The Silmarillion Discussion at The Hall of Fire

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Al, I don't think your comments are shallow at all. I really appreciate it when you participate in this discussion precisely because your perspective is so different then mine and Ath's. To my mind, that greatly opens the scope of the discussion.

Having said that, I pretty much agree with Ath. I sympathize with the desire for a more detailed telling of some these parts of the Tale, but I actually think that a more detailed telling of the story of Fëanor and his sons could actually have too much pathos. I think about the small fragment of story told about the death of Fëanor's youngest son in the burning of the ships at Losgar printed along with The Shibboleth essay in The People of Middle-earth. (For a more detailed description of this fragment that I wrote before go here.)

As I said before, I have always found this little tale quite chilling (and I always think of it when I read about the burning of the ships). I think that if Tolkien wrote more detailed tellings of the story of Fëanor and his sons, they would be so dark that it would overwhelm what the work is really about (which is of course "the great and mysterious scope of the human condition - our relationship with the world and our creator, the reasons why we love and hate and rise and fall and live and die".)

[Sassafras]

This chapter is too rich and too eventful to cover in one post, so I will confine myself to Fëanor’s death.

Ath wrote:

And looking out from the slopes of Ered Wethrin with his last sight he beheld far off the peaks of Thangorodrim, mightiest of the towers of Middle-earth, and knew with the foreknowledge of death that no power of the Noldor would ever overthrow them; but he cursed the name of Morgoth thrice, and laid it upon his sons to hold to their oath, and to avenge their father.

What a sad and terrible end: to willingly spend the blood not only of your sons, but of your entire people, on an utterly hopeless cause. I may be fascinated by this character, and appreciate his pivotal role in the great tale of Arda Marred, but I don’t like him at all, and find some kind of strange comfort in the thought of the innumerable ages he will spend “houseless” and alone in the Halls of Mandos

I don’t know if I would choose to apply either like or dislike to Fëanor. He had a part to play in the drama… and play it he did.

I find his ‘punishment’, for punishment is surely is, most unfair.
The more I think about him, the more one-dimensional his character becomes. Of how he was driven to create the Silmarils by the doom laid upon him in the music, and further driven by his temperament into lust for the jewels. Speaking of temperament … neither of his parents appear to exhibit similar traits … unless Míriel’s stubbornness counts … and is not a child’s temperament mostly inherited? (That lust was also experienced by Morgoth and perhaps others … was it something intrinsic in the capturing of the light itself? Was the whole conceit of trapping something (light) spiritual innately flawed?) How, it seems to me, he had virtually no choice in his behavior. Tolkien sets it thus: His birth causes Míriel’s despair and subsequent suicide > he is driven (by lust?) to capture the light of the Trees in the jewels > they exact a fierce (and unnatural?) possessiveness in his heart so much so that he refuses (or cannot) relinquish them even to save Valinor from darkness > which leads to rebellion and the swearing of the great oath,

"They swore an oath which none shall break, and none should take, by the name even of Ilúvatar, calling the Everlasting Dark upon them if they kept it not..."

In which the very words themselves contain binding properties so that all who swear are under compulsion to fulfill its terms or die in the attempt.

Because I do not believe that Fëanor EVER really had free will, the freedom to choose his path, ( I don’t care what Tolkien says in Letters … the fact remains that Fëanor is doomed from the beginning) so I cannot fault him for keeping his destiny.


Ack! I’ve been so out of the loop I’ve only just read the latest posts.
Well … no surprise here, if you read mine you’ll know I unequivocally agree with Imp and disagree with you, Ath.

I just can't agree with this, Impy . Although Sassy might. I think Fëanor was indeed intended to achieve greatness beyond imagining, which in Tolkien's world is always a very dangerous thing, but I don't think he was intended to slaughter his own kinsmen. If I thought that were so, I don't think I could hold the Sil so dear. I just could not be touched so deeply by a work with such a cold and manipulative heart at its centre.

I must add that believing Fëanor (and the Eldar in general) to have been created bereft of true freedom of will does not impact the Sil in the negative way it would for you (and others perhaps). Instead it becomes even more poignant as it takes on the trappings of a great and tragic epic saga. Simply because the tale of a central protagonist is already woven neither mitigates its power or its impact.
But perhaps this is because I see the Sil as a heroic myth, and not as a lens through which to view ‘the great and mysterious scope of the human condition’ as Ath describes; instead, for me, it is only remotely connected to the human condition … my perception is that I am privilaged to witness a play of the gods upon a field of which I can only dream. Fëanor’s tragedy holds no life lesson for me, for it is too extreme in all aspects.

If everything that occurs in the Sil is intended to occur in just one way and no other, it becomes a mere puppet play to my thinking. If every note of the Music must be played a certain way, what is the whole point of creating sub-creators whose purpose is to interpret the "theme propounded" to them, so that they may add their own individual variations or seek out others so that they may weave together new harmonies?

Not every note, Ath. Just the notes pertaining to Melkor and Fëanor. And the Quendi, to a lesser extent. Oh, and maybe Orcs ....

But if what you're saying is that he is singled out by Eru to specifically commit the deeds that he does by walking a set path with no chance to exercise his own gift of free will, then that is quite an alien (and unpleasant) thought to me.

But that is exactly what I am saying, have said, and will continue to say. As I tried to explain above, I do not find this an abhorrent thought ... in fact, I think it mirrors much of real life ... although not to the extreme set out in the Silmarillion.

Besides, who else besides me (and Impy) is going to disagree with you?
Where would the fun be if I didn't?

[Impenitent]

Thanks Sass - I've been thinking how to phrase my response to Ath (and hadn't managed to formulate it properly to my satisfaction) and now I need not bother.

...(That lust was also experienced by Morgoth and perhaps others … was it something intrinsic in the capturing of the light itself? Was the whole conceit of trapping something (light) spiritual innately flawed?)...

Ah! my pet mull!

I've made this argument before (but obviously not very convincingly) that the light of the Trees was a manifestation of Eru himself, Godhead made tangible; that the adoration of the light can thereby be understood, its drawing power similar to a drug-like pull.

It puts me in mind, in fact, of the mythical lotus-eaters:

Lotus-eaters or Lotophagi , a fabulous people who occupied the north coast of Africa and lived on the lotus, which brought forgetfulness and happy indolence. They appear in the Odyssey. When Odysseus landed among them, some of his men ate the food. They forgot their friends and home and had to be dragged back to the ships. “The Lotus-Eaters” by Tennyson has become a classic of English poetry.

Has it ever struck any one else that the Valar and the Eldar who come to them seem completely engrossed by the Light? Addicted to it?

Morgoth's desire for the Light and the Jewels (both hating Eru and yet desiring above all to usurp, to become, the creator, the godhead); Ungoliant's unending lust and hunger (making unlight from light - creating from god-head the ungodly); the holiness of the Jewels which cannot be touched by the wicked without scorching them - even the eyes of those Eldar who had seen the Light, which are physically changed and differentiated from the eyes of those who had not (like Moses, who, having beheld God's back, had to veil his face before the Israelites because of the reflection of God's glory remaining on his visage) - all this takes on a different patina if the Light of the Trees is an aspect of Eru manifest.

I have always found it strange that my interpetation of the Silmaril takes such a biblical turning, as I'm not at all religious myself (spiritual perhaps, but of the agnostic persuasion). And yet - Tolkien wrote as a profoundly religious (Catholic) man. Without any hint of allegory or metaphor, the history is embued and infused with Tolkien's profound faith, I think.

(I know this is a very superficial post, but I lack time. I would have liked to enlarge on it but it's not going to happen - so I either post as is, or refrain altogether. Therefore, I'm inflicting it upon you. )

edited because I left a sentence unfinished and hanging in mid air.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Ooohhh, an actual discussion is blooming.

I'll be back.

[Sassafras]

...(That lust was also experienced by Morgoth and perhaps others … was it something intrinsic in the capturing of the light itself? Was the whole conceit of trapping something (light) spiritual innately flawed?)...

Ah! my pet mull!

I've made this argument before (but obviously not very convincingly) that the light of the Trees was a manifestation of Eru himself, Godhead made tangible; that the adoration of the light can thereby be understood, its drawing power similar to a drug-like pull.

<is excited>

W00t! A kindred spirit!



Oh indeed. But what I keep thinking is that somehow the light of the Trees was not meant to be captured, one cannot own the spiritual anymore than one can own the sky!... and that in the act of transference, of imprisoning the light ... of confining it inside the three dimensional jewels, the quality was somehow corrupted so that instead of having a positive and benign influence, it now reflects the Marring itself and is become tainted. The power of light within the Silmarils is no longer pure. It has become muddied. And so the minds and the hearts of those who would posess them are clouded.

It puts me in mind, in fact, of the mythical lotus-eaters:

OT: Land of the Lotus Eaters is the name I give to California.

Has it ever struck any one else that the Valar and the Eldar who come to them seem completely engrossed by the Light? Addicted to it?

Oh yes. Besotted is the word I would use. Addicted beyond reason.

all this takes on a different patina if the Light of the Trees is an aspect of Eru manifest.

Makes absolute sense to me.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Oh indeed. But what I keep thinking is that somehow the light of the Trees was not meant to be captured ...

But doesn't this contradict your basic position -- that the actions of Fëanor were pre-ordained by Eru and therefore WERE meant to happen?

he is driven (by lust?) to capture the light of the Trees in the jewels

I'm sorry, but I simply can't accept this. The creation of the Silmarils was a great and noble deed, whatever came from them. Fëanor was not motivated by "lust", though perhaps "desire" was part of his motivation. I would say he created the Silmarils because he had to follow his destiny to do great things, though I agree with Ath that neither the specific great things that he did, nor the specific bad things that he did were pre-ordained by Eru, though they stem from Fëanor having the nature that he was given by Eru.

I find in reviewing the chapter again, and Ath's initial post, that she has said most of what I would say about this section, and that most of what I want to comment on most occurs in the latter part of the chapter. So I will patiently wait for the mistress to move on.

I will say that I never fail to get a sense of Maedhros' agony, or Fingon's valor and despair. And most of all, of the sense of divine intervention that Thorongil's arrival gives. Indeed, I think in some ways Maehdros is a much more interesting character to look at then his father, because his actions are so much more consistently noble, and yet he too is ultimately trapped by the Oath. I will certainly have more to see about my friend Maehdros, before the end.

Fëanor's pressing forward behind the remnant of the Orcs in his wrath, and to his undoing, presages Éomer doing the same in the War of the Ring, after his discovery that Théoden and (so he thought) Éowyn had been killed. And yet unlike the mighty Fëanor, Éomer was saved by the miraculous arrival of Aragorn and company in the black ships of the Corsairs of Umbar, coming out of the Paths of the Dead. I'm not sure that this comparison has any value, but it struck me as interesting so I thought I'd point it out (we will see another example of this type of thing later on in this story, but I won't say anything more about this now.


I want to comment briefly on this:

Then he died; but he had neither burial nor tomb, for so fiery was his spirit that as it sped his body fell to ash, and was borne away like smoke

Two things that I wanted to comment on.

First of all, in later writings, particularly in the notes to the commentary to the Athrabeth (which I still intend to comment on in that thread) and even more in the Laws and Culture of the Eldar, Tolkien makes much of the symbiotic relationship between the fëa (spirit) and hröa (body) of the Eldar, and the importance that they be in harmony with each other. This idea of Fëanor's body immediately being destroyed at the moment of his spirit leaving it is somehow fitting, though I can't quite say why. It is perhaps symbolic of the fact that Fëanor has in fact strayed so far from the true path appointed to him that he will never need this or any other body again.

The other thought is that Fëanor's body being borne away like smoke is reminicent of the fate of both Saruman and Sauron in LOTR.

Fëanor is like a great stone dropped into the midst of still water: long after it sinks beneath the surface, its presence is felt in wave after wave of unquiet that reach ever further from the source. And this tale is about the waves, not the stone.

This is so utterly brilliant, I had to repeat it. I'm not sure I understand it, but I completely agree with it.

[Alatar]

How is the light itself holy? I'm not sure, but I don't think the light of the Two Trees is Eru incarnate. If it were, what does that say of Yavanna? Or of the death of the trees? Or of the remainder that lies in the vessels of the Sun and Moon? The whole concept of "holiness" is a vague one in Middle-Earth. If something is blessed by the Valar is it holy? Or can only Eru make something holy?

I sometimes wonder whether Galadriel could have forestalled all of this by granting a gift of her hair to Fëanor as he asked. Would he have eventually looked to capture the light of the trees anyway? I gues we'll never know, but I look at all the notes that make up this symphony and I do not see the level of predestination that Sass and Impy see. Neither do I see what Ath apparently sees. I have said it before, I'm a simple man. I see a great tale with myriad complexities, but not a life lesson or a morality tale. Much of what makes the story work (and in places it certainly doesn't) is that at every point we see where disaster could have been averted with better decisions or hindsight. That does not imply Fate to me. It simply shows that given two choices people invariably choose badly. Galadriel should have given Fëanor a lock of her hair. It would have cost her nothing, yet she refused out of resentment. This was not predestination. Fëanor should have agreed to break the Silmarils yet he refused out of pride. This was not predestination. In every case, a "human" response is what causes disaster, not divine intervention. Eru may have made Fëanor, but he did not guide his hand or his mind. At any time Fëanor could have chosen to do other than he did.

You speak of Fëanor as if he were a main tune in the Music of the Ainur. I prefer to believe that the main tunes and themes of the music are more sweeping and less individual. If Fëanor had behaved differently, something else would have happened to cause the exodus from Aman. The course of history may have been set, but the manner of it, and the instruments involved were fluid.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Al, I think your thoughts are more consistent with Ath's then you think.

[Rowanberry]

Much of what makes the story work (and in places it certainly doesn't) is that at every point we see where disaster could have been averted with better decisions or hindsight. That does not imply Fate to me. It simply shows that given two choices people invariably choose badly.

That definitely is one aspect that I also see in the story.

In the Silmarillion, most of the characters make exactly the wrong choices, which invariably leads to disasters and suffering that could have been avoided or at least reduced.

In the LOTR, the whole quest could be ruined if just one person made a wrong choice - but, everybody makes the right choice at a crucial point.

[Sassafras]

Oh indeed. But what I keep thinking is that somehow the light of the Trees was not meant to be captured ...

But doesn't this contradict your basic position -- that the actions of Fëanor were pre-ordained by Eru and therefore WERE meant to happen?

he is driven (by lust?) to capture the light of the Trees in the jewels

I'm sorry, but I simply can't accept this. The creation of the Silmarils was a great and noble deed, whatever came from them. Fëanor was not motivated by "lust", though perhaps "desire" was part of his motivation. I would say he created the Silmarils because he had to follow his destiny to do great things, though I agree with Ath that neither the specific great things that he did, nor the specific bad things that he did were pre-ordained by Eru, though they stem from Fëanor having the nature that he was given by Eru.

Actually, no, it doesn't contradict my position. We agree at least that Fëanor's temperament was pre-determinded, I think. My way of thinking leads me further into the thought that the making of the Silmarils was ordained to be the catalyst which drove the Noldor from Valinor back into Middle-earth.

Sort of the same way Bilbo was meant to find the Ring which leads to the chain of events in the third age.


I’ll try to explain ... As I see it, Fëanor’s basic personality ( pride, strength of purpose, willfulness etc) coupled with his extraordinary gifts were all given to him by Eru … or at least the basis of what he was, was laid down in one of the themes within the music. Of which, it is said, Eru knows and understands all … so even if He did not deliberately choose for Fëanor to be the way he was, He most certainly had awareness. But for the sake of my argument I choose to believe the former.

What drove him to even consider capturing the light of the Two Trees? Why did he alone of all the Eldar and the Valar wish to do this? He had a foresight we are told:

For Fëanor, being come into his full might, was filled with a new thought, or it may be that some shadow of foreknowledge came to him of the doom that drew near; and he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable.

Where does such a foresight come from if not from Eru himself?

So, we have an elf of exceptional artistic capabilities with a singularly stubborn and forceful personality, given to his own counsel and who treads a narrow path of his own devising. He is proud in the extreme and judgmental also. …. And this brilliant but flawed being is set upon the path of Doom by ‘some shadow of foreknowledge’.?

Is Eru merely throwing the dice in the air and letting the chips fall where they may? Thinking ( however God thinks) here is Fëanor with all of his faults, his pride, his passion, his willfulness …. I think I’ll implant the foreknowledge that his life’s work must be to capture the light of the Trees, because, after all, I know Melkor will succeed in utterly destroying them …. What possible reason is there for Eru to plant the idea of making the Silmarils in Fëanor's head?

<and please don't answer with Eru works in mysterious ways!>

No. I don’t believe that. I don't believe Eru gave foreknowledge to Fëanor for any other reason than to set in motion the causal chain which leads to the great oath and the ruin of the Noldor.

Not that I anticipate you, or Ath, suddenly shouting Eureka!

As for my concept of the Light somehow being sullied in the act of capture, it really is speculative on my part. I keep wondering why the Silmarils had such a dire affect upon Fëanor. How, in the act of their creation, his flaws intensified; how he became extreme in every way. Was highly reactive, rash beyond description … he condemned his entire family and cursed his race out of (it appears to me) a mixture of petulance and covetousness. In thinking of the reasons for Fëanor’s subsequent behavior, I arrived at the tentative conclusion that there must have been something in the quality of the captured light that exacerbated his headstrong ways.

His death is consistent with his life:

… for so fiery was his spirit that as it sped his body fell to ash, and was borne away like smoke

He is hardly terrestrial. Instead he seems like a spirit destined to play a part in the unfolding of the tale … and when that part has accomplished its desired intent ( to move the story in a particular direction) and his presence is no longer required … he disappears from the stage in a puff of smoke.

[vison]

Sassafras, excellent musing. Also, everyone else. Many interesting thoughts.

The concept of Free Will as expressed by Tolkien is troubling and confusing to me. (The concept is troubling and confusing to me in real life, too.)

Fëanor is one of my "favourite" characters, but that doesn't mean I love him. He is great, but not greatly Good. Is he only a device set in motion to cause certain events? At times I think so. Yet, he has fascinated me for years. He is not much like an Olympian. In his pride and fury he is more like a Norseman or some other wild barbarian King, determined at any cost, really ANY cost, to hold to his word.

At times I think many of Tolkien's creations are merely devices. His writing is not "naturalistic" at all. This is not meant as a criticism, believe me!

The Silmarillion continues to fascinate me in a way that LOTR cannot, or does not, simply because it is dense, turgid, and contradictory. It is, in many ways, (as several people have pointed out, I believe) a kind of rough plan for LOTR.

Or, LOTR is a kind of "corrected" version of the Sil. In LOTR good decisions get made and Doom is put aside for a time.

This is a story that MUST be told. It is THE story. Over and over it is told, or we act it out, and over and over the events and outcomes vary somewhat. Some break our hearts, some give us hope.

[To me the Noldor are completely "outside" of the myths of England/medieval Europe, for instance. There is nothing Arthurian/Romantic in the Sil. Sorry to drag confusion in here.]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's okay, my dear vison, confusion is the rule around here. After all, Eru works in mysterious ways!

Sass, there are a number of things that I would like to respond to, but I think I would rather wait and see what Madame Athrabeth has to say first.

And speaking of the Athrabeth, I'm probably going to start having a discussion with myself in that thread pretty soon.

Just sayin'.

[Athrabeth]

Well, Miss Sassy-pants threw me a new curve with all that talk about foresight coming from Eru...........got me a-thinkin, it did......but it shouldn't take too long to fit it into my post..........maybe.

[Sassafras]

Hey, what else are friends for?



Pssst. Voronwë. Check the Athrabeth thread.

Just sayin'

[Impenitent]

Well, Miss Sassy-pants threw me a new curve with all that talk about foresight coming from Eru...........got me a-thinkin, it did......but it shouldn't take too long to fit it into my post..........maybe.

Fëanor's foresightedness is THE MOST pivotal device in the story of the exodus. And that's ANOTHER biblical link; just as the biblical exodus was choregraphed by God, using Moses and Pharaoh as the vessels, to make the point that all occurs only as God allows it to occur; so Fëanor's role is similarly pivotal in the exodus from Valinor - in accordance with Eru's music, which required that the Eldar live IN middle earth, not in Valinor, cossetted, protected. Only via the exodus over ice (interesting contrast to the exodus through the desert) could the Eldar actually live, participate in the history of ME, not merely passively observe at the side of the Valar.

Phew! That was a long whisper.

[Sassafras]

Oh, well said Imp!

[vison]

Well, Miss Sassy-pants threw me a new curve with all that talk about foresight coming from Eru...........got me a-thinkin, it did......but it shouldn't take too long to fit it into my post..........maybe.

Fëanor's foresightedness is THE MOST pivotal device in the story of the exodus. And that's ANOTHER biblical link; just as the biblical exodus was choregraphed by God, using Moses and Pharaoh as the vessels, to make the point that all occurs only as God allows it to occur; so Fëanor's role is similarly pivotal in the exodus from Valinor - in accordance with Eru's music, which required that the Eldar live IN middle earth, not in Valinor, cossetted, protected. Only via the exodus over ice (interesting contrast to the exodus through the desert) could the Eldar actually live, participate in the history of ME, not merely passively observe at the side of the Valar.

Phew! That was a long whisper.

". . . the point that all occurs only as God allows it to occur; . . ."

*stops head from exploding*

*leaves thread for purpose of maintaining sanity*

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Now we're really starting to have some fun.

Heads back to Athrabeth thread but keeps half an eye on a look out for Athrabeth in this thread

[Impenitent]

But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that I may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not heed you, I will lay My hand upon Eygpt and deliver My ranks from the land of Egypt with extraordinary chastisements. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst.

Sounds choreographed to me.

I'm not suggesting that Tolkien intended a direct parallel, nor that he was directly inspired by the Exodus (although, to my mind, some of those parallels are quite poetic), nor even that Eru's hand is as heavy and direct as that of Moses' god - I'm just saying that reading the one story illuminates the other for me.

I'm also saying that Fëanor was meant to act as he did. It works that way for me.

[Athrabeth]

This post is hardly complete, but I'm determined to submit it before I leave my work computer for home. Sass and Imp, there's more I'd like to articulate in response to your wonderfully thought-provoking posts, but I think it's best to just jump in now with some of my response, and subsequent questions.

Al, I think your thoughts are more consistent with Ath's then you think.

 And Ath thinks so too! :halo:

You speak of Fëanor as if he were a main tune in the Music of the Ainur. I prefer to believe that the main tunes and themes of the music are more sweeping and less individual. If Fëanor had behaved differently, something else would have happened to cause the exodus from Aman. The course of history may have been set, but the manner of it, and the instruments involved were fluid.

We keep coming back to the Music, don’t we?

Sass, even though I believe that all the innumerable themes and variations on the themes have their source in Ilúvatar (hard to argue with what Tolkien writes, after all!), the Music itself, and therefore “the story” itself becomes fluid - dynamic - when it is played before him. To my mind, it’s the whole point of creating sub-creators in the first place: to make “finite” the infinite thought of the creator, so that it can “be”, and to assure that the “finite” does not mean “static”. If Ilúvatar wanted a story played out ‘scene for scene” the way he imagined it from the beginning through to the end, what is the point of the Ainur as sub-creators? What is the point of the drama of the great cosmic “recital”? Who is to say what parts of the story are the “perfect” manifestations of Ilúvatar’s original themes, and which are the “flawed” manifestations of Melkor’s dischords? If the foundation of Fëanor’s fall can indeed be found in the Music, is it the free will of Melkor and those that choose to harmonize with him that actually establishes that foundation; that actually makes it possible for such a shadow to darken “the Spirit of Fire”?

Fëanor is a child of Ilúvatar, and as such, I cannot imagine that his creator, the source of all love and goodness and hope within Arda, would use him in such a cruel way: to further........what? An agenda? A pre-set tale to play out for the enjoyment of its author, or for the establishment of hard-earned lessons of a people involved in such a morality play? If so, then for me, that creator would be deceitful and manipulative and.....pitiless. That’s exactly how I would think of Ilúvatar if I accepted that he somehow purposefully designed the slaughter of the Teleri, or the corruption the Orcs, or the tragedy visited upon the children of Húrin: that these were specifically generated by the original theme he propounded to the Ainur and that he wanted them "to be". And again, I ask, for what purpose? I mean, what exactly would be the purpose of a creator “making be” a tale within time and space that amounted to just a lock-step re-enactment of an immeasurably tiny portion of his own infinitesimal thought? What would be the purpose of all those lives, all those great hearts and small, all those individual thoughts and delights and hatreds and loves? The great tale of the Arda and the Eldar within Arda would be reduced to a puppet play, because there would be nothing of substance contained within its characters, nothing that they could really do to help keep creating the story they find themselves in. And I really do believe that EVERY character, from the mightiest to the lowest, is a dynamic mover of the tale in some capacity.

It’s telling, isn’t it, that after nearly 18 months, the question of doom and free will is still at the centre of our discussion.
 

Where does such a foresight come from if not from Eru himself? <snip> What possible reason is there for Eru to plant the idea of making the Silmarils in Fëanor's head?

 I guess that I’ve never considered Fëanor’s foresight as being “planted” by Eru. It’s an interesting thought, but it just doesn’t ‘fit” my understanding of Eru’s role in the story’s physical manifestation within Arda . I’ve always seen the often mentioned “foresight of the Eldar” as stemmming more from their unique relationship to the physical life (Time and Substance) of Arda. For me, it’s more like Elves, as beings utterly bound within the circles of the world in body, soul and mind, are particularly sensitive to “disturbances in its space/time continuum”, at times sensing how those waves that radiate outward from the center of a particular action (even one unseen, but “felt”) will eventually impact on the shores of their own experience, and how their own subsequent actions will most likely impact on others. It could be, could it not, that Fëanor is picking up on Melkor’s designs here (if there ever was a disturbance in the space/time continuum, a “maker of waves”, surely he is it!!).

Gotta run, but I'll be back.......eventually.