June

11.6.22

Sadly we were not all able to meet this afternoon, so Laura’s talk on The Battle of Edington was postponed till another occasion, but those of us who gathered in the Library took on some of the topics thrown up primarily by Chapter 6 of The Silmarillion. ‘Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor’. Some of them are perennial matters, constantly part of our discussions of Tolkien’s work.

Eileen launched our discussions with her observation that Fëanor appears to have a problem which reminded her of Hamlet’s inability to deal with to with mother’s remarriage. Tim and Eileen compared human relationships with Fëanor’s with his parents and step-siblings. This led us eventually into a discussion of his creation of the silmarils and to comparison with the creation and effect of the One Ring by Sauron.

Tim remarked that the silmarils are like relics once Ungoliant had ‘killed’ the Two Trees. He went on to expand on this by relating the silmarils to the grail in Arthurian legend – possession is the driving motivation.

The relationship, such as it was, between Fëanor and Melkor led Eileen to consider again the Chaining of Melkor, and Laura’s previous references to this. Tim wondered how we should understand the sentence of three ages in the chain, especially when we now know that Tolkien had calculated various kinds of comparative time, so that Valinorian time is not the same as mortal time, and this is governed by the 12 hour cycle of the Two Trees. It appears from Tolkien charts that 144 Valinorian Years = 1 Valinorian Age, but 1 VY = 144 years of Men. The full set of calculations is given in Carl F. Hostetter, ed., The Nature of Middle Earth.

The Unchaining of Melkor led us into a lengthy discussion when I observed that Manwë releases Melkor after he has served his sentence but does not understand the nature of the evil because he himself is ‘free from evil and could not comprehend it’. I found this problematic in the Lord of the Valar.

Eileen thought it was not normal and wondered why Tolkien created Manwë like this.

Tim observed that Manwë was judging Melkor by his own flawless standards, and Manwë is absolute virtue. He recognises evil but not its deceits and tricks.

Eileen remarked that Melkor is a good actor! And is always working towards power.

I suggested that the relationship between Melkor and Manwë at this point has all the features of drama, and the reader is in the position of witnessing understanding more than Manwë. Tim qualified this by remarking that it has features of Greek tragedy.

Eileen commented that Manwë is not capable of protecting his people if he doesn’t understand how evil works. We all agreed that a lord or ruler needs to understand evil, but Tim added that both Tulkas and Ulmo recognise in their own ways that Melkor remains a problem. Eileen added that you can be virtuous yourself but still recognise the working practices of evil.

Tim proposed that Melkor and Manwë are in fact personifications of evil and good.

I wondered if the end of the chapter is an attempt at Elvish ‘spin’, as the text deals with the relationship that has existed between Melkor and Fëanor, following the description of Melkor claiming to have instructed Fëanor in the arts that led to the creation of the silmarils. The text acknowledges that Fëanor was ‘ensnared … in the webs of Melkor’s malice’, but asserts Fëanor’s hatred for Melkor. The strength of the assertion made me wonder if Tolkien wrote this with the intention that this history, being written by the Elves, should be seen to be at pains to excuse one of the greatest figures in their history.

Returning to the topic of evil, Eileen remarked that Fëanor’s lust, his abnormal possessiveness over the silmarils, suggests a tendency to evil.

Tim thought his lustful traits were sinful but not really evil.

Eileen suggested that in any event we are suspicious of him now.

Tim noted that The Silmarillion is a mythology for the Elves, and Eileen added that storytellers embellish the stories they relay.

After a strenuous afternoon’s discussion we agreed that the reading for our next meeting would be chapters 6 and 7.