Why didn't the sons of 🧝Feanor just break their oaths?

[BalrogRingDestroyer]

I get that it can have some pretty drastic consequences, like what happened to the Oath Breakers in Gondor, but still, even THAT would, I suppose, have been a better fate than what befell the sons themselves, not to mention their people.

I'm also curious why, unless I am misremembering the book, that it was mainly the sons, who were, I suppose the leaders of the Noldor, who swore the oath, but why didn't the people disown Feanor sons to get themselves out from under that curse?

 

[Aldarion]

Oaths are SeriousBusinessTM in that world. Even the worst physical consequences are considered better than oathbreaking.

And Valar gave them the opportunity to go back to Valinor before they passed the "point of no return" - and some did take it.

 

[BalrogRingDestroyer]

Oaths are SeriousBusinessTM in that world. Even the worst physical consequences are considered better than oathbreaking.

And Valar gave them the opportunity to go back to Valinor before they passed the "point of no return" - and some did take it.

It was only the mercy of the Valar, after some many Elves had already fallen, that kept the Noldor from being wiped out entirely, along with the other elves like the Dark Elves who would get caught up in the mess as well. What fate could possibly be worse than losing your lives and your people to a tyrant such as Morgoth?

Unless it was literally eternal damnation, which they could well have earned ANYWAY for FOLLOWING the oath to its destructive end, I don't see why they'd have risked it when they saw things going so wrong.

Even Smeagol/Gollum had a less worse fate than the sons of Feanor, and technically he succeeded in destroying the Ring (which, he was, albeit very briefly, able to possess it again, whereas they could never really have the Simirals as they were now too crooked to have them), thus getting SOME form of redemption to himself, a fate seemingly NOT offered to Feanor or his sons.

Even Frodo didn't seem to believe that Saruman was beyond the point of no return, even after seeing the damage he'd done to the Shire. And even Sauron, I think, DID have a chance at redemption to beg the pardon of the Valar after Melkor fell, only he was too proud to take it. And speaking of Melkor, the Valar even gave him a second chance too after his first fortress, whatever it was, before Angband.

So why, does it seem, that the sons of Feanor were stuck with their awful oath and on that dark path to their own ruin? Were they just too proud to take redemption or were they truly more cursed than Morgoth himself?

 

[Aldarion]

So why, does it seem, that the sons of Feanor were stuck with their awful oath and on that dark path to their own ruin? Were they just too proud to take redemption or were they truly more cursed than Morgoth himself?

Probably pride. I mean, when you look at Tolkien's works, it is one giant essay on pride: from Melkor becoming Morgoth, to Feanorians and everything they did, to Sauron rejecting forgiveness etc.

 

[Ent]

why didn't the people disown Feanor sons to get themselves out from under that curse?

That may not have been such an easy thing to do...
I have a long ways to go on this, but I'm following this chain of thought at the moment:

"The lust of Melkor and the arrogance of Fëanor (expressed in his Oath and the revolt of the Noldor) tainted the jewels, so that thereafter all desire for them came to an evil end."

Notable too is: "The torment, destruction, and loss of integrity foretold by Mandos for the Exiles, especially the House of Fëanor, and those (the Sindar and the Edain) who became involved in their futile attempt to recover the Silmarils. The curse was provoked by the disobedience of the Noldor to the will of the Valar and by the Kinslaying, which defiled Aman. By this Doom the sons of Fëanor became treacherous, deceitful, and overbearing; the burning of the ships at Losgar, the distrust of Thingol for the House of Fëanor, and the deaths of Finrod and Dior showed the effect of this stain on the spirits of the Noldor."


So it seems as though the Silmarils, corrupted, contained a certain power of their own - (much like the 'one ring' perhaps, working its will in a way to return to its master) - and "buying into" the refusal to give the Silmarils over to restore the destroyed Trees etc. was a terrible disobedience and rejection of the will of the Valar. As was participating in the kinslaying on behalf of the Silmarils etc.

So indeed, like Melkor who multiple times refused repentance though offered, and Sauron (though we know less about whether he was offered opportunity but no doubt it was always there), those Noldor who did not repent of their rejection of the Valar remained under the "doom" foretold for them by Mandos.

Primarily, @Aldarion hits the nail with his head as usual. I'll re-word this way:
The CHOICE was always there for them to repent. Some indeed took it and received the just reward. (Release from the Doom.)
But perhaps the 'working' of the Silmarils, and certainly their own pride and decisions in "who they would follow", was what sealed their fate.

Bottom line: "Why didn't they just break their oaths?"

CHOICE. Some did. Most didn't.

It's an intriguing question I'll continue to probe for some time.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Oaths are SeriousBusinessTM in that world. Even the worst physical consequences are considered better than oathbreaking.

Just to underline this, think of the consequences of "lying under oath" in court, even today, or the oaths taken by the military to king or constitution. How much more seriously would oaths be taken in an almost illiterate early society?

If you read some of the Eddas, or Icelandic sagas, you'll find that oaths were considered to have an almost physical force, and as Aldarion said, the same was true of oathbreaking. It's certainly the case in Middle-earth.

It's been many years since I read it, but IIRC this book, which came out the same year as LOTR, has a variation on the theme:

 

[Elassar]

The quote: " they swore an oath which none shall break, and none should take, by the name of the allfarther, calling the everlasting dark upon their souls should they break it." Should answer.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

I get that it can have some pretty drastic consequences, like what happened to the Oath Breakers in Gondor, but still, even THAT would, I suppose, have been a better fate than what befell the sons themselves, not to mention their people.

I'm also curious why, unless I am misremembering the book, that it was mainly the sons, who were, I suppose the leaders of the Noldor, who swore the oath, but why didn't the people disown Feanor sons to get themselves out from under that curse?

It did. It held some EXTREME consequences. But breaking an oath was no small matter. It would be to betray the Valar whom they swore as witness, to betray their father, Feanaro Curufinwe, and choose another path. The dishonor they would feel for such an act would be inescapable. To know that their father, and his brother, died for this oath, and then these sons just abandoned it and forgot about it. But we must also remember that the oath was not the only thing his sons inherited from him. Also, his pride.

The sons of Feanor were proud, and haughty and they would not have wanted to admit that they were wrong. To come before the Valar and beg at their doorstep basically, so humbling. Not to mention, they called on themselves a punishment worse than any. If they themselves condemned their own fates, why would they expect others to have mercy? They still wanted the Silmarils. It was not as if they just gave them up. The attachment still held strong. They were already shunned by other regions and kingdoms, but to be betrayers to every race, all that they would gain is never-ending solitude.

Because of the content of the oath, there really was no way out. No loop holes. For a while, they held strong, admiring the choice of their father and seeking the lost jewels. But after a certain point, it was the end. No more running, no more seeking, let's just wait. They didn't come marching to Angband. Their oath lay silent for a long time, but not void, because of their own punishments chosen.

 

[Gloranthan]

Something in my own elven worlds, and in several fantasy novels, is the idea that spirits can't break oaths as well as that elves specifically don't lie. I don't think Tolkien ever said this specifically, but the tone of it is appropriate for how his elves are. They're very passionate, but generally honest, and sometimes dutiful to a fault. And, as others have said, oaths have more consequence in Middle-earth than they tend to today, and this was true in the ancient world, as well - medieval knights and crusaders were notorious for making insane oaths that led them to ten year wars, etc.
Loyalty is also very personal among elves. I think, for all his craziness, they really loved Feanor. Maybe they hoped they could get the jewels back and he'd see the error of his ways and repent? And after he died, perhaps even his memory was enough to inspire their loyalty.