/lit/ - Literature

I'm only a little less than halfway through the Silmarillion but I think Feanor is an interesting character for his role in defying the Valar, who are primarily depicted as good, wise beings (unlike, for instance, the Greek gods who could be good but also wrathful, as can be seen in the punishment of Prometheus). I don't really see Feanor as evil, though, simply flawed by his pride and greed. That said, the stealing of the Noldor ships and the outright slaying of fellow elves was definitely a dick move.

On a somewhat tangential note, one of my favorite characters in Lotr (at least, in the film version) is Boromir. I love his struggle with doing evil for the sake of good and his redemption by death. Great, heartwrenching stuff.

>>4119674
Yes...what makes characters like Feanor and Boromir interesting is they aren't one dimensional in the way other characters are. That being said...I think you fail to fully comprehend the nature of the Valar. Manwe literally could not understand Morgoth, and it follows Feanor too, he grieved for them yes, but he could not understand their hearts—he was good to a fault. That's incredibly important context to me in appreciating the deeds of Feanor. The Valar were estranged from the sorrow now born in the world and did not/could not act in a way appropriate of such. This is increasingly evident when you follow the deeds of Morgoth, they failed to note and preempt his doings from the start, the spread of dissent and the creation of mistrust among the Noldor, these were things alien to them and now new and intrinsic to Arda. What was Feanor to do in that hour? Something worth considering...

>if Fëanor cannot overthrow Morgoth, at least he delays not to assail him, and sits not idle in grief. And it may be that Eru has set in me a fire greater than thou knowest. Such hurt at the least will I do to the Foe of the Valar that even the mighty in the Ring of Doom shall wonder to hear it.” … In that hour the voice of Fëanor grew so great and so potent that even the herald of the Valar bowed before him as one full-answered, and departed.

He wanted to hurt Morgoth however he might. And when you consider that in rebelling against the Valar he sparked into being the histories of Middle Earth and was the fundamental catalyst for the eventual overthrow of Morgoth...he didn't fail.

Of course it came at the cost of his life, the utter ruination of his family and his people and thousands of years of death, strife and sorrow...but whatever.

Feanor, to me, is the only actually interesting elf Tolkien ever wrote.

>>4119809
Are you familiar with Maeglin?

>>4119814
A profound contribution.

>>4119621
Feanor was right OP

The Valar had their chance to overthrow Morgoth and they screwed it up utterly. They may have had good intentions the entire time, but that didn't stop them from being complete dicks about everything to Feanor. Not being able to understand evil doesn't excuse them from not acting to stop it.

They allow the two trees to be devoured by Ungoliant and the first thing they do is all but demand Feanor turn over the Silmarils. They refuse to go into Beleriand to stop Morgoth (who is about to wipe out Thingol and the rest of the elves who never got to Valinor in the first place. None of them were responsible for what Feanor did). Also once Morgoth had bent himself to ruling he had also weakened himself considerably. It would have been a lot easier for the combined Valar + Elves to crush Morgoth right at the start rather than wait 400 years and do it anyway.

Unlike Paradise Lost, where God is meant to be beyond reproach, I don't think the Valar deserve the same pass that made Satan automatically wrong with all his arguments. The Valar weren't gods, even if they tried to pretend to be. If Feanor had mouthed off to Eru then maybe he'd be in the wrong, but I ended up respecting him for taking the difficult road to try and do the only thing he could have. In a one on one showdown Feanor would have slapped Morgoths shit, just like Fingolfin nearly did.

>>4119621
I don't even know who Feanor is and somehow I know I don't want to from your picture.

Can't there be another board created for these fantasy/sci-fi/comic book guys???

>>4119847
>being this pleb

>>4119830


They didn't demand Feanor hand over the Simarils, the choice was completely his. He said no and Manwe said so be it. But that's just the problem, the Valar by virtue of their virtue were powerless to help when it would have meant the most. I've always been upset at the fact that Fingolfin got to die in combat with Morgoth and not Feanor, he deserved it so much more...

>>4119847
> Judging a book by its cover
Truly the patricianest of the lit-core!

>>4119847
Name a book. Go ahead anon, name one. Chances are it is far and away inferior to TLotR. Tolkien is better than the overwhelming majority of stuff discussed on this board in almost every literary merit conceivable. Your attempt at maturity, or whatever other inane affectation it is you're entertaining, is really quite pathetic.

>>4119880
Feanor didn't do so badly himself considering he fought all of the Balrogs by himself for hours and even then was able to walk away for a bit.

The Valar may not have outright demanded he hand over the Silmarils but Tulkas went and shot his mouth so I don't think its unreasonable that Feanor got pissed.

Not only that but Mandos even knew that Finwe had been killed by Morgoth and that the Silmarils were stolen. The first thing they do isn't to start planning how to stop Morgoth but to put pressure on Feanor to hand over his prized possessions. They claimed the reason they wouldn't stop Morgoth is because it was so hard to first time but thats not even close to a good excuse. Later they're even begged to come help and refuse until Elrond's dad comes around and asks a second time.

If Eru himself had came down to ask Feanor and he refused then Feanor would have been completely wrong. But since the Valar are far from being Gods themselves they can't be given a pass for whatever they do.

>>4119621
Feanor fell to his hubris, the only sad thing was that so many of his kin and most of Middle Earth suffered because of it.

That being said, he was an interesting character, even if he was prideful to the point of sin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFAskJN4YKE

Very related