Fëanor (Part 3)
Fëanor's destiny would reach its destination, marking at the same time that of all his people and many others in Middle-earth.
After having to live in exile, and especially after the horrible murder of his father by Morgoth, Fëanor and the Noldor’s destiny lay across the sea, in Middle-earth.
With his host already on the march, his anger was calming, and his head cooled enough to realize that neither he nor his people had the practical means to get them all to Middle-earth.
He had two options: cross the sea or reach the east through the Helcaraxë, a region connecting Aman and Middle-earth to the north, a place of treacherous arctic ice where life was impossible, and those who dared to wander there did not last long.
With the northern alternative ruled out, the king of the Noldor thought of a way to cross the narrow sea that separated him from Middle-earth and his revenge against Morgoth. It was then that it occurred to him that the only way to make the crossing was to use ships.
Unfortunately, there were no great shipbuilders among the Noldor, and there was little knowledge of the arts necessary for shipbuilding. Besides, having a fleet would have taken too much time and effort.
Fëanor then thought of the Teleri who lived in Aqualondë (the remnants of the largest clan of the elves, the only ones who had completed the Great Journey) and went with them to the elven city. Once there, he explained to them that he needed to use their ships to travel east to defeat Morgoth, for which he required either the Teleri to join the Noldor or to lend them their boats.
The Teleri could do nothing but refuse, arguing that they did not wish to abandon Aman and were too fond of their ships to leave them in the hands of other elves. The tension increased when Fëanor, irritated, threw in their faces that they owed a great favor to the Noldor for having taught them the art of building and city construction.
But Olwë, the king of the Teleri (and brother of Elwë), stood firm in his decision, letting Fëanor and all his relatives know it but hiding his thoughts in the face of what he considered madness.
The journey seemed to be experiencing its first significant delay, but Fëanor did not accept that refusal from the Teleri. He knew that many of his people were holy and fierce, and time was running out on him as he feared that his speech in Tirion was gradually losing steam.
To the horror of many, the Noldor king convinced his host that the only solution was to take the ships by force. A bloody battle began that would be known as the First Slaughter of the Elves, a horrifying event that stained the lands of Aman for the first time with war and fratricide.
The Noldor met resistance among the Teleri, unable to take the docks where the ships were docked. Fëanor failed to impose himself, and it was at that precise moment when the host of Fingolfin appeared, following in the footsteps of the king of the Noldor to those lands.
Believing that the Teleri were attacking the Noldor, Finarfin’s host joined Fëanor’s and ultimately defeated their opponent. Many Teleri sailors were cruelly killed, and a Noldor committed savage deeds, alienated and thirsty for the vengeance that nested in the heart of their king.
With the ships freshly stolen and the host diminished by the battle, the Noldor encountered a mysterious figure, later revealed to be Mandos, one of the Valar.
He pronounced a terrible doom and prophecy, announcing the exile of the Noldor from Valinor and that their war against Morgoth would only bring them misery and suffering. By perpetrating the heinous act of killing their kin, they would be abandoned by the Valar and receive no help from Valinor under any circumstances.
Mandos also proclaimed a curse on Fëanor’s family: their suffering would be the worst because of the oath they had sworn on the Silmarils.
The Vala made it clear that any war the Noldor waged against Morgoth would be fruitless and would deepen the agony of the Elves. And so it would be because, try as they might, the Noldor were not powerful enough to challenge a Vala like Melkor, even one who was no longer considered a Vala.
As he finished speaking, the host of Finarfin, who had not participated in the battle against the Teleri and was the group most reluctant to what Fëanor was carrying out, decided to return to Valinor. There was fear of the curse but also much regret for all the pain caused to their relatives. The Valar took pity on them and were forgiven. They cursed their former king and proclaimed him the new monarch Finarfin, the High King of the Noldor in Tirion.
Fëanor, oblivious to what Finarfin’s group was saying and ignoring the terrible curse of Mandos, continued his journey with Fingolfin and the two hosts with the majority of the Noldor.
They followed the shores of Aman northward, for there, the distance between the Blessed Realm and Middle-earth was shortening. During the voyage, Fëanor calculated his chances, knowing that a good part of the fleet had been destroyed by the storms sent as a reprimand for the Battle of Aqualondë. At the same time, more and more voices were being raised against the actions of their king as the weather conditions worsened and discouragement grew among the elves.
Fëanor met with his sons for advice. He knew that the most loyal held control of the Teleri ships they still had left, and he trusted no one but those who had proven they could be trusted.
Faced with this scenario and knowing that there was not room for everyone on the ships, Fëanor decided that it was necessary to abandon all the Noldor whose loyalty to him was not absolute.
He took advantage of a night to flee with his most acolytes. When they reached the opposite shore of the sea, namely Losgar (lands through which Morgoth and Ungoliant had passed not too long ago in their flight) that Fëanor decided to burn the ships to leave the followers of Fingolfin (whom he did not trust at all) on the other side of the sea.
Morgoth soon learned that the Noldor had arrived in Beleriand and were indeed after his head. He summoned his armies to his dark fortress of Angband and decided that the best defense was a good attack.
He led his forces to the Fënaor camp at Mithrim, close to where the Noldor had burned the ships. It was a battle known as Dagor-nuin-Giliath (the Battle under the Stars), for the Sun and Moon did not yet exist.
The victory was sweet, and many believed that Mandos’ words were untrue. The one who thought it the most was Fëanor, who, his ego swollen by the victorious Battle and being commanded by pure pride, decided not to end there. The Noldor laid waste to the hosts of Morgoth.
With a small vanguard, he rode alone to meet Morgoth. He rode swiftly the long miles that separated him from the impenetrable fortress of Angband. When he was close, the remnants of the Orc army that had fled turned back to face Fëanor and his small vanguard.
In his audacity to get so close to Angband, Fëanor allowed Morgoth to throw the Balrogs, who had remained inside the fortress. They were such formidable and fearsome enemies that they quickly killed most of the Elves who had accompanied their king.
Despite it, Fëanor was not daunted and faced the Balrogs with an unusual fierceness, showing all his power and justifying the greatness that ran through his veins. However, he was wounded in many parts of his body and could not endure such an unequal battle. Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrog, managed to knock down and throw to the ground the king of the Noldor in Beleriand.
When all seemed lost, Fëanor’s sons arrived with a good part of the army that had been left behind. They led their father off the battlefield and returned to their camp.
Unfortunately, Fëanor’s wounds were mortal. The king knew this and ordered his sons to halt the march back to the camp. Tired and knowing that his time was running out, he cursed Morgoth three times, only to become truly aware of the words Mandos spoke in Aman.
Despite such a painful revelation, he told all his sons to keep the oath and to fulfill the vengeance for him and Finwë.
When he died, his spirit was so fiery that his body burned to ashes.
The legacy Fëanor left behind brought tremendous suffering to the Noldor and Sindar in Beleriand. His oath survived time and space, and its dramatic power continued to be felt for millennia.