Nerdanel
| Nerdanel | |
|---|---|
| Noldo | |
 | |
| Nerdanel by Jenny Dolfen | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Other names | "the Wise" |
| Location | Tirion |
| Affiliation | Not Oath of Fëanor |
| Language | Common Eldarin and Quenya |
| Birth | During the Years of the Trees |
| Family | |
| Parentage | Mahtan |
| Spouse | Fëanor |
| Children | Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, and Amras |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Brown [note 1] |
| Gallery | Images of Nerdanel |
Nerdanel (Q, pron. [ˈnerdanel]) was the daughter of the Noldorin smith Mahtan and the wife of Fëanor.
History
Early life
Though her father is specifically noted as having an unusual hair color for a Noldo, auburn or brown hair mixed with copper with a nickname of fox,[1]:353 her own hair color is implied as brown or similar to her father's, but it is not explicitly stated in The Silmarillion. The reddish hair, however, passed through her lineage to her children.
Nerdanel was a noted sculptor. She was said to have made statues so lifelike that people thought they were real at first.[2] She also created sculptures from her own imaginings, which were "strong and strange but beautiful."[3] In her youth, Nerdanel loved to wander along the shore or in the hills of Aman where she eventually met Fëanor, and they "were companions in many journeys."[3]
Marriage and Motherhood
When Nerdanel married Fëanor, others wondered at his choice for she was not considered among "the fairest of her people."[3]:272 But Nerdanel was strong, free of mind, and filled with the desire for knowledge.[3] Though she was strong-willed, she was more patient than her husband. She would seek to understand others instead of master them. For a time, since he would seek the counsel of none save her, she was able to influence and restrain her prideful husband.[2] However, Fëanor's later deeds deeply grieved her. She was counselled not to become involved in the rebellion. In the end, Nerdanel and her husband became estranged from one another, and she did not follow him to Middle-earth.[2]
Nerdanel bore Fëanor seven sons: Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod, and Amras (see Sons of Fëanor). Elves typically have four children or fewer, so the size of their family was particularly noteworthy.[4]:Note 4 Nerdanel's calmer temperament had passed to some of her sons while others were fiery more like their father.[2] Only Nerdanel's eldest son Maedhros and her youngest sons, Amrod and Amras, inherited the reddish-brown hair from her lineage.[5]
The Unrest and Flight of the Noldor
Soon after, Fëanor was banished from Valinor for a time by the Valar for causing unrest among the Noldor. So with Nerdanel's husband, went all of her sons as well as her husband's father Finwë. In spite of that, Nerdanel did not join Fëanor and her sons into banishment, but instead asked for leave to abide with Indis of the Vanyar (the second wife and queen of Finwë) whom Nerdanel apparently had ever esteemed though little to the liking of Fëanor.[3]
Ultimately, Nerdanel returned back to her father's house. Shortly, when Nerdanel learned that her husband and all of her sons were planning to go into exile to Middle-earth, Nerdanel then came to her husband before the flight of the Ñoldor and she begged Fëanor to leave with her their youngest twin-sons, Amrod and Amras, or atleast one of them. But Nerdanel's husband simply spoke that if she wished to keep all their sons then she should join him and their sons to leave Valinor for Middle-earth. However, Nerdanel refused to follow Fëanor being warned by her father of the advice that Aulë gave him; thus Mahtan said to his daughter: "It would in the end, only lead your husband and all your children to death." However, Nerdanel's sons were determined to leave with their father and hence, Nerdanel was parted from her sons never to see them ever again.[5] Regardless, Nerdanel ended up first alone and then a widow, while all of her seven sons perished one by one in Middle-earth. Further, it was said that Nerdanel apparently still lived in Aman.[2]
Other versions of the legendarium
Nerdanel was described as having a ruddy complexion and brown hair in Vinyar Tengwar.[6]
Etymology
The name Nerdanel is given no clear meaning or etymology in the published writings of Tolkien. The original (rejected) version of her name was Istarnië.[7]
Editor and linguist Patrick H. Wynne has suggested that the element nerd- in Nerdanel perhaps derives from nerdo ("large, strong man"), noting that the name "might refer to her strength of body and mind, and her pursuits of crafts more commonly practiced by men." Wynne also suggests that Istarnië derives from Quenya ista- ("know"), apparently "referring to her 'desire for knowledge'".[8]
Geneology
Notes
- ↑ See J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor" pp. 353 & 365-6
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The names of the Sons of Fëanor"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (II) The Second Phase: Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (II) The Second Phase: Laws and Customs among the Eldar, Notes [to Text B]"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor", "The names of the Sons of Fëanor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "From The Shibboleth of Fëanor" (edited by Carl F. Hostetter), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 41, July 2000
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (II) The Second Phase: Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor", p. 273
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Eldarin Hands, Fingers & Numerals and Related Writings — Part One" (edited by Patrick H. Wynne), in Vinyar Tengwar, Number 47, February 2005, p. 33-4
