Noldor

In the works of

Among Elves, the Noldor show the greatest talents for intellectual pursuits, technical skills and physical strength, yet are prone to unchecked ambition and pride in their ability to create. Scholars such as Tom Shippey have commented that these attributes lead to their decline and fall, especially through Fëanor who creates and covets the magical jewels, the Silmarils. Others including Dimitra Fimi have linked the Noldor to the mythical Irish warriors and sorcerers, the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Etymology and origins

"Noldor" or "Ñoldor" means those who have great knowledge and understanding. The Noldor are called Golodhrim or Gódhellim in Sindarin, and Goldui by another kindred of Elves, the

In early drafts of his legendarium, Tolkien used the name "Gnomes" for the group later called the Noldor, and their language, the Noldorin dialect of Sindarin, was called "Gnomish" or "Noldorin".^[1][2] Tolkien had chosen "gnome" thinking that it derived from the Greek γνῶσις, gnōsis (knowledge), and hence was a good name for the wisest of the elves. However, because of its common association with garden gnomes, Tolkien abandoned the term.^[3]

Attributes

The Noldor are counted among the Calaquendi ("Elves of the Light") or High Elves, as they had seen the light of the

The Noldor are tall and physically strong. Their hair colour is usually a very dark shade of brown; Tolkien hesitated over whether their hair might be black.[T 5]^{[T 6]} Red and even white ("silver") hair occasionally exists among some individuals. Their eyes are usually grey or dark, with the inner light of Valinor reflected in their eyes; the Sindarin term Lachend means "flame-eyed".^{[T 4]}

Fictional history

Early history

The Noldor draw the ire of the rogue Vala

Melkor, who envies their prosperity and, most of all, the Silmarils crafted by Fëanor. So he often goes among them, offering advice, and the Noldor listen, being eager for knowledge.^{[T 7][T 8]} But Melkor sows lies, and in the end the peace in Tirion is poisoned. Fëanor, having assaulted his half-brother Fingolfin and thus broken the laws of the Valar, is banished to his fortress Formenos, and with him goes Finwë his father. Fingolfin remains as the ruler of the Noldor of Tirion.^{[T 8]}

With the aid of the spider spirit

oath of vengeance against Melkor (whom Fëanor renames Morgoth) or anyone who comes into possession of a Silmaril.^{[T 10][T 11]}

Flight of the Noldor: exile to Middle-earth

Further information: Sundering of the Elves

In the port city of Alqualondë, the Noldor hosts led by Fëanor demand that the

Prophecy of the North, pronouncing the Doom of Mandos on the Noldor for the Kinslaying, and warning that a grim fate awaits them should they proceed with their rebellion. Some of the Noldor who had had no hand in the Kinslaying, including Finarfin son of Finwë and Indis, return to Valinor, and the Valar forgive them. The majority of the Noldor, some blameless for the Kinslaying, remain determined to leave Valinor for Middle-earth. Among them are Finarfin's children, Finrod and Galadriel, who choose to follow Fingolfin instead of Fëanor and his sons.^{[T 12]}

The Noldor cross the sea to Middle-earth in the stolen ships, leaving Fingolfin and his people behind. Upon his arrival in Middle-earth, Fëanor has the ships burned. When the Noldor led by Fingolfin discover their betrayal, they go far to the north and cross the sea at the

Angband and captured his eldest son Maedhros.^{[T 12]}

Fingon, the eldest son of Fingolfin, saves Maedhros (his half-cousin) from captivity, which settles the rift between their houses for a time. Maedhros is due to succeed Fëanor, but he regrets his part in the Kinslaying as well as the abandonment of Fingolfin, and leaves the leadership of the Noldor in Middle-earth to his uncle Fingolfin, who becomes High King of the Noldor. Maedhros's brothers dissent and begin to call themselves the Dispossessed, paying little deference to Fingolfin or his successors, and are still determined to fulfil the oath they swore to recover the Silmarils on behalf of their father.[T 12]

Finrod's city of Nargothrond below it. The Noldor's enemy Morgoth

is based in the Iron Mountains, top centre.

In

Dagor Bragollach, or Battle of Sudden Flame, in which the north-eastern Elvish realms are conquered, with the exception of Maedhros' fortress at Himring. A man, Barahir, saves Finrod's life; Finrod gives him a ring which had been made in Valinor.^[a] Fingolfin in despair rides to Angband and challenges Morgoth to single combat, dealing the Dark Lord seven wounds before perishing. Fingolfin is succeeded by his eldest son Fingon the Valiant, who becomes the second High King of the Noldor in Beleriand.^{[T 12]}

In the year 472, Maedhros organises an attack on Morgoth, which leads to the

Gothmog the Lord of Balrogs, and is succeeded by his brother Turgon. Morgoth scatters the remaining forces led by the Sons of Fëanor,^{[T 13]} and in 495 Nargothrond too is conquered. Turgon had already withdrawn to Gondolin, which had been kept hidden from both Morgoth and other Elves; his realm is betrayed to Morgoth by his nephew Maeglin in 510. Turgon dies during the Fall of Gondolin, though his daughter Idril leads many of his people to escape and find their way south. Gil-galad, son of Fingon, succeeds Turgon and becomes the fourth and last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth.^{[T 14]}

Between the years 545 and 583 the

Second, when most of the Noldor return to Aman, though some like Galadriel or Celebrimbor, grandson of Fëanor, refuse the pardon of the Valar and remain in Middle-earth.^{[T 15]}

Second and Third Ages

Further information: Gil-galad and Celebrimbor

Númenóreans, the Noldor manage to defeat him for a time.^{[T 16]}

In the year 3319 of the Second Age,

Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Elendil's forces and defeats Sauron in the Siege of Barad-dûr, though Gil-galad himself perishes with no successors as High King of the Noldor. Among the lineal descendants of Finwë in Middle-earth, only Galadriel and some Half-elven remain.^{[T 17]}

In the

Third Age, the Noldor in Middle-earth dwindle, and at the end of the Third Age the remaining Noldor depart to Valinor.^{[T 16]} In The Fellowship of the Ring Frodo meets a band of Elves led by Gildor Inglorion from the House of Finrod who are returning from a pilgrimage at the White Towers.^{[T 18]}

House of Finwë

House of Finwë family tree[T 19][T 20]

Míriel "broideress" Vanyar Silmarils Findis Fingolfin Irimë Finarfin Maedhros Five sons Curufin Finrod Angrod Aegnor Galadriel Celebrimbor, maker of Rings Gil‑galad Idril Maeglin Orodreth Eärendil Finduilas Elros Elrond Celebrían Aragorn Arwen Elladan Elrohir Eldarion Colour key: Colour Description   Elves   Men   Maiar   Half-Elven   Half-Elven who chose the fate of Elves   Half-Elven who chose the fate of mortal Men Kings of the Noldor in Valinor High Kings of the Noldor in exile in Middle-earth

The Sons of Fëanor are (in the order of their birth)

Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Curufin, Caranthir, Amras, and Amrod.^{[T 19]}

The

Vanyar blood from their mother, Indis. They are accordingly less skilful as craftsmen, but superior "in restraint and generosity".^[4]

Analysis

Tuatha Dé Danaan

Scholars including

Ilúvatar. Their immortality keeps them from disease and the frailty of age, but not from death in battle, an exact parallel with the Noldor. Nuada Airgetlám, the Tuatha Dé Danaan's first high king, is killed by Balor of the Evil Eye; Fëanor is killed by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs.^[1][8][9] Celebrimbor's^[b] name means "Silver Hand" in Sindarin, the same meaning as Nuada's epithet Airgetlám in Irish Gaelic. Celebrimbor's making of powerful but dangerous rings, too, has been linked with the finding of a curse on a ring at the temple of Nodens, a Roman god whom Tolkien in his work as a philologist identified with Nuada.^[10][11][12] Like Nuada, Maedhros loses a hand.^[1][8]

Germanic influence

The Tolkien scholar Leslie A. Donovan notes that Tolkien's concept of exile, as principally exemplified by the Noldor, derives in part from

Anglo-Saxon culture, in which he was an expert.^[14]

The medievalist Elizabeth Solopova makes a connection between Middle English and Tolkien's description of Finwë's first wife Míriel as the most skilful of the Noldor at weaving and needlework; Solopova notes that Tolkien had proposed an etymology for the Middle English term burde, meaning lady or damsel, linking it to Old English borde, embroidery, and that he had given examples from both Old English and Old Norse where women were called weavers or embroiderers.^[13]

Sub-creation

Further information: Christianity in Middle-earth

Shippey writes that Tolkien was himself fascinated with artefacts and their "

avarice or possessiveness. This made sense in the case of the Noldor, as for consistency their besetting sin ought not to be the same as Adam and Eve's, which was pride. In Valinor, Shippey writes, the equivalent of the Fall "came when conscious creatures became 'more interested in their own creations than in God's'", with Fëanor's forging of the Silmarils.^[15] He adds that the smith-Vala Aulë is not only the patron of all craftsmen but the Vala most like Melkor, the first Dark Lord. The kinds of craftsmanship he encouraged among the Noldor was not only of physical things, but "'those that make not, but seek only for the understanding of what is' — the philologists, one might say", writes Shippey, including Tolkien's profession along with the Noldor's skill with letters and poetry.^[15]

Decline and fall

Further information: Decline and fall in Middle-earth

The Tolkien scholar

Matthew Dickerson writes that the theft of the Silmarils by Morgoth leads Fëanor and his sons into swearing their dreadful oath and leading the Noldor out of Valinor back to Middle-earth. This is, he comments, at once a free choice and a self-imposed exile.^[6]

Colonialism

Further information: Tolkien and race

The Swedish archaeologist Martin Rundkvist writes that Tolkien's account of Finrod Felagund includes "a transparently colonial passage" where the Elf, having arrived in a new country, "immediately takes up the White Man's Burden and spends a year educating the humans about his religious beliefs ('true knowledge'). They think this is great and become his feudal subjects. Then to avoid conflict with the Green-elves he re-settles the new arrivals in a thinly populated area ruled by some of his relatives."^[17]

In culture

Beren to his friend Finrod Felagund.^[18][19] The Tolkien scholar Bradford Lee Eden writes that "although one can assume that Tolkien was not a headbanger",^[20] he finds that in the opinion of his students, the "driving energy" of the power metal sound is appropriate for the stories: "The music conveys rage and despair, which fits lyrics such as 'The doom of the Noldor drew near/ The words of a banished king, “I swear revenge!”'"^[20] Eden adds that this facilitates discussion of Tolkien's Christian view of the fall of man.^[20]

Notes

1. ^ The ring survives in Rivendell. In the Third Age, the Ring of Barahir passes to Aragorn, who gives it to Arwen when they are betrothed.
2. Sinda
   in others.

References

Primary

1. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1994, part 4, "Quendi and Eldar" C: The Clan-names "Noldor"
2. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 15 "Of the Noldor in Beleriand"
3. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, ch. 5 "Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië"
4. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1994, Part 4, "Quendi and Eldar"
5. Parma Eldalamberon
   (17): 125.
6. ^ Tolkien 1996, part 2, Late Writings (1968 or later): "The Shibboleth of Fëanor", p. 365, note 61
7. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 6 "Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
8. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, ch. 7 "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor"
9. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 8 "Of the Darkening of Valinor"
10. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, ch. 9 "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
11. ^ Tolkien 1993, pp. 194, 294
12. ^ ^{a b c d e} Tolkien 1977, ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldor"
13. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, ch. 20 "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
14. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 23 "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
15. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 24 "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
16. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977 "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
17. Akallabêth
    "
18. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 3 "Three is Company"
19. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age": Family Trees I and II: "The house of Finwë and the Noldorin descent of Elrond and Elros", and "The descendants of Olwë and Elwë"
20. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers, I The Númenórean Kings

Secondary