Maedhros

Name Etymology

An Old English prototype of the name Maedhros would have sounded like Deyred Left-handed ( Eng. Daegred Winsterhand , from the Old English Daegred - "dawn", Winsterhand - left-handed). Christopher Tolkien believes that the name Dired is descriptive, and indicates the color of Maedhros’s hair, but whether this is so is not known for certain. ^[one]

Originally translated from Sindarin, the name of Maedhros literally meant “shine of metal”, but later the author changed this meaning to “fine copper” (Sindarin's maed - “beautiful, beautiful”; ros - “copper”). Tolkien attributed this to the fact that translations of Sindarin roots are combined in meaning with the Quenian names of Maedhros - Maitimo ( Qu . Maitimo ) and Russandol ( Qu . Russandol ). However, in the last four years of his life, Tolkien faced a problem when he discovered that the word -ros , which is mentioned in connection with the red hair color of Maedhros, is also translated as “sea foam” (see the name Elros ). Therefore, he noted that it would be more appropriate to change the name Maed grew to Maed ron . ^[2]

At different times, Tolkien used, in addition to the form of the name Maedhros, and the form of Maidros . The last name is first found in Tolkien’s drafts, but there it refers not to the eldest son of Feanor, but to his grandfather: then Feanor’s father was named Bruithwir-go-Maidros ^[3]

The early years

Maedhros Union

After the successful abduction of Silmarill by Beren and Lúthien, Maedhros created an alliance that received his name , in order to once again try to fulfill his Oath and defeat the troops of Morgoth in open battle. This Union included forces of very varied composition - elves - the Noldor of the houses of Feanor and Fingolfin represented by the king of Turgon and the army of Gondolin and Fingon and the army of Hutlum, the Edain people from the houses of Hador and Halet - the vassals of Fingon , the gnomes of Nogrod and Belegost, as well as Easterlings from the tribes of Bohr and Ulfang the Black. It was thanks to the betrayal of the latter (in the person of the descendants of Ulfang - Uldor the Damned, Ulfast and Ulwart, whose forces were the most numerous) that the Maedhros Union suffered a crushing defeat in Nirnaet Arnoediad .

The Hunt for the Silmarils

After the defeat, Maedhros and his brothers took refuge in a fortress on Mount Dolmed on the border of Ossiriand and the ridge Ered Lwin and for a long time peacefully coexisted with the Elf- Nandor , having lost its former power and influence. However, after the grandson of the deceased king Thingol Dior , son of Beren and Lúthien , the owner of the Silmarill, the sons of Feanor, led by Maedhros, claimed their father’s Stone. Having received a categorical refusal, they collected the remains of the soldiers loyal to them and suddenly invaded Doriath, whose borders were no longer guarded by the enchanted Melian Belt . In the fratricidal massacre that erupted, three of the sons of Feanor ( Quarantir , Celegorm and Curufin ) fell, but Maedhros and his brothers Maglor , Amrod and Amras won, killing King Dior and his wife Nimlot . After the battle, the two sons of Dior, Elored and Elurin , whom Maedhros, despite all efforts, could not find in winter Doriath, went missing; but the king’s daughter, Princess Elving, managed to escape with the Silmaril in the Harbor of Sirion .

Maedhros and his brothers, who survived the Doriatric massacre, settled on Amon Ereb . When they learned where Elving was hiding, Maedhros, mindful of the recent bloodshed, tried to stop the brothers in an attempt to get the Silmarill by force of arms. However, the unfulfilled Oath of Feanor ultimately prevailed over prudence, and in 532 P.E. , when Elving's spouse, Earendil the Seawalker, was far away, the sons of Feanor attacked Sirion Harbor, taking them by storm and interrupting many elves. Two more brothers of Maedhros, Amrod and Amras, fell in the battle, but this time the prey also slipped out of the hands of Feanor's house - Elving with the Silmaril on her chest threw herself into the Great Sea and with the power and mercy of Val Ulmo got the appearance of a white bird, in this guise she flew to the ship of her husband and thus saved the Stone of Feanor. Her children, Elrond and Elros , were captured by Maedhros, but he treated them mercifully and did no harm to them.

At the end of the First Era , after the War of Wrath ended in the defeat of the hordes of Morgoth and his capture, Maedros and Maglor, the last of the sons of Feanor, ventured to re-claim their rights to the stones of their father. However, Eonwe , the commander of the armies of Mayar and the Eldar of Valinor, refused them, stating that for their atrocities and fratricide they had lost all right to the Silmarils and that the brothers were supposed to come to Aman for the Valar court. Maglor also leaned toward the latter, but Maedhros reminded him of the inviolability of their Oath given by the name of Eru Ilúvatar :

But Maedhros replied that if they, returning to Aman, did not meet the favor of the Valar, their oath would remain valid, but there would be no hope of it.
“Who can say what fate awaits us if we disobey the powerful in their country or try again to bring war to their kingdom?”
Yet Maglor continued to hesitate, saying:
“If Manwe and Varda themselves forbid the oath to be fulfilled, didn’t it become invalid?”
And Maedhros answered:
“But how will our voices of the hearing of Ilúvatar be achieved, how will they fall outside the circles of the world?” But in the name of Iluvatar we swore in our madness and called upon ourselves eternal Darkness, if we do not keep our word. Who will free us from him?

“If no one can set us free,” said Maglor, “then eternal darkness will be our destiny, whether we keep our oath or not.” But a lesser evil will break it.

- Tolkien, J.R.R. The Silmarillion. Chapter 24 “On the Journey of Earendil and the War of Wrath” ./ Per. from English BEHIND. Beaver

Ultimately, Maedhros convinced his brother, so they decided to try for the last time to seize the Silmarils by the force of arms. They secretly entered the headquarters of Valinor's armies and, having defeated the guards, kidnapped the Silmarils , so that each of the brothers turned out to be the owner of one of the Stones. However, the words of Eonve turned out to be true - Feanor's stones burned the unclean hands of their new owners, so Maedhros, not having endured the burning flame of the Stone, threw himself into the abyss with him and died.