The Silmarillion (Parenting Version)

“Do not laugh! But once upon a time… I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend….. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien

The Silmarillion is J.R.R Tolkien’s creation that precedes the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It’s the next book Tolkien geeks recommend, when you’re done with the aforementioned 4. It’s also arguably not easy to get through. Tolkien had a fascination for languages from an early age, being literate at 4, studying Latin in his primary school years, and it shows. I would call him the Mozart of the world of High Fantasy Writing, except perhaps in writing more than music, a person’s character as affected by their childhood and life experiences fleshes out their work particularly when they create their own fictional characters. From Bloom to Brown, Gaiman to Sorkin, you cannot truly write without committing more of yourself, laying bare more of your personality, than you would ever personally be comfortable with (I believe it was Neil Gaiman who actually said that).

First however, the more obvious – Tolkien’s original writing can be hard to digest because he delves with such relish into crafting a most elaborate language and culture of the different peoples, particularly the elves, that it’s easy to get lost. Hardcore fans actually speak Sindarin, Quenyan etc for real. There are practice workbooks for Elven languages for sale on Amazon. If you Google even minor characters, you will likely find specific notes for which Elven dialect (and why). More major characters come with writeups about their name origins in European mythology, not to mention some like Gandalf change names several times (Olorin, Mithrandir, Gandalf – all refer to the same “Maia spirit” that takes the form of an old wizard). You will be impressed Tolkien exercised such restraint in naming his own kids John, Michael, Christopher and Priscilla 😀

Tolkien begins writing the Silmarillion as a young adult in his early 20s, around college, marriage, service in the First World War, and will constantly revise the book throughout his life before it is finally published posthumously. He will describe Luthien, a later major character, as inspired by his life-long love Edith, naming himself Beren, Luthien’s love interest. <pause> OK I have to say it – being attracted to someone, “falling in love”, that’s easy. Staying in the relationship, through the endurance run that is Life, that’s the incredibly hard part. I know someone who says 25, 50 year anniversaries should be the Biggest Celebration of Achievement Ever, not the initial wedding. <shrugs>

Anyway. Born in 1892 in what is now South Africa, a 3 year old Tolkien travelled to England with his mother and younger brother for an intended long vacation, only to lose their father to rheumatic fever back home before he can join them. Their mother will proceed to raise the 2 young boys, schooling them in botany, English and Latin while battling Type 1 diabetes, eventually succumbing (effective treatment having not yet been invented) when Tolkien is 12.

Life is relatively uneventful with school and a conservative guardian until aged 16, when Tolkien meets 19 year old Edith. A romance blossoms while sitting in Birmingham tea shop balconies throwing sugar lumps into the hats of passersby in the street below. (When the sugar bowl was emptied, one friend described of the two teens, they would simply move to the next table 😀 ) Tolkien’s guardian will disapprove of the older girlfriend and tell him not to contact her again until he turns 21. Tolkien describes this as “extremely hard” on them both, but nevertheless honours the instruction, and later proceeds to mess up his first year of college. (He has to change his major in the end.)

On his 21st birthday, Tolkien writes Edith and proposes. She breaks off her engagement with the brother of one of her closest friends, who is understandably “dreadfully upset at first,” and the boy’s family writes to her guardian saying, “I have nothing to say against Tolkien, …but his prospects are poor in the extreme. Had he adopted a profession, things would be different…”

In January 1913, after a long day catching up following their years apart, Edith formally agrees to be engaged to Tolkien (her guardian would later tell her to move out). Tolkien graduates with First Class Honours in English Language and Literature from Exeter College, Oxford, July 1915. Around the same time he is commissioned as temporary Second Lieutenant, undergoes 11 months battalion training, and is posted to Somme.

Ever the humble bookworm who finds himself commanding enlisted miners, factory workers etc, he will be quoted from personal correspondence, “The most improper job of any man … is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.”

As his battalion is about to attack the Regina Trench, he contracts quintan fever, is deemed unfit for further active service, and spends the rest of the war between hospitals and garrison duty, often emaciated, but alive. He writes, “by 1918, all but one of my close friends was dead.”

So the world begins…

The Creator of Everything is Eru Illuvatar, who thinks into being various Valar (spirits that vaguely resemble Greek gods or angels) and imbues them with the power of creation with which to craft the world. The principal ones are Manwe, Aule and Ulmo, Valar of the sky, earth and sea, respectively. There are also Valar of death/judgement, dreams, nature, hunting, harvest, et al. To assist them are Maiar, lesser spirits/angels, that still carry more clout than your average elf or dwarf. Gandalf and Sauron from the Lord of the Rings are Maiar. So are the large horned Balrog demons carrying whips, and any dragons or wizards.

(pics of Gandalf and Sauron from deviantart.com)

Before Lord of the Rings where Sauron is the personification of Evil however (Melkor having by then long been vanguished and the Valar then stepping back), the most powerful and multi-talented of the Valar, Melkor (who will come to corrupt Sauron, originally a Maia assigned to crafting/building the earth), wanders too far away, and comes to develop thoughts that are not in harmony with that of the other Valar. The Creator initially allows it, even mildly approves, for the discord increases the depth and breadth of the Music of Creation. Light after all does not look light except when there is dark to contrast it.

Eventually however, Melkor’s motives are shown to be too self-serving and destructive, born of jealousy and pride. The original “fight” is thus born between Good and Evil for the Flame Imperishable, the power to create life. Evil is never able to obtain said ability for itself (an important clarification/ edit by Tolkien later in his life), and therefore sets about destroying or corrupting Good’s creations. These are first the 2 Lamps of Arda – Illuin and Ormal. Melkor destroys these out of spite, then hides from the rest of the Valar, who prioritise fixing the mess and creating 2 Trees of Light in Valinor, where they live on earth/Arda, named Telperion and Laurelin.

 

(pics of one of the Lamps and the Two Trees from deviantart.com)

Then Illuvatar creates the elves, and the Valar invite them to come live with them in Valinor, their home on Earth/Arda. The Noldor elves will set up their own capital, Tirion, within Valinor. And that’s where all the politicking starts:

To the influential and much-loved Noldor King Finwe is born a particularly powerful and talented son (Curufinwe), nicknamed Feanor for his fiery spirit. Feanor’s mother dies soon after, and after a very long time of grieving, Finwe remarries and has two more sons (Fingolfin and Finarfin).

Feanor comes to craft 3 magical power-enhancing gems called Silmarils, pouring into them part of his spirit as well as taking some of the life-giving light of the 2 Trees. The Silmarils are so remarkable and sought after that the rest of the long and eventful plot of the Silmarillion will revolve around procuring or keeping others from procuring these gems. Not that unlike how everyone comes to fight to procure or keep Sauron from recovering the One Ring of Lord of the Rings. Except the Silmarils are supposed to be so pure and good that nothing unclean or evil can touch them without being burned. (That’s important in the story line later).

Melkor, at some point captured, imprisoned for a long time for trashing the Lamps and then released after completing his sentence, fakes repentance and soon sets about spreading rumours that cause unrest among the Noldor. While Feanor hears “The Valar Want The Silmarils For Themselves and Fingolfin Wants To Usurp The Throne”, Fingolfin and Finarfin hear “Feanor Doesn’t Like You Brothers Of Different Mothers And Your Dad Loves Him Best.”

All 3 elf princes are exposed to rumours designed to bring out the worst in them. Feanor is the only one who really reacts, and to his own detriment.

Feanor begins to train his followers in weaponcraft, storing up supplies for battle, and starts speaking out against the Valar, asking the Noldor to follow his lead out of Valinor. King Finwe gets worried (also, he was one of the original Chosen, who first led the Noldor into Valinor) and holds court with his advisors to figure out what to do. Which is when it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

Fingolfin comes bursting in and basically says Father Why You No Stop Older Brother. And then Feanor also comes barging in and, seeing Fingolfin standing there, blows up with How Come He Is Here And I Am Not Included <draws sword> Younger Half Bro You Get Out Nowww! 

Fingolfin actually takes the high road, politely bows to the assembled court and walks out without another word, but Feanor is still not satisfied and follows after him, holds the sword to his chest and says You Ever Try To Usurp Again I Kill You. It is this final very public action in the high elven court that sees Feanor banished from the capital by Mandos, Vala of Death/Judgement. After 12 years if the assembled elves can forget the misdemeanor, he may return.

Fingolfin immediately says Let’s Just Forget Everything Now, but Feanor still storms out. He proceeds to huffily move out with his 7 capable and strong sons. Now get this – King Finwe then abdicates his own position for the 12 year period his favourite son is banished, moving in with Feanor in the distant hills, and leaving Fingolfin to reluctantly take over the throne in the resulting power vacuum. (He is also depicted as not letting it get to his head while he rules.)

This is why this story is sooo entertaining: After this court drama, Feanor, for all his off-the-charts abilities, immediately thinks The Rumours Were Right About My Little Half Bro! They Are Probably Also Right About The Other Valar Wanting My Silmarils! Fingolfin who has just seen their father totally favour (maybe even “spoil”*) his much older half brother doesn’t think These Rumours About My Father And Brother Are SO Right! Even though they are. 

*In fact, King Finwe doesn’t appear to correct Feanor’s jarring misdemeanour, only the Valar step in to do so. How much does this scene imply this is not the first time? Later on, Tolkien will narrate Finwe as saying, “As long as Feanor my son is exiled, I consider myself unkinged.” Within the safety of the fictitious realm of Tolkien’s elves, everyone can now say Oh! Parenting lesson! 😀 For real though, this particular “weakness” of Feanor’s character is not inherent in the other two much younger brothers.

It begs the question, since inflated senses of superiority like Feanor’s often hide inferiority/insecurity (eg Would People Still Like Me If I Don’t Have This Talent/Money/Looks/Whatever? or else TOTAL DENIAL): 1) Did their father Finwe choose to leave the court with his errant eldest son because he spoils his favourite son (which would make it at least partly Finwe’s fault Feanor is a lot weaker at resisting Evil’s rumours – and y’know, there are always going to be rumours where there are communities, and you are always going to have to choose carefully what you decide to listen to), OR 2) Did he actually leave his second son Fingolfin in charge because he knew Fingolfin was the more emotionally stable one, while Feanor would need his dad more?

Anyway, the rest of the tale continues –

While Feanor is living in exile, Melkor and his ancient evil ally Ungoliant (who spawns all the monster spiders in the books and movies), sneak back into Valinor and kill the 2 Trees. The Valar then turn to Feanor for the Silmarils which contain some of the original light of the Trees, so they can try to revive them. Feanor is described as “feeling like he is surrounded by enemies and attacked,” (what did I say? Insecure!) and says no. (The Valar will strive in vain to restore the Trees, eventually managing to salvage a final perfect fruit and flower before the Trees are gone forever. The fruit and flower become the Sun and Moon for the world/Arda.)

While Feanor fiercely accuses the other Valar of being just like their fellow Vala-turned-evil Melkor, news arrives that said Melkor has now sacked Feanor’s home, killed his father Finwe (who had refused to flee and tried to defend their gems), and made off with the Silmarils. At this stage Feanor forever refers to Melkor as Morgoth.

Feanor then leads his 7 sons, all strong elf-lords who follow him faithfully, into swearing a terrible oath: With non-negotiable enmity against any being that should keep a Silmaril from their family, they vow to recover the gems at any cost. 

It is this vow that will see them do many terrible things in the name of “recovering what is rightfully theirs”. Bear in mind that except for Melkor/Morgoth, all the other Valar and elves are otherwise irrevocably Good. (They’re not Orcs, Balrogs, Fell Creatures, Goblins, Trolls or anything else that makes up the Forces of Evil.)

The irony is Tolkien’s Elves are supposed to be “better” than the Dwarves or Men, which is why they were granted immortality, and the Valar invited them to leave Middle Earth to the other beings and come live in Valinor (like “paradise” on Earth/Arda) in the first place – and they will end up killing each other and banning their descendants from using each other’s Elven dialects etc because of this terrible vow by the most influential, capable and ambitious of the elven houses.

Feanor’s band of Noldorian elves will alienate themselves from the Valar whom they come to paint with the same brush as Melkor/Morgoth (since “everyone” asks them to fork over the Silmarils that are their family’s right anyway), leave Valinor for Middle Earth, in the hope of exacting vengeance against Morgoth and yes, recovering the Silmarils. Which they don’t actually let anyone use.

When they reach the great sea separating Valinor from the rest of Middle Earth, they ask the seafaring Teleri dwelling by the shore to lend them their ships, so they don’t have to brave the Helcaraxe, a freezing and treacherous icy mountain passage that is their only other way across.

The peace-loving Teleri are the elves who loved Middle Earth, loved the sea, loved the Valar, loved their fellow elves who didn’t make the trip over (especially the Sindar or Grey Elves), and therefore set up their kingdom right at the border, so they could have the best of all worlds. Ulmo, Vala of the sea, develops an affection for them and teaches them to craft ships and sail back and forth between the realms. Olwe, Teleri King, therefore tells Feanor that their ships are to them their life’s work and treasure just as much as gems imbued with magic are to the Noldor, and they do not want the fruit of their labours to be used in this way, what with the Valar repeatedly entreating the Noldor not to take up this crazy quest chasing after Evil.

Feanor and his followers don’t see it that way, feign retreat, then attack the Teleri. (Because by their Terrible Oath, the Teleri are now standing between them and their recovery of the gems. An oath which, ironically, was born out of Feanor’s original abhorring of Evil, something all elves and Valar share. As poet Jasmine Mans puts it, “Don’t become a monster from fighting one. Or loving one.”)

When the larger host of Noldorian elves arrive under Feanor’s reluctant step-brothers Fingolfin and Finarfin (who are following only because their people get swayed by Feanor’s arguments, one of which being on Middle Earth they are some of the most powerful beings but on Valinor they are the weakest; their own followers had then pushed the two younger princes to come rule them on Middle Earth because they don’t want to be ruled by Feanor), the battle is already underway and they have no idea what started it. Some of them mistakenly think the Teleri attacked first because the Valar asked them to stop anyone from leaving. Regardless, in the battle chaos when they see some of their own Noldor dead, they simply rush to join in the fight.

When the dust settles, the Teleri, less-skilled in weaponry, have been utterly decimated. The more moderate of the Noldor are horrified and curse Feanor for starting everything. Mandos, Vala of Death/Judgement, appears and pronounces his doom upon all Noldor. Youngest prince Finarfin (ever the most peace-loving and soft spoken of the 3 princes) turns back to Valinor with his followers, is pardoned, and eventually becomes High King of the Noldor who stay behind in Valinor (just 1/10th of the entire Noldor – just 1/10th of the most influential and ambitious race of elves, the Noldor, manage to agree with Oh Sod It, The Hotheads Are Idiots And I’m Going Home To Regroup, but back when Feanor was rallying them to leave, a lot more of them were swayed by his blustery We Shall Be Top Of The Pecking Order In Middle Earth etc etc because Pride)..

In the end Finarfin goes to Middle Earth only much later, to fight as part of the Elven forces in the War of Wrath where Melkor will finally be defeated forever, and Sauron will take over as the Force of Evil to Beat, in The Hobbit and LOTR stories. Finarfin’s eldest son Finrod however travels widely, discovering the first humans and acquiring a taste for hanging out with them, and will assist human lord Beren’s attempt in meeting bride price for Luthien later on..

Meanwhile, Feanor moves his loyal followers quickly aboard the ships immediately following the slaughtering of the Teleri. The sea rises up in fury and retribution, and more lives are lost.

After the first group finally makes it across, Maedhros, Feanor’s eldest son, asks who to send back to ferry the rest of the Noldor, his best friend Fingon (who is in Fingolfin’s host) included. Feanor instead orders that the ships be burned, ie the large majority of moderate Noldor who don’t support him anyway be left behind on the Valinor shore.

Seeing the fire far on the other side of the sea and realising what Feanor has done now, Fingolfin finally loses it. Instead of then going back to Valinor like Finarfin (who is eventually dubbed the wisest of the 3 princes except no one ever listened to him in court because he just wasn’t loud enough), Fingolfin then decides to lead his host across the icy Helcaraxe that no one wanted to attempt in the first place. 

(pics of the Helcaraxe from tolkiengateway.net)

Because Fingolfin now insists on confronting his crazy older step brother, he leads his followers, the largest group of Noldor, through the worst route to Middle Earth, losing even more lives along the way. And btw, before all this, he never wanted to go to Middle Earth to begin with.

Meantime, Feanor presses on, eventually engaging with Morgoth’s dark forces. Following an initial strong victory (which to be fair is quite an achievement since his host of aggressive loyal Noldor are always heavily outnumbered) however, he then hotheadedly pursues the fleeing remnants of the Orc army too far back into their own territory, and is hopelessly overwhelmed by Balrog (Maia serving Morgoth) reinforcements pouring from their stronghold.

Feanor’s 7 sons catch up in time to beat off the demons and spend his final dying moments with him…. only to have him remind them to uphold their Terrible Oath, and curse Morgoth with his dying breath. 

(This thing as the story wears on will become a real albatross round his sons’ necks, particularly for his 2 eldest, and has been described by commentators as so much potential for Good, then “kept in chains, ultimately crushed by cruel injunction.” Indeed, while 3 of Feanor’s middle sons are also quite hot-headed and the 2 youngest twin brothers are mostly blind followers, Maedhros and Maglor will come to be the most tormented by the Oath. Tolkien takes care to emphasise Maedhros’ huge potential as a great hero and leader, but he will “have no life” – no wife or kids, no chance to be his own person, from the burden of being Feanor’s eldest and the terrible guilt-ridden and misplaced sense of duty forcing him to uphold Feanor’s Oath legacy.)

It is why the Corruption of Feanor, not the destruction of Lamps or Trees, is told as Evil’s Greatest Achievement. 

Upon Feanor’s death Maedhros assumes leadership of the clan. While highly capable, the little army is still far outnumbered by the dark forces, and he is captured and ransomed. No one believes Evil would honour their words, and so he is written off for dead. The Orcs attach him by his right wrist to a sheer cliff, where he is left to die slowly.

Meanwhile, Fingolfin’s host (what’s left of it, after their unnecessarily treacherous journey) finally arrives in Middle Earth, and Fingon, Maedhros’ best friend, sets about looking for him immediately. Finally finding him chained too high out of reach, the two friends agree on a fast ending with an arrow, but in a last ditch effort Fingon supplicates the Valar.

Despite the Doom of Mandos and vow by the Valar to cut off all Noldor who fought Teleri and then stubbornly traipsed through Helcaraxe and high water in pursuit of Silmarils or Morgoth or Feanor-because-they-want-to-confront-him, Manwe, Vala of the skies, sends a great eagle (whose name btw, is Thorondor). Fingon frees Maedhros by cutting off his hand, and the rescue largely repairs the relationship between the Feanor followers and the Fingolfin followers.

Maedhros rather unnecessarily begs forgiveness for abandoning the Fingolfin host on the shore back in Valinor (although really, that was the dad’s fault), and also waives any claim to rule the Noldor (it’s speculated by fans that it’s possible given the large age gap between Feanor and Fingolfin and elves living for millenia unless killed in battle etc, that Feanor’s eldest son is older than Feanor’s step brother), deferring to Fingolfin – in contrast to Feanor’s behaviour with his younger half brother in the dramatic court scene that started everything (an effective illustration Maedhros upholds his father’s Oath out of pure sense of duty, without enjoyment or ego of his own, or blood thirst, unlike some of the younger sons who really like to fight).

Maglor, second son of Feanor, is also popular among fans with good reason. In a later battle when they are again pursuing the Silmarils, the twin half-elven sons of their opponents end up orphaned. Maglor, never proud of what the Oath holds him to, adopts and raises the boys to adulthood.

Maglor’s adopted twins are Elros and Elrond, who grow up to be given the choice by the Valar of living their lives Elven or Human (the biggest difference being a limited lifespan – death is described as the Gift of Men – along with well, facial hair 😀 ). Elros chooses humanity and moves out of the elven realm, Elrond becomes elf lord of Rivendell, marries Galadriel’s daughter, and himself fathers twin elf boys who appear briefly in The Hobbit and LOTR, and yes, the famed Arwen played by Liv Tyler 🙂

Speaking of which, back in the Silmarillion, one day a human Lord named Beren comes across Luthien, daughter of elven king Thingol, dancing in the woods. (Tolkien has said this scene is inspired by a real life encounter between himself and his wife Edith, and he names himself “Beren” to her “Luthien”.)

Beren romances Luthien, but another elf who desires her tells on them to her father, who has Beren brought before him in the elven court. When Beren brazenly asks for Luthien’s hand, King Thingol, who doesn’t like humans and wishes to be rid of this one sets as her bride price, a Silmaril. (Which is basically his way of telling Beren “Forget It.”)

Except Beren actually attempts to get into Morgoth’s stronghold with the help of Finarfin’s eldest son Finrod, gets captured and imprisoned (Finrod is killed saving him from a Fell Wolf, and then resurrected back in Valinor because of his selfless sacrifice), and has to be rescued by Luthien. Luthien btw has some special powers because she is half elven and half Maia (King Thingol had fallen for a powerful Maia spirit assigned to Middle Earth duties, which is why he and his followers never move to Valinor with the others. Visiting with his kingdom was one of the trips the seafaring Teleri made before they got slaughtered, their King Olwe was his younger brother. So you can imagine his fury when he finds out what the Noldor have done – he bans Noldorian speech within his realm.)

Luthien enlists the help of Huan, a Maia in the shape of a large white dog who brings her into Morgoth Territory. Of all things, the pair have the gumption after escaping to return (well initially Beren does on his own and Luthien catches up) and attempt to pry a Silmaril off Morgoth’s crown while he sleeps – and they actually succeed. All the clan wars and treacherous journeys undertaken over the possession of the things, and these two who just want one so they can get married decide to try their luck, and manage to get away with it. 

At the gates however, Luthien’s spell runs out and this time Carcharoth, Morgoth’s pet werewolf, attacks Beren before she can renew the spell. Beren holds up his hand with the Silmaril, thinking its original power of pure good might repel the evil hybrid wolf, but Carcharoth bites off his hand and swallows both the severed limb and the gem. Then he goes mad and runs off into the night because the gem burns his insides.

Back in Thingol’s castle, Beren’s valiant attempt to meet the bride price for his daughter suitably impresses the elven king, who gives his blessing for the marriage, even as the hunt for Carcharoth and the Silmaril in his stomach begins. They find the beast frantically lapping river water in vain to cool his burning insides, but Beren gets himself killed in the ensuing skirmish. Luthien dies shortly after, from grief. In a modified version of “Orpheus and Eurydice,” Mandos shows pity on Beren and Luthien (not to mention they will turn out to be instrumental in the eventual salvation of Middle Earth) and evicts them from his Halls of Death/Judgement, sending them back to earth.

News of the recovery of a Silmaril reaches Feanor’s sons, and Maedhros writes King Thingol, asking for its return to his clan (before you think this is chutzpah, consider also that Maedhros has endured the most torture in the name of recovering this thing made by his father, having been captured and attached to the edge of the cliff for some 30 years and then losing his hand, all for a big clan fight he doesn’t actually believe in, while King Thingol and his people have had the privilege of his powerful Maia wife’s protection through the ages (she even creates a force field around his entire kingdom that wards off all evil), whereupon he then sets Beren to the task not even really wanting the gem or expecting Beren to deliver. And he ends up holding the gem instead.) Thingol ignores the request, at least in part because the Noldor slew his kin.

Maedhros mostly puts a pin in it (Thingol in the meantime gets killed by Dwarves over the Silmaril) but after Beren and Luthien pass away naturally and their son Dior inherits the gem, the sons of Feanor renew their pursuit, which ends in a second kinslaying where Feanor’s middle sons are killed, along with Dior, but Dior’s daughter Elwing (who later also marries a half-elven named Earendil) escapes with the Silmaril. The couple eventually deliver it to the Valar who turn it into the brightest star, even as her twin half-elven sons Elrond and Elros are left behind at the mercy of Maedhros and Maglor in the process.

It is with all this backstory that Maglor adopts the boys with Maedhros’ support (particularly as the last time there were newly orphaned children from all the in-fighting, Feanor’s deceased middle sons’ servants abandon the children in the woods as a twisted form of revenge for their lords’ demise, and Maedhros belatedly then goes searching all over the woods but never manages to find them.)

And now that this fleshes out the extent to which Feanor’s Oath has come to destroy the huge potential and the very lives of Maedhros and Maglor who are shown to be forced into this because of the Corruption of Feanor…. the War of Wrath occurs, and Melkor is finally brought down. The other 2 Silmarils in his crown are recovered, and now Maedhros and Maglor argue over whether to finally steal them from the forces of Good and fulfill the Oath. (Maglor says Let’s Approach The Valar To Release Us Of This Oath, Maedhros says They Can’t, The Oath Was Sworn To The Creator Himself And We Will Lose Our Chance To Finally End This.)

They are caught by the forces of Good. Although supplicated not to take the Silmarils, they are allowed to leave with the gems if they insist. They do. And when each remaining son of Feanor finally holds their father’s greatest, holiest creation in their hands, they are burned by the gems. For they are no longer pure and worthy, after all their terrible deeds.

In despair, Maedhros casts himself into a fiery void, ending his own life and taking the Silmaril with him. Maglor flings the third Silmaril into the ocean. The last remaining son of Feanor spends the rest of his days wandering the sea shore in sadness and regret (and at least one fan has composed music about it) – this one by Cheyenne Van Langevelde:

 

ps: If you acquire a taste for Tolkien, I found the Men of the West channel really helpful.