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Fantasy » alt.fan.tolkien » Re: COTW: Silmarillion ChapterIX: Of the Flight of the Noldor
| Re: COTW: Silmarillion ChapterIX: Of the Flight of the Noldor [message #232013] |
Mi, 08 März 2006 16:23 |
|
Cross-posting to AFT
In message
<news:1141789507.206112.135910 [at] j52g2000cwj.googlegroups.com>
eroot [at] swva.net enriched us with:
>
> Chapter Nine of the Silmarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor, is
> full of the heavy drama that I think makes the Silmarillion so
> good. It opens with the Valar having gathered in the Ring of
> Doom; Melkor and his partner-in-crime Ungoliant have just made
> their getaway, having killed the Two Trees.
>
> Synopsis
>
> The powers of the Valar fail to revive the Trees, but Yavanna
> thinks with a little of the light of the trees that Feanor has
> locked in the Silmarils, she can heal the trees. Feanor will not
> give his gems up willingly, and the very request reminds him of
> suspicions sown by Melkor, that the Valar covet the Silmarils for
> themselves. Just then messengers come with even more bad news:
> Melkor, in the confusion of the killing of the trees and
> Ungoliant's blinding vapors, has plundered Feanor's gems and
> killed his father, Finwe, the King of the Noldor.
>
> Feanor goes mad with grief and rage, giving Melkor the sobriquet
> "Morgoth" and cursing the Valar for summoning him to this meeting
> when he could have been home protecting his father. Tolkien
> points out that Feanor mistakenly thinks that if he had, anything
> would have happened other than that he would have been killed,
> too, which is what Melkor hoped would happen.
> Now the Silmarils are gone, and Feanor storms off to rabble-rouse
> the Noldor into going after them.
>
> In the meantime, Morgoth (as he is almost always called now) and
> Ungoliant flee over the wastes of Araman to the north of Valinor,
> escape across the Grinding Ice, and set foot in the far northwest
> of Middle-earth. Tolkien mentions that they travel together
> because "Morgoth could not elude" her; this implies that he is
> already seeking to renege on whatever reward he had promised her
> for her help. She is sticking close, with her cloud still around
> him and her eyes on him. As they approach his old fortress of
> Angband, she realizes he hopes to cheat her and demands payment.
> He ends up giving her all the gems of the Noldor except the
> Silmarils. She wants them, too, and entangles him in her webs.
> He cries out, and his Balrogs, hiding nearby, hear and come to his
> rescue, slashing her webs with their whips of fire. She flees,
> drops a bunch of offspring in what will later become Nan
> Dungortheb, disappears into the south and from the story.
>
> Morgoth rebuilds Angband and raises above its gate a new addition,
> A giant tower-mountain of slag called Thangorodrim. He begins to
> build up his armies. He puts the Silmarils in a crown which he
> never takes off, and spends his spirit in creating followers and
> inspiring them to evil, and only once does he ever leave his
> fortress again.
>
> In the meantime, the Noldor return to Tirion. Feanor shows up
> among them and with his great oratory skill and force of
> personality, stirs up their resentments against the Valar,
> resentments originally planted by Melkor. He really pushes the
> idea that the Valar were keeping them from their true destiny, as
> well as keeping them in Valinor to allow the Aftercomers, that is,
> Men to take over lands that should rightfully be Elvish.
>
> Then Feanor and his sons swear their terrible oath of undying
> enmity against any, good or evil, that keep them from the
> Silmarils, and this oath becomes a major mover in the saga, many
> eventually becoming tangled in it to great sorrow.
>
> Many speak against Feanor, especially Feanor's half-brother
> Fingolfin and his son Turgon, and his other half-brother Finarfin
> counsels waiting and cooling off, but many, even ones who are not
> especially fond of Feanor, still want to go to seek kingdoms where
> they will not be subordinate to anyone else, especially the Valar.
> Thus, in a few short paragraphs, Tolkien mentions all the princes
> of the Noldor and where they stand in the controversy. Galadriel
> is introduced as the only woman to stand forth in equal status to
> the princes, and she also is for going.
>
> The Noldor go forth as two hosts, for more prefer the leadership
> of Fingolfin, and in the end but few stay back. As the Noldor
> depart the gates of Tirion, a herald of the Valar arrives and
> advises them not to go, but says they will not be hindered and may
> go freely, but Feanor is exiled because of his oath. Then he
> warns Feanor that he will lose against Morgoth because he will
> never beat a Vala, even if he were three times more powerful. Of
> course, Feanor laughs this off.
>
> Crime follows crime. Feanor goes to the Teleri to borrow their
> ships for the passage of the north sea, otherwise the Noldor will
> have to attempt to cross by land and dare the Grinding Ice, since
> the Noldor don't have the time or the skill to make their own
> ships. The Teleri try to talk Feanor out of leaving, and won't
> lend him ships, so he takes them by force, losing some Noldor and
> killing a lot of Teleri in the process. This becomes known as the
> Kinslaying; it comes up again and again in the book, as now the
> Noldor have slain unjustly and their Karma takes a nosedive.
>
> The Noldor now proceed as two hosts, the larger one belonging to
> Fingolfin and forced to walk, while Feanor and his followers,
> representing most of the guiltiest parties to the Kinslaying,
> travel parallel to them offshore in the boats.
>
> As the Noldor reach the edge of the settled Undying Lands, a great
> figure is seen standing high upon a rock. Some think it is Mandos
> himself, and he pronounces the prophecy and curse known as the
> Prophecy of the North and the Doom of the Noldor. It exiles
> Feanor and every one who follows him, and says that their oath
> will betray them, and all their plans will fail,
> generally caused by treason or fear of treason.
>
> Feanor basically says, maybe so, but at least cowardice won't be a
> problem and determines to drive on, but Finarfin and a smaller
> party of Noldor turn back, and are forgiven and welcomed. His
> sons and daughters, though, drive on in the train of Fingolfin.
>
> Eventually they run out of land, and there are not enough ships to
> take everyone across at once, and fear of treachery is already
> having effect. Feanor, sons, and their most loyal followers slip
> away with all the ships, leaving Fingolfin behind in Araman. When
> they arrive in Middle Earth at the Firth of Drengist, eldest and
> wisest son Maedhros asks who will be ferried next, hoping to see
> his friend Fingon, but Feanor, about as mad as a hare at this
> point, causes the ships to be burnt.
> Fingolfin and his party see the light and the smoke in the
> distance, and know they are betrayed.
>
> Now they are faced with having to _walk_ to Middle-earth, over the
> Grinding Ice, a trek like you or me having to march across the
> North Pole, and many are lost along the way, but the rest are
> hardened by the journey, and led by Fingolfin and sons, plus
> Finrod and Galadriel, they eventually arrive in Middle-earth just
> as the Moon rises for the first time.
>
> End of Synopsis
>
> This chapter establishes a number of motifs that will arise again
> and again: betrayal and and being too quick to fear of betrayal;
> rashly swearing an oath and dooming oneself and others in the
> process; the Feanorians being too quick to use any means to get
> their ends; others of great nobility suffering and failing,
> however bright they might be in their fall; evil basically being
> cheesy and childish, as witness the bickering and betrayal between
> Melkor and Ungoliant. These god-like beings are as
> shoot-themselves-in-the-foot as playground bullies, but at the
> chapter's end, Morgoth is rapidly rebuilding a kingdom of evil in
> Middle-earth, and the elves are already spending their strength in
> backstabbing.
>
> When I read this chapter, I feel the momentum that started in the
> proceeding chapter crescendoing like crazy. I find it very
> moving, that might just be me. I enjoy just as well the drafts in
> Morgoth's Ring. What do others think?
>
> Eric Root
>
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