the Silmarils appear to have no will, only power. Does anyone else see a connection or contrast between the Silmarils and the Ring? The early hatred between Feanor and Melkor is shown in this chapter. I find it interesting that his enmity was apparently mutual from the outset. Feanor is one of the few Noldor who never listens to Melkor’s counsels, and indeed shuts his door in the face of the most powerful ‘dweller in Ea’. Melkor similarly seems to have an innate hatred for Feanor. Disaster looms over the seemingly perfect and paradisial land of Aman in this chapter. How does this come to happen? One agent of the evil going on here is obviously Melkor, who is largely responsible for the discontent among the Noldor. It seems that another source of strife is the tragedy of Miriel’s death, which sets the stage for the conflict between Feanor and his half-brothers. Is Feanor himself a third source of the strife? In the previous chapter’s discussion, I noted that I often misread the text as saying that ‘the Secret Fire’ was kindled in Feanor. It strikes me that perhaps this was a fortuitous mistake and that Feanor was somehow endowed with his own creative powers, for good or for evil, beyond what was normally given to the Children of Iluvatar. The textual history of this chapter is rather simple; it evolved through the successive rewrites of the Quenta Silmarillion, beginning with the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’. It was part of the chapter ‘Of the Silmarils and the Darkening of Valinor’ until the 1950s revisions, when that chapter was expanded and split. It’s worth noting that the details and subtleties of the Noldor’s unrest developed gradually. For example, in the earliest ‘Lost Tales’ mythology, the House of Finwe had not yet been invented, so the whole element of tension between Feanor and his brothers is absent. Additional readings: HoMe I – ‘The Coming of the Elves’ (for the first account of the making of the Silmarils) and ‘The Theft of Melko’ (for the unrest of the Noldor) HoMe IV and V – the ‘Sketch of the Mythology’, ‘Quenta Noldorinwa’, and 1937 ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ contain successive stages of the chapter. HoMe X – contains post-LotR revisions HoMe XII – ‘The Shibboleth of Feanor’ contains some late thoughts on the strife between Feanor and Fingolfin and tells how all this drama affected Quenya phonology.