The Silmarils

by Aeneas2

The Silmarils were the three great jewels that were forged by Fëanor (a.k.a. Curufinwë) before the beginning of the First Age. Formed of a substance that will not be known “until the End, when Fëanor shall return who perished ere the Sun was made, and sits now in the Halls of Awaiting and comes no more among his kin; not until the Sun passes and the Moon falls”, the Silmarils appeared to be similar to diamonds, yet strong enough to withstand any violence that they might be put against within Arda. However, that was only the outside of the jewels, for inside, the light of the two Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, was held. This makes them the most valuable jewels ever created, for though Telperion and Laurelin are no more, their combined light still shines in the Silmarils.

A picture of what a Silmaril might have looked like

As said above, the Silmarils were created by Fëanor, before the beginning of the First Age. However, Melkor had recently been unchained, and he lusted for them. To this end, Melkor and Ungoliant attacked and destroyed the Two Trees during a festival. When it was discovered that the Trees could be restored by the Silmarils, the Valar asked Fëanor to give them the Silmarils. However, he refused. Just then, a messenger came from Formenos, the fortress of Fëanor where the Silmarils were hidden. Melkor had stolen the Silmarils.

Fëanor was enraged and he quickly called a meeting of the Noldor. After a speech, asking the Noldor to leave Valinor, and fight Melkor (now called Morgoth) for control of the Silmarils, Fëanor swore an oath to pursue anyone or anything that kept a Silmaril from him. After a long debate, the majority of the assembled Noldor decided to go with Fëanor, out of Valinor.

After much hardship, the Noldor reached the northern part of Middle Earth, a land called Beleriand. Once here, a great war broke out between the Noldor and the forces of Morgoth. This war raged on for many years. However, in the year 466 of the First Age, Beren and Lúthien managed to regain one of the Silmarils from the fortress of Angband. Unfortunately, in their retreat from Angband, the great wolf, Carcharoth, attacked them and then bit and swallowed Beren’s right hand, along with the Silmaril in it. Later Carcharoth was slain and the Silmaril was recovered.

After nearly another century and the Silmaril changing hands several times, it at last comes to Eärendil, who brought it to Valinor. This convinces the Valar to bring a great host to Beleriand. The host eventually defeats Morgoth and regains the other two Silmarils. Once Morgoth is overthrown, Maedhros and Maglor each stole a Silmaril from Eonwë’s (the commander of the host of the Valar) camp. However, the Silmarils burned their hands, and caused Maedhros to jump into a fiery chasm along with the Silmaril, while Maglor cast the one he possessed into the depths of the sea.

So, the final disposition of the Silmarils is as follows. One was set onto Eärendil’s brow and now is seen in the sky as a star. Another was lost when Maedhros jumped into a fiery chasm, and the third is now in the depths of the sea, cast there by Maglor.

References

J.R.R. Tolkien. The Silmarillion
Lord of the Rings Fanatics Library http://lotrlibrary.com/