Number five seemed to be the most popular, so here’s a snippet from that:
This is not the throne room in Tirion.
Or, rather, it is, but it’s the throne room as he remembers it, not the throne room he was recently shown after his release from the halls of Mandos. Fingolfin can’t help but relax a bit. It’s a dream or a vision of some sort, surely, but it’s a comforting one.
He smiles at the faces he sees around him. Some of them are still in Mandos. Some he has hesitated to speak to. But now here they all are, disturbed by whatever politics are current today, but blissfully safe.
And there is his father, on the throne.
Fingolfin’s breath catches.
The familiar words, the words that have haunted his dreams, roll down. The issue at hand: Feanor’s desire to leave Valinor and his words against the Valar.
Fingolfin knows his part. He knows what he is supposed to say. He is supposed to call for the restraining of Feanor and to disparage Feanor’s loyalty to their father. He is supposed to drive in the final wedge. He has had this dream before.
He waits a moment for the words to come forth against his will, but nothing happens. His father’s eyes merely remain fixed on him.
Fingolfin has many words he would say to his brother – yes, brother – and more than a few might be unkind, but he has to admit that his long ago remark had been unjust. Feanor’s loyalty to the Valar is questionable at best, but having seen him grieve their father, there can be no doubt about Feanor’s honor and loyalty to him.
He had wondered, on the Ice, what might have happened if he hadn’t said those words. If he had offered any other, lesser, insult. If he had kept his own counsel. If, if, if.
So he says instead, “I have heard much rumor about my brother’s views on these matters, but I confess that we have not spoken plainly of the matter face to face. I would be sure I know his views fully before I respond to them.”
And then Feanor strides in, dressed for war, or at least the closest approximation Aman raised elves could imagine.
The fire of his brother’s words is nearly irresistible, but Fingolfin does his best to resist anyway. He can only afford to lend half his attention to Feanor’s words. The rest he must devote to figuring out how he will respond.
If this is a dream or a vision, it might not matter, but –
He can feel his bond to his wife, as of yet unstrained. He can feel the power of Feanor’s words as an almost physical force. He can see a crack in the floor that he does not think he ever noticed before.
It occurs to him that this might not be a dream, and if there is any chance it is not, then it matters.
So English used to have the formal/informal you distinction, and “thou” was informal. Tolkien makes use of this in his books, whether it’s Fingolfin’s brotherly closeness (”Thou shalt lead and I will follow”) or Eowyn and Aragorn sharing a moment after her recovery and engagement (Aragorn’s ”I have wished thee joy ever since I met thee”) where he had previously used the formal “you” while she, in love and desperate to stop him from taking the Paths of the Dead, had used “thee” (”because they would not be parted from thee–because they love thee”). In general, Tolkien uses “thou” to show moments of high emotion and closeness.
But “thou” can also be fighting words, when used inappropriately. (Remember Shakespeare’s Tybalt telling Romeo “Thou art a villain”?)
Feanor’s confrontation with Melkor is a moment of emotion, but not closeness. Feanor uses the informal “thou” as an insult, showing how he looks down on Melkor, when he says, “Get thee gone from my gate, thou jail-crow of Mandos!” In case the point wasn’t clear enough, he proceeds to slam the door in the face of “the most powerful being in all Ea.”
Melkor must be furious. Feanor, a mere elf, not only refused him, but refused him rudely, showing even in his pronoun choice that he looked down on Melkor despite all Melkor’s power.
I’d make a point that Feanor never uses formal you when talking (I may be wrong but I don’t remember one instance, even in Tolkien’s extended lore), nor does anyone else. It’s still pretty poignant, however, that he would do it both to Melkor and, notably, to the Herald of Manwe (maaaybe Eonwe, but the name isn’t in the text.)
Then turning to the herald he cried: ‘Say this to Manwë
Súlimo, High King of Arda: 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. Yea, in the end they shall
follow me. Farewell!‘
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; and the Noldor were
over-ruled.
Here’s Feanor using the formal “you” even when angry:
But good point about the Herald of Manwe part!
Boy how could I forget the speech to Olwe of all things lol
But thank you for the reminder! Though I wonder if it isn’t a plural instead of formal?
Feanor, answering his door in the middle of the night, shirtless, unshaven, and holding a can of beer: Melkor, thou ain’t shit.
Fëanor – Commission Fëanor is for curufins-smile. “More striking than beautiful, dark hair with clothing of reds and golds—and lots of ear bling! (but tasteful ear bling) Here we go ❤ Hope you like it 😀 ❤
Please don’t repost, remove artist comments, or retag ❤ Reblogs are appreciated 🙂
Finished at last: Fëanor, light of creation and fire of destruction.
(Animated and static versions)
21x30cms, pencils, acrylics; and digital colouring for the flamey business.
radiantanor.home.blog 