The Jury's Out: An Analysis Of The Trial Of Feanor And His Sons

    The game we played in class really helped me understand the moral weight of the actions of Feanor and his Sons. I was assigned to be a prosecutor, which meant my job was to argue that Feanor and his sons bore full responsibility for the destruction that followed their oath.
    I had to look past the tragic surface of these characters and focus purely on logic. At first, I saw Maedhros and his brothers as victims of fate, bound by an oath they couldn’t escape and manipulated by Melkor’s lies. But as I studied their actions, I realized that even if they were misled or trapped by their vow, they still utilized free will, which led to death, betrayal, and war. Their reckless intent, especially during the Kinslaying, showed that they allowed pride and obsession to consume them. They may not have originally intended to kill their kin, but their willingness to use violence to achieve their goals made conflict an inevitability. They could have and should have broken their oath. I would much rather be known as an Oathbreaker than a Kinslayer and a traitor to my own people. 
    Ultimately, I fully agreed with the jury’s final verdict. Feanor and his sons have been sentenced to death, paying back the Teleri in damages, and being laid to rest in unmarked graves. At the beginning of the semester, I was assigned to study the character of Maedhros, the eldest son of Feanor. And I still think Maedhros in particular is a deeply tragic figure. He is haunted by regret, self-awareness, and a desire to atone for his actions. He even refused to burn the ships with the other Noldor. But, he is still just as guilty as the rest of them. The Doom of Mandos wasn’t just something bad that happened to the Noldor. It was something they brought upon themselves. Feanor and his sons chose vengeance over wisdom and pride over peace, and even though they suffered for it, their suffering doesn’t absolve them of their sins. They chose. 
    In the end, I felt the trial captured what makes The Silmarillion so thought provoking. The tension between fate and free. Playing the prosecutor helped me fully realize the moral weight of the story. The decisions of some of my favorite characters in the book led to so many needless deaths. They never even accomplished their goal in the end and it is all their fault.