Editing Finwë and Míriel (section)

== Analysis ==

=== Creative power ===

Megan Fontenot, writing on ''[[Tor.com]]'', notes that when Míriel says she will have no more children after the effort of having Fëanor, Finwë "becomes depressed", but ultimately gets the Vala Manwë to do as Míriel wishes, and let her go to the garden of Lórien, in the South of Aman, which is the realm of the Vala Irmo, the master of dreams. There she falls asleep and her spirit departs for the Halls of Mandos. Finwë visits her and calls her names, but she does not return. Fontenot comments that Tolkien's drafts of the tale of Míriel are complex. One strand of Tolkien's accounts of her tells that her needlework is so fine that just one piece would be worth more than a kingdom; Tolkien likens her creative power to that of the Vala Yavanna, she who loves all trees and plants that grow in the earth. In Fontenot's view, Míriel's creativity "celebrates and amplifies the beauty already present in the world around her. Her art doesn't hoard light and beauty". Further, Fontenot writes, it is significant that Yavanna made the Two Trees of Valinor, while Míriel made Fëanor, who made the Silmarils, which [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|captured some of the light]] of the Two Trees.{{sfn|Fontenot|2019a}}{{sfn|Fontenot|2019b}}

=== Important choices ===

Some of Tolkien's drafts of the story describe similarities of character between Fëanor and Míriel. Tolkien calls both of them determined, hardly ever changing their mind once they had said they would do something. In another draft, Tolkien adds that Míriel was both "proud and obdurate"; the mention of pride directly echoes Fëanor's ill-fated oath.{{sfn|Fontenot|2019a}}{{sfn|Fontenot|2019b}}

Tolkien rewrote the tale of Finwë and Míriel several times, as it assumed "an extraordinary importance in [his] later work on ''The Silmarillion''".<ref name="Laws and Customs among the Eldar" group=T/> ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', prepared by [[Christopher Tolkien]] from his father's unpublished writings, only briefly mentions the tale of Finwë and Míriel; Tolkien may have intended to incorporate a fuller version.{{sfn|Kane|2009|pp=77–81}} In Tolkien's works, Elves are immortal, their shades going to the Halls of Mandos after death, and marriage is forever.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|pp=209–213}}</ref> Tolkien noted that had Finwë chosen differently, the whole [[history of Middle-earth]] would have changed for the better, thus making his choice a pivotal event in the mythology; it showed the importance Tolkien attached to unbreakable relationships.<ref name="Laws and Customs among the Eldar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|pp=205–271 "Laws and Customs among the Eldar"}}</ref>

=== Skill of mother and son ===

The [[Tolkien scholar]] [[Verlyn Flieger]]  comments that Míriel's death has deep-running consequences through her son Fëanor's "unchecked nature". She notes that his usual name means "Spirit of Fire", and that it is not his true name, which is Curufinwë ([[Quenya]]: ''Curu'', "Skill", and his father's name); in her view, the use of an epithet implies a strong emphasis on his fire element. The first thing his fire consumes is Míriel's body; ''The Silmarillion'' says she is "consumed in spirit and body".<!--Silm, p. 63-->{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=94-95}} The poet and essayist Melanie Rawls writes that Fëanor's consuming nature, always taking things in, is "a negative-feminine trait", implying a disharmony of the genders.{{sfn|Rawls|2015|p=112}} Flieger writes that his fire then drives his creativity, making the beautiful letters of the Fëanorian script, and jewels, including, fatefully, the Silmarils. She states that Tolkien, choosing his words very carefully, calls Fëanor two things. Firstly, he uses the word "subtle", by etymology from [[Latin]] ''sub-tela'', "under the warp (of a weaving)", hence the crosswise weft threads that go against the grain, a dangerous part of the fabric of life. Secondly, he applies the word "skilled", by etymology from [[Indo-European]] ''skel-'', "to cut", like the Noldor as a whole tending to cause division among the Elves. His choices, and the Silmarils, do in fact lead to division and war, to the [[Kinslaying]] of Elf by Elf, the theft of the Telerin Elves' ships in Aman, and in turn to further disasters across the sea in Beleriand.{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=95-107}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ [[Verlyn Flieger]]'s analysis of Tolkien's choice of terms for Fëanor{{sfn|Flieger|1983|pp=95–107}}
|-
! Tolkien's terms !! [[Etymology]] !! Implications
|-
| "subtle" || Latin: ''sub-tela'', "under the [[Warp and weft|warp]]" of a weaving || A person who goes against the grain, dangerous
|-
| "skilled" || Indo-European ''skel-'', "to cut" || A divisive person, one who causes conflict
|}

Both [[Matthew T. Dickerson|Matthew Dickerson]] in ''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'' and [[Elizabeth Solopova]] in ''[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]]'' note that ''The Silmarillion''<!--ch. 6--> emphasises Míriel's skill, naming her in early versions ''Byrde'', later ''Serindë'', "the [[Embroidery|broideress]]"; she passes on her "surpassing skill"<ref name="Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor" group=T/> in craftsmanship to her only son. Solopova suggests a possible link to Tolkien's study of the [[Middle English]] word ''burde'', conventionally meaning "lady, damsel"; he proposed that it derived from [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|borde}}, "embroidery" and pointed out that in Old Norse and Old English poetry, stock terms for "woman" included "weaver" and "embroideress".{{sfn|Solopova|2020|p=231}}{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=212–213}}

=== "A strange case" ===

{{further|Christianity in Middle-earth#Fall of man}}

Tolkien mentions in a letter "a strange case of an Elf (Míriel mother of Fëanor) that tried to ''die'', which had disastrous results, leading to the 'Fall' of the High-elves"; he discusses it in the [[Christianity in Middle-earth|context of the Fall of Man]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=''Letters'' #212 to Rhona Beare, unsent draft continuation of #211 of 14 October 1958 }}</ref> Dickerson writes that while Fëanor is held responsible by the Valar, "neither Finwë nor Míriel is blameless".{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=212–213}} He states that no reason is given in ''The Silmarillion'' for Míriel's decision, beyond the enormous amount of energy, "enough for many children", that she put into Fëanor. However, he notes that Morgoth had already worked his evil on the Elves when they were still at Cuiviénen, where they first awakened, in the east of Middle-earth, sowing "the seeds of despair"; this might, he suggests, have contributed to Míriel's loss of hope.{{sfn|Dickerson|2013|pp=212–213}} Tolkien wrote in ''[[Laws and Customs Among the Eldar]]'' that "Niënna came to Manwë, and she said: 'Lord of Aman, it is now made clear that the death of Míriel was an evil of Arda Marred, for with the coming hither of the Eldar the Shadow hath found an entrance even into Aman.'"<ref name="Laws and Customs among the Eldar" group=T/>

Fontenot notes that Tolkien's drafts differ widely in how long Míriel lives after Fëanor's birth, and hence in whether she can influence his ill humour directly. This in turn affects the issue of how far Finwë and Míriel can be blamed for the consequences of Fëanor's actions. It is a question that the Valar debate amongst themselves.{{sfn|Fontenot|2019a}}{{sfn|Fontenot|2019b}}

=== Philosophical themes ===

The scholar of religion Amelia Rutledge identifies what she calls [[Pauline Christianity|Pauline]] constructs (like the language used by [[Paul the Apostle]] in the [[Bible]]) in the legalistic wording relating to the tale of Finwë and Míriel. She notes that [[Elizabeth Whittingham]] and Douglas Kane discuss instead the [[eschatology]] relating to the tale. Whittingham considers what she calls "some of the most interesting glimpses of Tolkien as [[Mythopoeia|sub-creator]]" in his stories and essays on the nature of mortal Men and immortal Elves, exploring the [[Themes of The Lord of the Rings#Death and immortality|question of death and immortality]] raised by the voluntary death of Míriel.{{sfn|Whittingham|2017|loc=Introduction and Chapter 5: "Death and Immortality among Elves and Men"}} Kane discusses Mandos's Second Prophecy, with an illustration<!--p. 81--> of "The spirit of Míriel appearing before Mandos and Manwë, and taking a last look at Finwë".{{sfn|Rutledge|2012|pp=59–74}}{{sfn|Kane|2009|pp=77–81}}