# The death of Miriel and Fëanor



## Ingwë (Sep 8, 2005)

Miriel was born at the shores of Cuivienen V.Y. 1050. The love between Miriel and Finwë began in Aman. The bearing of Fëanor consumed the spirit and body of Miriel snd after his birth she yeaned for rest from the labour of living and never again would she bear a child for the strength that could have nourished many children was gone into Fëanor...

_*From HoMe XII: The Peoples of Middle-earth:*_


> He (Fëanor) was the eldest of Finwe's sons and the only child of his first wife Miriel. She was a Noldorin Elda of slender and graceful form, and of gentle disposition, though as was later discovered in matters far more grave, she could show an ultimate obstinacy that counsel or command would only make more obdurate. She had a beautiful voice and a delicate and clear enunciation, though she spoke swiftly and took pride in this skill. Her chief talent, however, was a marvellous dexterity of hand. This she employed in embroidery, which though achieved in what even the Eldar thought a speed of haste was finer and more intricate than any that had before been seen. She was therefore called Perinde (Needlewoman) - a name which she had indeed already been given as a 'mother-name'.(6) She adhered to the pronunciation p (it had still been usual in her childhood), and she desired that all her kin should adhere to it also, at the least in the pronunciation of her name.
> Feanor loved his mother dearly, though except in obstinacy their characters were widely different. He was not gentle. He was proud and hot-tempered, and opposition to his will he met not with the quiet steadfastness of his mother but with fierce resentment. He was restless in mind and body, though like Miriel he could become wholly absorbed in works of the finest skill of hand; but he left many things unfinished. Feanaro was his mother-name, which Miriel gave him in recognition of his impetuous character (it meant 'spirit of fire'). While she lived she did much with gentle counsel to soften and restrain him.(7) Her death was a lasting grief to Feanor, and both directly and by its further consequences a main cause of his later disastrous influence on the history of the Noldor.
> [highlight]The death of Miriel Perinde - death of an 'immortal' Elda in the deathless land of Aman - was a matter of grave anxiety to the Valar, the first presage of the Shadow that was to fall on Valinor.[/highlight] The matter of Finwe and Miriel and the judgement that the Valar after long debate finally delivered upon it is elsewhere told.(8) Only those points that may explain the conduct of Feanor are here recalled. Miriel's death was of free will: she forsook her body and her fea went to the Halls of Waiting, while her body lay as if asleep in a garden. She said that she was weary in body and spirit and desired peace. The cause of her weariness she believed to be the bearing of Feanor, great in mind and body beyond the measure of the Eldar. Her weariness she had endured until he was full grown, but she could endure it no longer.


 
What part played Miriel's death in Fëanor's deeds? It seems that Fëanor was created for great deeds long before Melkor stole the Jewels. After her death he became more cautious. 
And actually, why does she die and couldn't the Valar save her life? Or she was created for that purpose. Thoughts?


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## Inderjit S (Sep 9, 2005)

Nice thread Ingwe.  

Yes, I think Míriel’s death did have a great affect on Fëanor-though she did pass away when he was grown up, I think the fact that he was the only Elf in Aman bereft of a mother was hard on Fëanor, and I think Finwë did spoil Fëanor too much, his mother was the more calming influence, and seems to be the only person who he listened too much, or allowed to persuade him against a certain action. I think mothers played an important part in the bringing up of each Elf, and when this integral part was removed, so an essential part of Fëanor was removed too, and perhaps it would have worked out better if she had stayed and help quell his fire (he seemed to have found solace in Nerdanel though, for a while)-Míriel certainly seems to think so, as does Aulë (or it might have been Ulmo) when the are discussing the matter in a council. Though as Ulmo later puts it "The coming of Fëanoro must proceed certainly from the will of Eru; but I hold that the marring of his birth comes of the shadow, and is a portent of evil things to come." 

I guess that because Fëanor was so powerful, "beyond the measure of the Eldar" Míriel just didn't think she could bear living any longer, selfish, perhaps, but one must have some sympathy for her.


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## Eledhwen (Sep 10, 2005)

It sounds like the work of Melkor's whispers. Elves were not given to thoughts of despair or suspicion, but these were planted as seeds in their minds by Morgoth, and these evil thoughts took root and bore fruit of their own. Miriel's despair at her ability to continue to live may well have the same roots, and as Ulmo says (quoted in Indy's post above) the marring of the birth comes of the Shadow.

I have given birth five times myself. When giving birth to my third child I was not progressing well and the midwife asked her assistant to bring the forceps. This prospect made me gather my energies and put in more effort, and the forceps were not needed; but this gave me an insight into how much a woman's mental state contributes to how much the birth takes out of her. Feanor, of course, was a special case - a child who had so much life that he seemed to drain his mother of hers. Could this be of the Shadow? I don't think so. The draining of life would seem more appropriate to the Shadow than an abundance of fiery life. Miriel could, I suspect, have coped with Feanor's birth and would have recovered in time; but mentally she had already given up the ghost, because Melkor's whispers had drained her will to live first.


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## Arata (Sep 15, 2005)

Let's talk about the death of Fëanor. How could it be that his death was so different from other Elves' deaths?

(The cause of his death was relatively common, though.)


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## Inderjit S (Sep 19, 2005)

Another taint is that Miriel actually wanted to die-that is to leave the circles of the world, not just reside in Mandos-indeed Tolkien comments on the event in one of his letters-that her death lead to the fall of the High Elves. I would also reccommned to anybody interesting in this matter to read "The Statute of Miriel and Finwe" from Morgoth's Ring, in which the Valar discuss it.

Miriel's death was the 'start', the whispers wouldn't have existed if she had lived or Finwe not remarried as the dissension was mainly within the House of Finwe-at least there would have been little internal strife, but the external strife against the Valar would have remained. Feanor's death was 'different' from the death of other Elves because of the greatness of his spirit-greater than any other Elf, Man or Dwarf.


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## Snaga (Sep 21, 2005)

Some parts of the effects of Miriel's death are clear: namely the rift in the House of Finwe, once Finwe remarried.

Others are less clear. Would his mother have been more able to restrain him, and teach him to listen to others? Did Finwe 'spoil' him? My reading of the book is that Feanor's character is inherent in his nature, and not a result of his mother's death. Is his drive to create a result of wanting to impress his father? Does he feel more alone, because he has no mother, and therefore heed no counsel? Does he become estranged from his wife, in part because he is not good at relating to women, as he had no mother-figure? And what can we say of his relationship to Galadriel?

Very interesting questions. I find Feanor to be quite enigmatic. Mostly because what one might attribute to his mothers death are actually attributed to his nature.


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## Mimzy (Jun 11, 2011)

I think the effect on Feanor was profound. I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason Feanor disliked his brothers is because he was jealous they had a mother.

Hmmmm and yes Morgoth could very well have been why.


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