Lessons From the Legendarium Vol. III

The Oath of Fëanor

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.

—        James 5:12

There are many words that could be used to describe J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, but ‘happy’ would not be one of them. For the most part, it is a very heart-wrenching and tragic story, filled with death and suffering. More than anything else, The Silmarillion is the story of the downfall of the elven race. There are a few different causes for the evil and violence in the tale of the Silmarils, not the least of which is Melkor (Satan), and his desire to see God’s creation deformed and twisted to his will. But perhaps the biggest culprit in these evil deeds, is an oath.

In the early days of the world when the elves were still living with the Valar in Aman, Fëanor, the mightiest and most skilled of the elven race, created the three Silmarils. The Silmarils were great shining jewels that contained the light of the trees of Valinor, the source of the world’s light. They are the only objects in Tolkien’s work that he describes as holy. These jewels were the envy of all living beings, and the most prized creations of Fëanor. When he first created them, he would display them proudly and flaunt them anywhere he went, but he eventually became suspicious of his elven kin and locked them away in a vault in his home. Fëanor’s pride in these jewels was so great that when the two trees were destroyed by Melkor, Yavanna asked Fëanor for the light contained within the Silmarils so that she could heal the trees, and Fëanor in his covetousness denied her. The jewels were eventually stolen by Melkor before he killed Fëanor’s father Finwë and fled Aman to Beleriand.

Fëanor became enraged and blamed the Valar for plotting to steal the Silmarils and he named Melkor Morgoth (Dark Enemy). Then Fëanor did something that would ultimately lead to the destruction of the Eldar. Fëanor gathered all of the Noldor elves at Túna and delivered a speech where he urged them all to leave Aman and return to Middle-earth. After the speech was over, he and his seven sons swore an oath to Ilúvatar (God) that they would recover the Silmarils at all cost and that anyone who withheld the Silmarils from them would be put to death. Here is the oath in its entirety:

“Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean, brood of Morgoth or bright Vala, Elda or Maia or Aftercomer, Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth, neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor’s kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day’s ending, woe unto world’s end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. On the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember, Manwë and Varda!”

This oath would come to bring death to thousands of elves and men in the centuries to follow. Fëanor’s sons would go so far as to kill their own in the three Kinslayings, where the sons of Fëanor killed Noldor and Teleri elves in an effort to retrieve the Silmarils. As the years go on, Fëanor’s oldest sons Maedhros and Maglor do not even care anymore about recovering the Silmarils and they wish to stop killing their kin, but they are compelled to do so because of the oath they swore. In the end, the Oath of Fëanor ends with thousands of dead elves, the death of Fëanor and all of his sons, and the destruction of Beleriand.

In both the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle of James, we are warned not to swear oaths, especially in the name of God. When we start swearing, we form a habit of swearing and fall into perjury and risk condemnation. Tolkien shows us that one of the manifestations of the oath is an unquenchable desire to possess. After swearing the oath, Fëanor and his sons were completely consumed by it for the rest of their lives. They abandoned their loved ones, fled from their home, killed their own family and friends, all so that they could recover a family heirloom that they could hoard away in a vault, never to be seen by anyone ever again.

I think that it is safe to assume that when most of us swear, take an oath, or make a promise, that we aren’t threatening to kill our loved ones. This is definitely an extreme scenario. But the same principle still applies to the seemingly harmless oaths, you are taking the Lord’s name in vain and risking perjury in the name of God. Also remember that no possession, no matter how precious or sentimental, is more important than your relationship with God, your family, or your friends.

Namárië,

Michael