A breakdown of Tolkien’s ‘Of the Flight of the Noldor’, Chapter 9 in The Silmarillion. This time I’m sharing double the tidbits and quotes, because there’s so much to cover!

A Mini Summary and Some Personal Thoughts

After the darkness brought on from Chapter 8 and the destroying of the light in Valinor, one might hope Chapter 9 would be a bit more optimistic. Well, I’m sorry to say it’s not. The Silmarillion is full of tragedy and sorrow, and this chapter is packed full of it.

The chapter begins with mourning the Trees of Valinor that were destroyed last chapter. A problem-solving meeting doesn’t quite go to plan, and Mandos foretells an ominous future (again). There’s also the first slaying in the blessed realm (betcha can guess who does it). Ungoliant gets into a battle with balrogs, which is pretty epic. We learn about Ungoliant’s final fate (probably), Morgoth and Fëanor both call themselves King (typical), and Fëanor and his sons make a terrible oath. And then there’s the kinslaying and burning of the Teleri swan ships by the Noldor, which results in the curse and Doom of the Noldor. Told you there was a lot!

So let’s get into the tidbits.

Twenty Tidbits About ‘Of the Flight of the Noldor’

1. Valinor mourns the loss of the Trees.

Then many voices were lifted in lamentation; and it seemed to those that mourned that they had drained to the dregs the cup of woe that Melkor had filled for them. But it was not so.

This chapter is full of mourning the loss of the Trees of Valinor, and Tolkien’s descriptions of the lamentations make my heart ache. At times it reminded me of when Gandalf falls in the Lord of the Rings, and the grief of the Fellowship and the Elves in Lothlorian.

2. The Valar ask Fëanor for the Silmarils to bring back the Trees.

Yavanna has a brilliant upon brilliant idea, to try and revive the Trees by using the light that was originally taken from them by Fëanor and preserved in the Silmarils. Manwë asks Fëanor if they might use his Silmarils for this purpose.

‘The Light of the Trees has passed away, and lives now only in the Silmarils of Fëanor. Foresighted was he! Even for those who are mightiest under Ilúvatar there is some work that they may accomplish once, and once only. The Light of the Trees I brought into being, and within Eä I can do so never again. Yet had I but a little of that light I could recall life to the Trees, ere their roots decay; and then our hurt should be healed, and the malice of Melkor be confounded.’ Then Manwë spoke and said: ‘Hearest thou, Fëanor son of Finwë, the words of Yavanna? Wilt thou grant what she would ask?’

It almost sounds too good to be true, that Fëanor created this back-up for the Trees. And turns it out it is, because unfortunately it doesn’t really work out. But I do love Aulë’s empathy for Fëanor here, when he says ‘But Aulë the Maker said: ‘Be not hasty! We ask a greater thing than thou knowest. Let him have peace yet awhile.’ Aulë, as a Maker, knows all too well the love one has for what his own craftsmanship.

3. Mandos tells the future again.

Fëanor tells the Valar that giving up the Silmarils would basically kill him. I mean, it sounds a bit dramatic to me, but people seem to go crazy over these Silmarils, so maybe there’s truth to it. But Mandos rebuts Fëanor with another future-telling statement that no one understands.

‘It may be that I can unlock my jewels, but never again shall I make their like; and if I must break them, I shall break my heart, and I shall be slain; first of all the Eldar in Aman.’ ‘Not the first,’ said Mandos, but they did not understand his word.

You gotta love Mandos’ one-line zingers. And of course, his words turn out to be true a few pages later.

4. Fëanor refuses to give up the Silmarils.

Melkor’s words really get to Fëanor, and he refuses to give up the Silmarils, fearing that the Silmarils were not safe with the Valar.

‘This thing I will not do of free will. But if the Valar will constrain me, then shall I know indeed that Melkor is of their kindred.’

This reasoning proves a bit of an unfortunate Catch-22 situation for the Valar though – it looks like they lose either way.

5. Nienna’s mourning of the Trees washes away the filth of Ungoliant.

Nienna arose and went up onto Ezellohar, and cast back her grey hood, and with her tears washed away the defilements of Ungoliant; and she sang in mourning for the bitterness of the world and the Marring of Arda.

Nienna is one of my favourites for this very reason: even her lamentation and grief can help heal hurts.

6. Melkor spills the first blood Valinor – Mandos called it.

Just as Mandos said (shouldn’t we all pay more attention to his every word?!), Fëanor’s blood is not the first to be split in the Blessed Realm. Unfortunately it’s his beloved father, Finwë. And it’s Melkor who kills him. And is that wasn’t bad enough, he also goes ahead and steals the jewels and the Silmarils that the Valar were keeping safe in a stronghold in Formenos.

7. Melkor gets a new name.

Having just lost his two greatest loves – his father and the Silmarils, Fëanor is, quite understandably, devastated with this blow. He curses Melkor, renaming him Morgoth, ‘the Black Foe of the World’. He also blames Manwë for summoning him to Taniquetil, thinking that he could have prevented Melkor from stealing the Silmarils from Formenos if he had been there.

8. Morgoth and Ungoliant take on the Helcaraxë.

Melkor and Ungoliant cross the Helcaraxë, a harsh area of ice. All I can picture is Ungoliant sliding around the ice with all of her spider legs – do you think more legs is helpful or not when trying to balance on ice?

Through this region Morgoth and Ungoliant passed in haste, and so came through the great mists of Oiomúrë to the Helcaraxë, where the strait between Araman and Middle-earth was filled with grinding ice; and he crossed over, and came back at last to the north of the Outer Lands. Together they went on, for Morgoth could not elude Ungoliant, and her cloud was still about him, and all her eyes were upon him; and they came to those lands that lay north of the Firth of Drengist.

9. The Silmarils burn Melkor’s hands

Remember how Varda hallowed the Silmarils so that no ‘unclean’ hands could touch them? Well, we see that in action very vividly in this chapter, when Melkor puts his grimy hands all over them.

In his right hand Morgoth held close the Silmarils, and though they were locked in a crystal casket, they had begun to burn him, and his hand was clenched in pain; but he would not open it.

His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain.

10. Ungoliant battles a host of Balrogs.

In a battle of Ungoliant versus a host of Balrogs, who do you think would win? Well, we get our answer in this chapter. As Ungoliant was trying to take down Morgoth, he let out a cry that was:

…the greatest and most dreadful that was ever heard in the northern world; the mountains shook, and the earth trembled, and rocks were riven asunder. Deep in forgotten places that cry was heard. Far beneath the ruined halls of Angband, in vaults to which the Valar in the haste of their assault had not descended, Balrogs lurked still, awaiting ever the return of their Lord; and now swiftly they arose, and passing over Hithlum they came to Lammoth as a tempest of fire. With their whips of flame they smote asunder the webs of Ungoliant, and she quailed, and turned to flight, belching black vapours to cover her; and fleeing from the north she went down into Beleriand, and dwelt beneath Ered Gorgoroth

Lucky that Morgoth has a host of Balrogs literally at his beck and call, huh?

11. Tolkien likes to give nickname places based off of dramatic events that happened there.

I love how Tolkien names (and renames) locations in his writings. We get two almost back-to-back here in Chapter 9:

Morgoth sent forth a terrible cry, that echoed in the mountains. Therefore that region was called Lammoth; for the echoes of his voice dwelt there ever after, so that any who cried aloud in that land awoke them, and all the waste between the hills and the sea was filled with a clamour as of voices in anguish.

Also, the dark valley where the balrogs went up against Ungoliant was then called Nan Dungortheb, the Valley of Dreadful Death, because of the horror that went down there.

12. Ungoliant can’t stop eating and it becomes her ultimate downfall (probably)

Ungoliant is an over-eater, who just cannot seem to stop herself. No matter how much light she consumes (cause that’s what she eats), she’s still hungry. She eats loads of gems that Melkor gives her from his left hand. But Melkor refuses to give her the Silmarils held in his right.

This insatiable hunger proves to be Ungoliant’s probable fate. It’s not known for certain, but the rumour is that she consumed herself.

Yet some have said that she ended long ago, when in her uttermost famine she devoured herself at last.

13. Morgoth and Fëanor call themselves Kings

Fëanor probably wouldn’t want to admit it, but he and Morgoth were more alike than he might admit. Both claim Kingship:

Morgoth: ‘But in Angband Morgoth forged for himself a great crown of iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in his crown.’

Fëanor: ‘He was distraught with grief for the slaying of his father, and with anguish for the rape of the Silmarils. He claimed now the kingship of all the Noldor, since Finwë was dead, and he scorned the decrees of the Valar.’

14. Fëanor and his sons make a terrible oath.

Fëanor and his sons swear an oath that he’ll pursue anyone who tries to keep a Silmaril from the Noldor to the very ends of the Earth.

Then Fëanor swore a terrible oath. His seven sons leapt straightway to his side and took the selfsame vow together, and red as blood shone their drawn swords in the glare of the torches.’

15. Fëanor is officially exiled from the Blessed Realm.

Fëanor is officially exiled because of his oath, and the Valar give the Noldor free will to choose whether to follow Fëanor’s evil path or not. But Fëanor’s voice proves so strong that the Noldor follow him.

In that hour the voice of Fëanor grew so great and so potent that even the herald of the Valar bowed before him as one full-answered, and departed; and the Noldor were over-ruled.

16. Fëanor asks the Teleri to join him and lend their ships to his cause.

Fëanor’s search for Morgoth led him north. Knowing he had transportation needs to get across the Great Sea, Fëanor went to the Teleri to ask for their ships:

But the Teleri were unmoved by aught that he could say. They were grieved indeed at the going of their kinsfolk and long friends, but would rather dissuade them than aid them; and no ship would they lend, nor help in the building, against the will of the Valar.

17. The Kinslaying between the Noldor and the Teleri took place at Alqualondë.

The Teleri’s refusal to help makes Fëanor try to take the Teleri’s ships by force. This leads to the Kinslaying, where swords were drawn and a bitter battle commenced. The Teleri are overcome. The Noldor took the Teleri ships.

Of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë more is told in that lament which is named Noldolantë, the Fall of the Noldor, that Maglor made ere he was lost.

18. The Doom of the Noldor

Because of Fëanor’s actions, spilling the blood of his kindred, the Doom of the Noldor was laid on the Noldor, most likely by Mandos himself.

And they heard a loud voice, solemn and terrible, that bade them stand and give ear. Then all halted and stood still, and from end to end of the hosts of the Noldor the voice was heard speaking the curse and prophecy which is called the Prophecy of the North, and the Doom of the Noldor.

19. Finarfin was made King – like for real, not just saying it.

Finarfin turned back, his people pardoned by the Valar and he was made ruler of the remaining Noldor who stayed in the Blessed Realm.

But in that hour Finarfin forsook the march, and turned back, being filled with grief, and with bitterness against the House of Fëanor, because of his kinship with Olwë of Alqualondë; and many of his people went with him, retracing their steps in sorrow, until they beheld once more the far beam of the Mindon upon Túna still shining in the night, and so came at last to Valinor. There they received the pardon of the Valar, and Finarfin was set to rule the remnant of the Noldor in the Blessed Realm.

20. Fëanor orders the burning of the Teleri ships.

As if he hadn’t already done enough damage, when Fëanor and his people were done with the Teleri ships, instead of just leaving them (or returning them!), he orders the burning of the Teleri ships.

So in that place which was called Losgar at the outlet of the Firth of Drengist ended the fairest vessels that ever sailed the sea, in a great burning, bright and terrible. And Fingolfin and his people saw the light afar off, red beneath the clouds; and they knew that they were betrayed. This was the firstfruits of the Kinslaying and the Doom of the Noldor.

10 Fav Quotes from ‘Of the Flight of the Noldor’

For his father was dearer to him than the Light of Valinor or the peerless works of his hands; and who among sons, of Elves or of Men, have held their fathers of greater worth?

Fëanor does unspeakably awful things in this chapter. But I can’t help but still feel sad for him, and the devastation he experienced from his father’s death. He truly did love his father. But of course that still doesn’t warrant such actions!

Then perforce Morgoth surrendered to her the gems that he bore with him, one by one and grudgingly; and she devoured them, and their beauty perished from the world. Huger and darker yet grew Ungoliant, but her lust was unsated.

Ungoliant’s appetite sure is something to behold.

The cry of Morgoth in that hour was the greatest and most dreadful that was ever heard in the northern world; the mountains shook, and the earth trembled, and rocks were riven asunder. Deep in forgotten places that cry was heard.

I find this description almost haunting!

For now, more than in the days of Utumno ere his pride was humbled, his hatred devoured him, and in the domination of his servants and the inspiring of them with lust of evil he spent his spirit. Nonetheless his majesty as one of the Valar long remained, though turned to terror, and before his face all save the mightiest sank into a dark pit of fear.

Another incredibly complex description of Morgoth.

[Fëanor] was distraught with grief for the slaying of his father, and with anguish for the rape of the Silmarils. He claimed now the kingship of all the Noldor, since Finwë was dead, and he scorned the decrees of the Valar.

I do feel for Fëanor, losing his father and his beloved Silmarils in one blow.

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.

This line! ‘Which none shall break, and none should take.’

The hour is evil, and your road leads to sorrow that ye do not foresee. No aid will the Valar lend you in this quest; but neither will they hinder you; for this ye shall know: as ye came hither freely, freely shall ye depart.

I love this description of the free will the Valar gives the Noldor.

Olwë called upon Ossë, but he came not, for it was not permitted by the Valar that the flight of the Noldor should be hindered by force. But Uinen wept for the mariners of the Teleri; and the sea rose in wrath against the slayers, so that many of the ships were wrecked and those in them drowned.

The fact that Olwë called upon Ossë (the sea Maia) breaks my heart! And Uinen weeping for the Teleri. Those sea Maia are the best.

Then Fëanor laughed as one fey, and he cried: ‘None and none! What I have left behind I count now no loss; needless baggage on the road it has proved. Let those that cursed my name, curse me still, and whine their way back to the cages of the Valar! Let the ships burn!’

Look out for that word ‘fey’ throughout Tolkien’s writings!

Then Fingolfin seeing that Fëanor had left him to perish in Araman or return in shame to Valinor was filled with bitterness; but he desired now as never before to come by some way to Middle-earth, and meet Fëanor again. And he and his host wandered long in misery, but their valour and endurance grew with hardship; for they were a mighty people, the elder children undying of Eru Ilúvatar, but new-come from the Blessed Realm, and not yet weary with the weariness of Earth. The fire of their hearts was young, and led by Fingolfin and his sons, and by Finrod and Galadriel, they dared to pass into the bitterest North; and finding no other way they endured at last the terror of the Helcaraxë and the cruel hills of ice.

So many emotions by the time you get to this ending of the chapter.

Further Study

I love listening to podcasts to gain more insights and thoughts on Tolkien’s works. Here a couple I listened to about this chapter:

• The Prancing Pony Podcast Episode 016 – Hit the Road Jack…
• The Tolkien Professor’s Silmarillion Seminars

The Silmarillion Second Breakfast Book Club

That’s Chapter 9, ‘Of the Flight of the Noldor’! If you’ve missed any previous posts on The Silmarillion in our Second Breakfast Book Club, then check out the Reading Schedule. You can find updates on future chapters there as well. Next up, Chapter 10!