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Fëanor

Other Names:
mother-name: Feanáro, 'spirit of fire'
father-name: Curufinwë, 'skilled Finwë'

Location(s):
Aman
Beleriand

Race/Species: Elf

Type/Kind: Noldor

Dates: Age of the Trees - End of Tree Age, prior to the 1st rising of the Sun&Moon

Parents:
father: Finwë, 1st High King of the Noldor in Aman
mother: Míriel Serindë

Siblings:
Children of Finwë & Indis:
Findis *
Faniel *
Fingolfin, 1st High King of the Noldor in Beleriand
Írimë Lalwendë *
Finarfin, 2nd High King of the Noldor in Aman
* HoME only

Spouse:
Nerdanel

Children:
Maedhros
Maglor
Celegorm
Caranthir
Curufin
Amrod & Amras (twins)

Description:

Fëanor, son of Finwë, 1st High King of the Noldor, and Míriel Serindë was the headstrong and talented smith who, among other accomplishments, invented the Silmarils that contained the primeval Light of the Two Trees of Valinor:
In that time was born in Eldamar, in the house of the King in Tirion upon the crown of Túna, the eldest of the sons of Finwë, and the most beloved. Curufinwë was his name, but by his mother he was called Fëanor, Spirit of Fire; and thus he is remembered in all the tales of the Noldor.

The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Ch 6, Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor

He was tall, and fair of face, and masterful, his eyes piercingly bright and his hair raven-dark; in the pursuit of all his purposes eager and steadfast. Few ever changed his courses by counsel, none by force. He became of all the Noldor, then or after, the most subtle in mind and the most skilled in hand. In his youth, bettering the work of Rúmil, he devised those letters which bear his name, and which the Eldar used ever after; and he it was who, first of the Noldor, discovered how gems greater and brighter than those of the earth might be made with skill. The first gems that Fëanor made were white and colourless, but being set under starlight they would blaze with blue and silver fires brighter than Helluin; and other crystals he made also, wherein things far away could be seen small but clear, as with the eyes of the Eagles of Manwë. Seldom were the hands and mind of Fëanor at rest.

While still in his early youth he wedded Nerdanel, the daughter of a great smith named Mahtan, among those of the Noldor most dear to Aulë; and of Mahtan he learned much of the making of things in metal and in stone. Nerdanel also was firm of will, but more patient than Fëanor, desiring to understand minds rather than to master them, and at first she restrained him when the fire of his heart grew too hot; but his later deeds grieved her, and they became estranged. Seven sons she bore to Fëanor; her mood she bequeathed in part to some of them, but not to all.

Ibid.

For Fëanor was driven by the fire of his own heart only, working ever swiftly and alone; and he asked the aid and sought the counsel of none that dwelt in Aman, great or small, save only and for a little while of Nerdanel the wise, his wife.

Ibid.

Fëanor loved his mother dearly, though except in obstinacy their characters were widely different. He was not gentle. He was proud and hot-tempered, and opposition to his will he met not with the quiet steadfastness of his mother but with fierce resentment. He was restless in mind and body, though like Míriel he could become wholly absorbed in works of the finest skill of hand; but he left many things unfinished. Fëanáro was his mother-name, which Míriel gave him in recognition of his impetuous character (it meant 'spirit of fire'). While she lived she did much with gentle counsel to soften and restrain him. Her death was a lasting grief to Fëanor....

The Peoples of Middle-earth, HoME Vol 12, Part 2, Ch 11, The Shibboleth of Fëanor

Contributors:
Finch, 1Sep03
Elena Tiriel 30Dec12

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