At Long Last...
The Five-Minute Silmarillion, Part 24
Chapter 24 is called “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath.”
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You guys, this is the last numbered chapter in the book, and the final part of the Quenta Silmarillion itself. After this there are only two more chapters to summarize. Let’s jump right in.
Eärendil and his Quest
Eärendil, leader of the remnant of Gondolin and Doriath, wants to go to Valinor and get relief from the Valar. He builds a ship and goes after his late parents, Tuor and Idril, but never finds them. While he’s sailing, he gets a series of visions that tell him to hurry home because Elwing, his wife, is in trouble…
Third Time’s a Charm
Of the seven sons of Fëanor, only two remain: Maedhros and Maglor. The other five have died over the years, usually in battles relating to the Silmarils. While Maedhros has shown a willingness to repent of his evil, he can’t undo the hasty oath that he made in echo of his father, that the house of Fëanor would reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth.
So it is that when he learns of a Silmaril among the remnant of Gondolin and Doriath, Maedhros and Maglor take their allies to reclaim it…and once again they end up killing other Elves over their dad’s jewels. A third Kinslaying. Because the first two went so damnably well. They zero in on Elwing, who has the Silmaril, but she jumps into the ocean rather than handing it over, because of her familial ties to the gem, and all that was sacrificed to obtain it (her grandfather literally lost his hand for it so that he could marry her grandmother.)
Since Ulmo is playing divine spoiler, he carries Elwing up out of the water, saving both her and the Silmaril from Maedhros and Maglor.
Immigration Offices of The Gods
Eärendil shows up in time to rescue Elwing, at least. Now that they have the Silmaril on their ship, they try again for Valinor. This time the glamour and protections that shield Valinor from unwanted intruders don’t work, and soon they arrive on the Undying Lands.
This isn’t without its own risks: Eärendil is mortal, and this place is the opposite. He knows the risks and accepts them, asking the Valar to let the Children of Ilúvatar return to Aman, because Middle-earth is porked. Manwë doesn’t want Eärendil there because he’s half-Man (not allowed) and while he’s also half-Elf, that half is Noldo, and the Noldor aren’t allowed either because of the first Kinslaying. The Silmaril earns him some special consideration though…
Take to the Skies!
The Valar come up with a unique consideration for Eärendil: he’s able to get back on his ship which, imbued with power from the Valar, can fly now. He’s able to fly it around the night sky regularly, wearing the Silmaril, and every so often Elwing takes the form of a bird and joins him on deck.
The Silmaril is so bright that even Maedhros and Maglor can see it back in Middle-earth. They regret not owning it, but they know Morgoth can’t get it again either, so that one’s a wash. Two to go.
The Gods Go to War
The Valar do decide, though, that it’s time to tidy up this Morgoth mess. They ride to war in all their power and glory, crossing the ocean and storming Middle-earth with ease. Boom, kill off the Dragon army. Boom, kill off most of the Balrogs. Boom, send the Orcs running like piglets. Storm Angband, kick Morgoth in the nuts, put him “on his face” again, and tie him up with the chain that bound him the first time he got up to his nonsense. (I like to imagine this was all the work of Tulkas.)
The key part of all this is when they remove Morgoth’s crown and turn it into a collar for him, then pluck the Silmarils and take them back to Valinor, where they came from.
The End of Fëanor’s Oath
Maedhros and Maglor still gotta do their thing, though. They follow the Valar back across the ocean and find the camp where the Silmarils are being kept. Since they are no strangers to murder, they kill some of the guards and take the last two Silmarils, finding poetic justice in it as they are the last two sons of Fëanor.
While this fulfills the oath, it also curses both these Elves, because of the evil they’ve done. Touching a Silmaril will cause them nothing but agony. Releasing the gems would constitute another violation of their oath, so they try to hold on, but ultimately Maedhros commits suicide by jumping into a lava pit, and Maglor throws his gem into the ocean, then spends the rest of his life walking up and down the coast, whining about it.
“And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires in the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.”
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Morgoth’s Doom
The story of the Silmarillion ends with Morgoth being banished into a realm outside of space and time, whence he cannot return, for the Valar are vigilant. Funnily enough, his fate is tied to the Silmarils, which also won’t be recovered until the world is broken and remade, according to the final words of this book.
And on that note, we prepare to read the subsequent two portions of the Silmarillion on the whole, which show the transition from this era of history into the age of Sauron and the Rings of Power.
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