Feanor's Quenya name is Kurufinwe/Feanaro Kuru-
meaning "skilled"
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Feanor was perhaps the
greatest
of the Elven kings and princes of the Ages of the Stars and the First
Age.
Born in Tirion to Miriel and Finwe
the King...Feanor was a miracle of a
child,
but came at great price. During his birth, Miriel passed away to
the
Halls of Mandos, as "the strength and life that would have nourished
many
have gone forth into Feanor", the passing of Miriel brought the first
sadness
that the Elves knew, to Finwe the king.
As the Silmarillion
says,
Feanor grew swiftly and with talent. Though nowhere does it say he ever
studied
with Aule
himself, he learned much of what he knew from Mahtan
the
smith and
wedded
his daughter, Nerdanel. (Not much is told of this marriage, other than
that
Nerdanel was the only one who could surpress Feanor's inner fires, but
that
they became estranged sometime around the Darkening of Valinor, or
perhaps
when Feanor and his sons took their Oath?) It was during his early life
that
Feanor became the chief smith of the Noldor, he and his companions
creating
their stunning gems and other works. Also during the Bliss of Valinor,
Feanor
gained two half brothers, and seven sons: Maedhros,
Maglor,
Celegorm,
Caranthir,
Curufin,
Amrod,
and Amras.
With the darkening of
Valinor,
the slaying of Finwe, and the rape of the Silmarils (as is told in the
Silmarillion,
anyone who hasn't read it should read it, so much more is added to the
Tolkien
experience), I believe Feanor's jealousy of his brothers, and general
paranoia
(encouraged by Melkor)
turned to insanity. Feanor obviously loved his
father
Finwe greatly, and the Silmarils were his life. When Melkor
took
this from him, Feanor took a large part of the Noldor to pursue Melkor.
With
the Kinslaying at Alqualonde, Finarfin
left the march and ruled the
remaining
Noldor.
Here we come to the last
part
of Feanor's legacy, with the oath he took with his Seven Sons (perhaps
the
most intriguing group of people in the Silmarillion) to pursue
anyone
who
would keep a Silmaril from Feanor and his line, and to take this oath
in
witness of Eru
himself and call down the Everlasting Darkness upon them
should
they fail in this oath. By now Feanor was obsessed with revenge on
Melkor,
causing him to press on to Beleriand at the cost of his half-brother
Fingolfin's
having to trek through the Helcaraxe.
In the Battle under the
Stars,
we see Feanor exact his revenge, saving Beleriand and with his
sons
destroying Melkor's main force of orcs. It is when Feanor pursued the
fleeing
legions to Angband, to be met by Gothmog,
that Feanor meets his doom.
In
his desperation and madness, Feanor was within sight of Angband,
presumably
in the battle with Gothmog and his Balrogs.
Feanor may even have slain
several
of them, but Gothmog defeated him.
Mortally wounded, Feanor was
rescued
by his sons, but it was too late. As he died, Feanor's inner fire was
so
strong that it consumed his body. We could rightly assume that Feanor
was
not released from the halls of Mandos to be reembodied as many Elves,
but
perhaps he finally found peace 600 years later, after the War of Wrath,
when
he could join his father, sons, and mother in bliss in the halls of
Mandos.
Reference: Silmarillion
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