Thursday, January 5, 2012

Blog Post 3: The Fall

In letter 131, which we read for class on 01/05, Tolkien claims that his entire mythology is concerned with "Fall, Mortality, and the Machine." So far in the Silmarillion, we've seen little of mortality or machines. Of falls, though, we've seen a few, and the rest of the Middle Earth mythology is rife with fall after fall.

In particular, our reading for today is concerned with the fall of the Elves, and of Feanor in particular. I'd like you to reflect for a bit on the nature of Feanor's fall. Is his decision to keep the Silmarils for himself justified? Do the Valar have any responsibility for Feanor's departure from Valinor? And is Feanor's decision the right one, even though he is warned that his quest to reclaim the Silmarils is doomed from the start?

Thoughts?

26 comments:

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  2. Personally, I felt as though Feanor's decision was, to be blunt, stupid. He was informed that this was not going to end well. All of the trouble that was caused was due to Feanor's greed and the distrust that came from it. Had Feanor not become so obsessed, he would not have been exiled, and therefore none of the issues arising from that would have happened. This includes Melkor being able to steal the Silmarils from Feanor. After Feanor's rage took over his speech to the people, Feanor was doomed and Morgoth gained even more power. It was a perpetual cycle that I believe was all caused by Feanor. The only possible thing that I would blame on the Valar is that Manwe was an idiot for releasing Melkor, but that hardly compares to the stupidity of Feanor.
    Lauren Miller

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  3. I believe that Feanor was selfish with the Silmarils. He made them to preserve the light of the Trees, and then slowly as he started to become more corrupt he began to limit the number of people that saw the Silmarils, which were really not his to keep. Although he made the casings for the Silmarils, it only protected the inner portion of them, which was the actual important part, from harm, and had nothing to do with the creation of the light from the Trees. At this point already, Feanor was beginning to fall, and events just went in a downward spiral for him from there on.
    As for what the Valar did in letting Melkor go, I do not think there could have been anything at that time to make them choose Melkor's fate differently. The Valar were not accustomed to the evil inside of Melkor, and they only remembered that Melkor had once been like them in the beginning of time. They wanted to give one of their bretheren a second chance, which I think, although not the best idea in the case of Melkor, was noble of them. In any case, it was Feanor who started the real problems in Valinor by stirring up trouble where there had been none before, although Melkor did have some influence on Feanor at first.

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  4. Of course, Manwe had to release Melkor. He had set a term on his prison sentence, and he had to keep his promise, didn't he?

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  5. This may just be because i am selfish at heart and see a bit of myself in Feanor, i can't really fault him for choosing to keep the Silmarils. While it only led to ruin and the one good that could have been wrought from the jewels' existence was denied the world due to Feanor's decision to keep the jewels, I cannot bring myself to say anything other than it was his choice to make and that no one is of the authority to make him say otherwise.
    The jewels were of Feanor's own creation. Though the knowledge that he used to craft it was gathered from elsewhere than his own experience, it was ultimately his combination of various forms of craftsmanship and skills that led to the creation of the jewels. Being the creator of these jewels, it seems only right that Feanor would be able to do whatever he wished with them.
    It has to be said though, that the jewels were made with the Light of the Trees in them and some might say that having contained that light, the jewels were derivative of the trees themselves and the final decision over their use would lie with the Valar. One has to remember though, that it has been said that the Valar have no dominion over the things that they create in Arda, and that these resources were created for use by the Children of Iluvatar. Therefore the Valar have no right to challenge Feanor's ownership of the Silmarils and his dominion over them so long as he possessed them.

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  6. I don’t believe that Feanor’s decision to pursue Morgoth against the Valar’s wishes was the right one. He felt a rash and selfish need to chase after Morgoth to seek revenge, and fell because of it. The Valar rightfully warned him that this would come to no good, and he scoffed at the warning and chose to press forward anyways, ultimately securing his fate.
    His decision to keep the Silmarils for himself was selfish, though understandable. But I mean really, he could have parted with one and the world would have been saved, preventing all of the strife that was to come.

    Maggie Meiners

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  8. He said he would die if he parted with the Silmarils, didn't he? Should he have sacrificed not just the jewels, but himself as well?

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  9. For me personally, I believe you can go both ways with this argument. Firstly, I believe it was a foolish act of Feanor, who was being selfish in wanting to keep the Silmarils. They were after all, the Light Valinor which was the light that had light up Middle-earth. It seems he made them so that the light could continue shinning to Middle-earth but he would not sacrifice them for the better of the entire world. This thus lead to the Fall of the Elves. The other argument is that he was okay in keeping the Silmarils. They were after all his creations and worked hard to keep the lights alive. I can relate to how he felt. There have been many times when I have created something beautiful and I felt so proud of it that I wanted to keep it to myself. It is hard to sacrifice something which you have worked so hard on. The difference is however that these precious were basically the light source of the world. This is where we are different. If my art and craftsmanship was being depended on my Middle-earth, I would chose Middle-earth rather than myself. Thus, I would have to agree that it his act of keeping was a foolish act. His pride, greed, were the cause of the Elves demise. It I were in his position, I would rather give up the Silmarils than have the demise of the Elves on my conscience.

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  10. The interesting thing about Feanor's fall is that it was an inherently human thing to do. Reading the text, I could understand his decision to go after the Silmarils; after all, if something that I had created was so very precious, I would not want to see it in the hands of someone as evil as Morgoth. However, yes, his selfish intent was undoing, which is also a fatally human flaw. I wonder what Tolkien was trying to convey in giving such an idealized version of humanity the same pitfalls that we suffer from...any thoughts?

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  11. As it seems to happen a lot when I read Tolkien, I'm pretty well torn over what I think of Feanor's actions. On the one hand, I can completely understand his intense desire to possess and maintain the things that he created. The Silmarils were not just trinkets of sentimental value, they were very powerful objects that Feanor had the primary hand in making. I do not think he should have been as selfish as he was with them, however, I do not fault him for the obvious love he has for the Silmarils.
    On the other hand, the Valar explicitly told Feanor that his obsession and his desire to get the Silmarils back would only lead to his downfall. His disregarding of these warnings borders madness. When a group of supreme beings with thousands of years of experience with a certain fallen "brother" tells you to not do what you're about to do, don't do it. This, actually, is a personal motto of mine. I do not wish to share the same fate as Feanor.

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  12. Feanor says right out that that jewels he created were a one time deal and they were something he poured all his heart and effort into, just as Yavanna said that her Trees were a thing that she could never do again. If Feanor had to break his jewels to save the trees, he would have broken his heart as well. I do not think it was fair of the Valar to expect the elf to give them up. I do, however, think that Feanor was selfish and should have seen that if the trees had been restored, the malice of Malkor would be “confounded.” Feanor’s departure to seek vengeance on Morgoth seemed like an appropriate response from him, for as much as he loved his jewels, he loved his father even more. Granted, he was told of his doom, but I do not think he would have been satisfied with himself if he had done anything less.

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  13. It can be argued that Feanor's decision to keep the Silmarils for himself was justified because he created them. Also because it is a normal human response to protect something you value such as that. However, he was stupid in doing so because he made them more vulnerable in keeping them to himself because it is easy to defeat one entity. It's like putting all your eggs in one basket and he was warned that no good would come from it. So, while he was trying to do what he thought was best, I think he went with what he wanted without thinking of the possible outcomes from his decision.

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  14. I’m going to have to agree with many people in the class it looks like. Feanor was justified, or at least we can empathize that his thought process was justified, in keeping the Silmarils to himself. They were after all something that he had created himself, an act of which Luvatar understood the need for- his creations to be able create things themselves. But that does not make the action any less selfish. He was warned ahead of time what would happen should he choose to go down that path but he decided to do it anyways. If we want to see this from a character analysis point of view however we see the determination of Feanor, not necessarily positive or negative. But as John said, Tolkien evokes in his work the ability to be torn over the actions of his characters. We can all argue either way for the character of Feanor and his actions, and I think this says a lot about Tolkien’s work.

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  15. Overall, Feanor's actions were very selfish and stupid. He made the Silmarils as his life work and I understand that one wants to treasure what he has done. However, the Silmarils became an obsession for him and he did not want to share even looking at them with anyone. An artist's work should be shared with others so they too can enjoy it.
    I do not believe that Feanor's decision to go after the Silmarils was a good choice. My major issue is why he chose to go after the Silmarils. He had previously not been willing to give up them Silmarils to the Valor to restore the trees. Going after the Silmarils was a selfish choice into which he drew the rest of the Noldor. But on the same note, Feanor was deeply grieving for his father whom he held of greater worth than the Silmarils. He distorted his grief, however, and focused on getting the Silmarils back for himself.

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  16. The interesting thing about this is that what happens is not any one person's fault (except Morgoth). Feanor was estranged from the Valar, but they made him come to their party. Melkor and Ungoliant crash the party, which then causes the Valar to ask Feanor to give them his stuff. Then he learns while he was at this party, Melkor raided his house, killed his dad, and stole the Simirils. The Valar sit around and do nothing until they actually start leaving, at which point they go, "oh, yeah, you're exiled." I really don't blame Feanor for not liking them that much. However, I don't believe this excuses his actions as he gets farther and farther along in his quest. I don't blame him for going after the Simirils. His plan could have been better. After the high importance the Valar placed upon the Simirils, I find it really hard to believe they would just go, "Oh, Morgoth has them now. Oh well." There would have been some kind of plan to get them back, one would think. If Feanor, the Valar, and the other elves had worked together against Morgoth, they may have had more progress. That, or they all would have been slaughtered, but without the tragedy of the kin slaying.

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  17. I think that Feanor’s fall wasn’t totally his fault. When Tolkien describes Melkor, he gives the impression that Melkor is very gifted in spreading his lies and using his silver tongue. So it isn’t totally Feanor’s fault that he believed Melkor. At the same time though, we are told that Feanor doesn’t like Melkor at all, and distrusts him. But, we still have Feanor believing Melkor’s lies. In my opinion, that is where Feanor’s fault lies. If you don’t trust someone, don’t believe the things they say. It’s that simple, and Feanor would have avoided a lot of trouble if he had not believed Melkor’s lies. Along with that, Feanor should have given up the Silmaril’s to the Valar after Melkor destroyed the Two Trees. He knows that it is the right thing do, but he is too blinded by the lies from Melkor and eventually his hate of the Valar. He made absolutely the wrong decision in this case. But, I do think that he was right to go after them. Even though the Valar told him that he was doomed to failure, it is still the right choice to go after them as soon as possible. Feanor recognized, rightly in my view, that the Valar weren’t going to go after Melkor right away, so he decided to take action on his own. I think that the Valar are in the wrong here. They should not give their enemy time to regroup and to make plans. They need to hit Melkor right away. That would have been the perfect time to do it. But they didn’t, so Feanor made the choice for them. He went after Melkor. That is the right choice. So while his fall isn’t totally his fault, it also has some blame on him. And, he made right choices after his fall, as well as some very bad ones, including the Kinslaying. The original fall was not totally Feanor’s fault, but the subsequent falls were completely Feanor’s fault.

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  18. In all honesty, I don’t know if I agree with Feanor’s decision. It’s obvious that it was by his own actions, his making, hoarding, and swearing upon the Silmarils that brought upon his own destruction. Much could have been avoided if he surrendered them to the Valar and had not tied himself so to the power of the Silmarils. In a way, the crystals became like how the Ring was to Sauron – Feanor’s desire to possess what was not entirely his drove him into madness. And, by the way, even though Feanor made the Silmarils, they were filled with the light of the trees in Valinor, made by Yavanna, and hallowed by Varda. They ARE NOT entirely his possessions.

    But still, I think Feanor is not completely at fault since he, and all the Noldor, were deceived by Melkor. I think this is a great quote that summarizes the fall of Feanor, when he is banished for twelve years after drawing his sword upon his brother:

    “Thus the lies of Melkor were made true in seeming, though Feanor by his own deeds had brought this thing to pass; and the bitterness that Melkor had sown endured…”

    Feanor is a very human character, complex, passionate, and prone to great deeds and great destruction. It’s one of the things that makes him both intriguing and frustrating. Never the less, even after the deceit of Melkor was revealed, Feanor still continued to act in a way that led to his downfall. In the end, he is responsible for his actions and decisions.

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  19. The decision he made to keep the Silmarils to himself was completely unjustified. From Feanor's perspective, it seemed to be the right decision, but his judgement was clouded by the lies of Morgoth. He feared for the Silmarils, and the possibility of others, especially the Valar, of seeing the beauty and wanting it for themselves. Of course, it's obvious to see that this fear is unfounded, but fear has a way of fuzzing our judgement, and Morgoth specializes in fear.
    The Valar had no sway over Feanor's decision to leave. They respect the free will that is given to the Firtborn. Having brought them of their own willingness to Valinor, they cannot prevent them from leaving that beautiful place, though they can give ample reason to stay.

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  20. Feanor is obviously corrupted by Morgoth, and his descision to keep the Silmarils from the valinor ultimately leads to the loss of the silmarils to the enemy. thereby proving yet again that if you listen to the incarnation of evil's advice, you get punched in the face with situational irony. The Valar have done right by Feanor, and he doesnt trust them based on his obsession with the Silmarils, (which is understandable as they are literally a part of himself and the incarnation of the holy light of the lost trees. Feanor made the right decision in the attempted retaking of the simlarils, but in doing it without the aid or blessing of the Valar, or really any of the other beings in valinar he is doomed to failure. His fall, is really the decision to act without and against the Valar.

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  21. There is a certain amount of admirable bravery in Feanor's pursuits. Still the pride that lead to them is a failing indeed. The silmarils seem like a more pure version of the ring to me. The power and beauty of the ring and of the silmarils seems to enchant the owner and make them obsess over them. The fact that they have this power even over those who originally made them is I think telling of just what sort of power of temptation they have. For me Feanor's hoarding of the silmarils is like Isuldor's failure to destroy the ring wrong but very understandable. I think that the silmarils brought out and made greater some of the flaws that already existed in Feanor. Feanor was already proud and selfish but after making and losing the silmarils he became more so. It is his pride, selfishness, and desperation for the silmarils that causes him to lead his people to become kin-slayers and to lead his people to abandon the Valor. It describes in the book that Feanor became jealous of even the right to look upon the silmarils and forgot that its creation was due to any power but his own this shows the power of the silmarils to corrupt it's owner and the corruption it had already done in Feanor.

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  22. These are tough questions but I mus agree with Feanor's desion. It has to do with the fact that in his situation I myself would have done no different. In fact I would credit most the cause to Melkor. It cannot be denied that his plan was well laid and cunning from the start. Because the Simirils started as almost a dark seceret I belive that it blackend their purpose for ever.

    As for Feanors departure I believe the valor did all they should have. After Melkor takes the jewls Feanor is lost he poured too much of him self into the jewls, and with the death of his father would be too much for him to over come his hate. So thus by letting him leave it is much like teaching a child through mistake. Also by letting him leave the Valor are keeping pure of their purpose in protecting free will of all beings.

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  23. I have a really double sided answer. One the first hand I agree that it is not Feanor's place to keep the Simarils, but on the other hand I believe that some sort of compromise could have been made for him (not that I think he would have taken it) so that he at least was not giving up all of the prized possession of his life. Because he did work incredibly had on the Simarils and their beauty was greater that any other work of hand I believe. He some right to them, but I also do believe that he put into them something that did not stictly belong to him. This causes a definite question to arise of who they truly belong to.

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  24. I think Feanor’s decision to keep the Silmarils is absolutely understandable, but also selfish. I don’t think anyone could really rightfully force him to give them up since they were his creation but at the same time I think he wasn’t really considering the bigger picture. I think that Feanor’s “fall” is a very human one that we can relate to. For one, is incredible skill allows him to develop the Silmarils and they’re so amazing that even the Valar cannot reproduce them, so I think Feanor’s pride is at stake, being forced to lose his masterpiece. It also makes sense when Feanor wants to go pursue Melkor/Morgoth in spite of the warnings, as he is driven by revenge for Finwe’s death and his desire to recapture the Silmarils. I can understand this because many times when we are wronged we do not always act in the best judgment and sometimes do things that aren’t the best choice. Feanor’s reaction is only human, for an elf, and ultimately I think Feanor’s decision was his own. It was Feanor’s life to do with as he pleased, just as it was his choice to keep the Silmarils from others. He chose the “wrong” option, but it was the human one and that makes the story more powerful and more tragic, I think.

    I do think it’s also interesting that, as someone said earlier, Manwe said that the trees and the all things which grew were for the use of the children of Iluvatar, and thus the light of the trees does not belong to the Valar, so arguably they have no claim at all on the Silmarils. If anyone has a claim, it’s the other elves.

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  25. From the very beginning Feanor's decision to keep the Silmarils for himself was a bad idea. however, I'm not exactly sure if we could call it entirely his decision because his reason was clouded by the lies of Melkor. Nonetheless in the end I do think the actions of the Valar, after hearing the lies of Melkor, were the biggest influence on his idea to leave Valinor. It is unfortunate that he also corrupted the rest of the Noldor to follow in his footsteps. Once Morgoth stole the Silmarils, however, Feanor was right in making his voyage back to Middle Earth in order to retrieve them because I don't think there was anything else for him to do. The SIlmarils were everything that he lived and worked for. With the death of his father and the theft of the Silmarils there is nothing left in Valinor, except for his sons who are going with him to get the Silmarils back. Also I think that Feanor may be the only one who realizes just how evil Morgoth is. Manwe is completely good and has no comprehension of evil. That is why he was allowed to stay in Valinor in the first place.

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  26. Unless we are going to count Melkor among the Valar (which I don't think we are intended to do) then minimal blame can be placed on their part. The only thing they are guilty of is releasing Melkor, and as someone stated above the term of Melkor's sentence was served, but I don't know that Manwe was necessarily bound by any particular promise to RELEASE him. It was agreed that after three ages they would reconsider his case, not necessarily release him. The only thing that Manwe can be blamed with is being too forgiving and rather blind of forsight, which I find strange considering that he is King of the Ainur. As far as Feanor is concerned, I believe he was incredibly gullible. Tolkien repeatedly describes him as more intelligent than his brothers, and for an intelligent man he was far too eager to believe the reports of a man who was known at this point for having previously done everything possible to cause trouble. Maybe he was more willing to be deceived because he was eager to find fault with his half-brothers, but in the end I think his pride was his downfall. To proud to admit he had been deceived and too eager to try and prove himself again by placing the blame elsewhere and urging his people to abandon their home and the Valar.
    -Chelsea Mueller

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