#cost. and the silmarils are cursed to those who touch it. those who get it will always want to keep it and the sons will always have to

[zeb-z]

I’ve been thinking about the oath of Fëanor and his sons. The oath is said to be cosmically binding, sure, but what does that mean? Does that mean it’s an impulse? That you feel driven to fulfill the oath? Or does it just mean that the consequences for failing are always looming, and there’s more room for free will? Is the threat of damning yourself the only driving force, or because of the cosmic nature of it does it compel you to complete it?

I think the way it’s left up in the air makes Maedhros that much more compelling - because he’s the most sympathetic out of Fëanor’s sons, he feels remorse and tries desperately to keep peace. But because of the oath he swore, he’s doomed to fight and kill for the silmarils. It’s hard to pin the title of villain on him because he’s sympathetic, he fights back against the worst of what his father has done, he’s a driving force against the Enemy and its evils. It’s definitely hard to pin the title of hero on him because of all the terrible deeds he’s done in the name of his father and the silmarils, the kinslaying, the kidnapping.

It’s clear he follows the oath no matter how much he does not want to. He follows it through and doing so kills him, because he cannot handle the weight of what he’d done, and it was never worth it. But was it his unwavering duty and honor to his word, along with the threat of what would happen if he broke the oath - or was there any cosmic drive to complete the oath due to its nature and the way it was sworn?

If it was always a matter of free will, would having refused the oath been something more honorable in the end? Or would that have doomed Beleriand even earlier than it was, without him there to fight against the Enemy?