Ch 11, The Shibboleth of 🧝Feanor

[Confusticated]

This essay focuses on a language change being a contributing cause of, and later emblematic of, the division between Feanor and others. The chapter also contains notes and excursus on names.

This change was the replacement of þ with s. Þ is an Old English letter that JRRT sometimes used instead of th. The letter represents unvoiced th - as in 'thin, thread, tooth' but not 'the, other, those'.

The latter set of words instead contain voiced th sound. JRRT sometimes also used an Old English letter (ð,Ð) for this sound instead of 'dh' that we are all used to from LotR and Sil. We use th for both voiced and unvoiced sounds in English. If JRRT would have used th for both sounds in Elvish, we would have both Thingol (unvoiced), and Maethros (voiced) making readers unsure of how to say Maedhros's name. Or indeed Thingol's.

Þ became S is Noldorin Quenya not long before Feanor's birth. (This change did not occur in Vanyarin Quenya or in Telerin) However, it was not universal yet. For instance, Miriel insisted her kin use þ, at least in her name Þerinde. While she lived Finwe also continued to use þ because of her wishes.

In his latest known conception JRRT had Miriel remain alive until Feanor was grown, until she could no longer bear her weariness. This change in the story apears here.

Feanor grew up in favor of þ. In fact he strongly opposed the change to s.

Had peace been maintained there can be no doubt that the advise of Feanor, with which all the other loremasters secretly or openly agreed, would have prevailed. But an opinion in which he was certainly right was rejected because of the follies and evil deeds into which he was later led.

I am unable to make sence of this. Þ to s has already taken root prior to his birth. Many years then passed in which the þ could have been restored prior to Feanor drawing sword against his brother and the worst deeds that followed it.

In 'The Silmarillion' we learn of Feanor's resentment towards, and suspicion of his brothers and the Valar. But what ever happened to give Feanor these ideas? What seeded or fueled the suspicion?

In this late essay we learn more.

1) Finwe's new wife Indis adopts the change of þ to s, even though she was a Vanya. Finwe also makes the change. This was done because the king wished to speak as his people did. Feanor viewed the rejection of þ as rejection of Miriel. This solidified his fight for þ. He required his sons to use, naturally. It had become the 'shibboleth' of Feanor. Feanor also began to suspect the Valar were plotting to oust him. He thought they did this because his greatness was somehow a threat to them, and they would seek to give leadership to 'those more servile', I read 'half-brothers'.

2) Finwe named his new sons Finwe as he had Feanor. To these father-names was later prefixed Curu in the case of Feanor, Nolo for Fingolfin, and Ara for Finarfin. (Feanaro was the Quenya name given by his mother. Mother-names are given with insight which mothers have of their children. Miriel knew long before everyone that he was a 'spirit of fire'. Miriel herself lived up to her mother-name Þerinde.)

3) Arakano is the name given to Fingolfin by his mother. It means 'high chieftain', and was considered prophetic. Though we are not told Feanor's reaction to this, one can imagine how it might have fueled his suspicions and resentment.

4) In pursuance of his claim of chieftainship over the Noldor during the rebellion, Fingolfin prefixed 'Finwe' onto his name. Thus: Finwe Nolofinwe, or Fingolfin when converted to fit the style of Sinarin. This is given as a reason for Feanor treacherous abandonment of the host of Fingolfin.

There was one who used s just to spite him. Galadriel did so, even though þ was used (for reasons in which Feanor was truly irrelevant) in Finarfin's household. Galadriel and Feanor were unfriends, and she perceived something dark in him.

Gil-galad ends up the son of Orodreth who is now son of Angrod.

Regarding Gil-galad's parentage as published in 'The Silmarillion', Christopher Tolkien wrote:

Much closer analysis of the admittedly extremely complex material than I had made twenty years ago makes it clear that Gil-galad as the son of Fingon was an ephemeral idea.

It also emerges in a new tale which JRRT later wrote is 'desirable to retain', that Feanor's youngest son was accidently burned in one of the ships. A nightmarish scenario which Nerdanel in some measure vaguely prophesized when naming the twins.
______________________________

Any questions, or further comments on the wealth of material in this chapter?

 

[Elthir]

"Had peace been maintained there can be no doubt that the advice of Feanor, with which all the other loremasters secretly or openly agreed, would have prevailed. But an opinion in which he was certainly right was rejected because of the follies and evil deeds into which he was later led."

Confusticated wrote: I am unable to make sence of this. Þ to s has already taken root prior to his birth. Many years then passed in which the þ could have been restored prior to Feanor drawing sword against his brother and the worst deeds that followed it.

Technically, at least at one point, the Shibboleth says the change "probably" took place before Feanor's birth . . . but even considering this to be certainly true, I take this passage (in context) to simply mean that while the majority of the Noldor had adopted the change, the loremasters attacked it, and when Feanor himself became their chief, given his gift of persuasion and his fiery determination, his preference would have prevailed . . . if not for what happened.

Also, I just found an article on line concerning this matter titled "A curious incident of interdental consonants", however in an issue of Vinyar Tengwar it's noted that Quenya þ was not interdental as in English (pronounced with the tip of the tongue between the teeth) -- rather Quenya
þ was dental, made with the tongue-tip behind the back of the upper front teeth, and so, closer to s.

💥