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In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Maedhros (Y.T. ? – Y.S. 587) was the first son of Fëanor and Nerdanel. He had auburn hair, which was inherited from his mother’s kin — specifically, his grandfather, Mahtan, whom Maedhros was said to be alike in face and disposition — and a tremendous height, earning him the appelation, the Tall. In Quenya, he was also known as Nelyafinwë, which was his father name for “Finwë the third "; Maitimo, his mother name for “well-shaped one”, for he was noted for his comeliness; and Russandol “copper-top”, an affectionate nicknamed used by his friends and family.

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Biography

Maedhros was born to Fëanor and Nerdanel during the Years of the Trees in Aman. He was the eldest and the most diplomatic of their seven sons: Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin; and twins Amras and Amrod. With their father, they often traveled far and wide in Aman, always seeking the unknown.

During this time, Maedhros befriended Fingon, son of Fingolfin, whose family Fëanor had no love for. The friendship of Maedhros and Fingon proved to be true and lasted their entire lives.

Following his father’s banishment from Tirion, Maedhros lived in Formenos with his family. They returned to Tirion, however, after Maedhros brought tidings of Finwë’s murder and the theft of the Silmarilli to his father and Manwë in Y.T. 1495. Fëanor’s fiery words led the Ñoldor to Middle-earth and the Fëanorians to swear their father’s terrible oath to pursue anyone who kept the Silmarilli from their possession.

Although he participated in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, he stood aside at the burning of the ships at Losgar; for when Fëanor and his sons secretly sailed to Middle-earth, Maedhros had thought they would return for Fingolfin and his host.

Although Fëanor was killed in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath in Y.T. 1497, Morgoth's forces suffered a crushing defeat. He sent peace emissaries and Maedhros agreed to treat with them. He brought more forces than had been agreed to the parley — for Maedhros was not fooled by Morgoth’s peace offers, but unknown to him, Balrogs were among Morgoth’s party, and the Elven company was overwhelmed. Maedhros was taken captive and hung by the wrist of his right hand upon Thangorodrim in great pain. For many years, he languished there while Fingolfin brought his hosts into Middle-earth. In Y.S. 5, Fingon found him, but Maedhros begged his friend to end his torment by shooting him with his bow. However, with the help of Thorondor, Fingon was able to free him though he was forced to cut off Maedhros’s right hand in the process. This daring rescue, along with Maedhros’s repentance for the desertion of Fingolfin's hosts in Araman and relinquishment of his claim as Finwë’s heir to kingship over all the Ñoldor in favour of his uncle (which last caused the Fëanorians to be known as “the Dispossessed”), did much to repair the ill feelings between the House of Fingolfin and the House of Fëanor.

His brothers, however, were not all pleased by their eldest brother’s actions, and Maedhros, sensing that they would cause feuds with their kinsmen, moved them out of Mithrim and to the lands around the Hill of Himring, which became known as the March of Maedhros. Allied with Fingolfin, he won the battle of Dagor Aglareb and set the Siege of Angband. The siege was broken, however, in the Dagor Bragollach in which many Elven kingdoms were destroyed. Due to Maedhros's valour and deadly skill with the sword, Himring was successfully defended, though it was surrounded by the enemy. This led many of the surviviors from East Beleriand and Dorthonion to rally to Maedhros.

Taking hope upon hearing the deeds of Beren and Lúthien, he gathered his brothers, and united with other Elven Houses to create the Union of Maedhros, an alliance of Elves, Men, and Dwarves to drive the Orcs from Beleriand and lay siege to Morgoth’s fortress of Angband. Under his leadership, the Union won several battles and regained the territory lost in the Dagor Bragollach. When the joint attack on Angband itself was to be launched, Maedhros was delayed due to the treachery of an Easterling, Uldor the Accursed, who was a spy of Morgoth in the service of Caranthir, and the forces of the Union were utterly destroyed in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Himring was taken by the Orcs and six of the Sons of Fëanor who remained were wounded. They retreated to Mount Dolmed, and eventually came to live with the Nandor in Ossiriand.

During Y.S. 504 — 505, the brothers learnt of the possession of the Silmaril recovered by Beren and Lúthien in the hands of Dior, the new King of Doriath. Maedhros restrained his brothers’ urge to attack, and instead, sent a message to Dior demanding that he yield the Silmaril to them, but Dior ignored it. Celegorm’s words convinced the Fëanorians to launch an assault. Dior was killed and the brothers emerged victorious. Upon learning that Celegorm’s servants had sent Dior’s twin sons, Eluréd and Elurín, to starve in a dark forest, Maedhros went on a long search for them, but it proved to be fruitless.

Maedhros and his surviving brothers then dwelt on Amon Ereb in East Beleriand. When they heard that Elwing, who had escaped from Doriath with the Silmaril, was now living at the Havens of Sirion, Maedhros, repenting of his deeds at Doriath, foreswore his oath and counseled against trying to regain the jewel by force. But the unfulfillment of the oath came to torment the brothers heavily, so they sent messages of friendship but with firm demands to surrender the Silmaril, but the people refused, arguing that they could not negotiate while their leader and Elwing's husband, Earendil, were away at sea. In Y.S. 532, the Fëanorians attacked Sirion — but Elwing cast herself and the jewel into the sea and they did not gain what they sought. Elwing was ultimately rescued by the power of Ulmo and reunited with Earendil in the West.

After the War of Wrath, Maedhros and Maglor, the last of the Fëanorians, told Eönwë that the remaining two Silmarils captured from Morgoth should be given to them, but Eönwë replied that the Silmarils would not suffer them to hold them and that the brothers had to face judgment from the Valar in Aman. Maglor was willing to listen, but Maedhros reminded Maglor that in their oath, they had sworn that none, even the Valar, could release them from their oath, and because of this, it would curse them into committing evil deeds in Aman. Resigned, the brothers stole the Silmarils, but the jewels burned their hands. Unable to endure the suffering, Maedhros threw himself into a fiery chasm of the Earth, thus ending his life.

Trivia

• Maedhros's Old English name is Doegred Winsterhand (Ang. 'Doegred'=dawn, daybreak, 'Winsterhand'=left-handed). Christopher Tolkien thinks that Doegred is a reference to the color of Maedhros's hair, though this is not certain.
• Tolkien, when deciding Maedhros’s name, came up with the sound of it first (which is pronounced My’thros), and then decided a suitable meaning for the word. The translation of Maedhros was originally “glitter of metal”, but later changed it to “well-formed/shapely copper” Template:ME-lang. Tolkien explained that the translations of the Sindarin roots were meant to match the meaning of Maedhros’s Quenya names, Maitimo and Russandol. However, around the last four years of his life, Tolkien encountered a problem when he realized that he had stated that ros, which was meant to reference Maedhros’s reddish-brown hair, translated into “spray/spindrift”. He later made a note suggesting that he might change Maedhros to Maedron instead.
• Tolkien sometimes wrote Maedhros's name as 'Maedros' or 'Maidros', especially in early versions. When the latter name first appears, however, it does not designate the eldest son of Fëanor but his grandfather: Fëanor's father is named Bruithwir-go-Maidros.
• Maedhros and his grandfather, who, aforementioned earlier, shared similar temperaments and appearance, both wore copper circlets around their heads.
• The Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin was given to Maedhros by Azaghâl during the Years of the Trees, in gratitude for saving the Dwarf-lord's life, with whom Maedhros forged an alliance with. Maedhros later passed it on to Fingon in proof of their friendship. In earlier drafts, it is not the Dragon-helm Maedhros gives to Fingon, but the Elfstone, in which Maedhros received from his dying father.
• Although it was Maglor who, in The Silmarillion, took pity on the sons of Elwing, earlier versions portrayed Maedhros as the one who saved Elrond (Elros not appearing until later drafts).

See also

• House of Fëanor

References

1. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Shibboleth of Fëanor". ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.
2. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Shibboleth of Fëanor". ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.
3. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Shibboleth of Fëanor", pg. 352-353. ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.
4. "Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean / Brood of Morgoth or bright Vala, / Elda or Maia or Aftercomer, / Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth, / Neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, / Dread nor danger, not Doom itself / Shall defend him from Fëanáro, and Fëanáro’s kin, / Whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, / Finding keepeth or afar casteth / A Silmaril. This swear we all… Death we will deal him ere Day’s ending, / Woe unto world’s end! Our word hear thou, / Eru Allfather! To the everlasting / Darkness doom us if our deed faileth… / On the holy mountain hear in witness / and our vow remember, / Manwë and Varda!" (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1985). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Lays of Beleriand. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-39429-5.)
5. "...and the hatred between the houses of Fingolfin and Fëanor were assuaged. For Maedhros begged forgiveness for the desertion in Araman; and he waived his claim to kingship over all the Noldor, saying to Fingolfin: 'If there lay no grievance between us, lord, still the kingship would rightly come to you, the eldest here of the house of Finwë, and not the least wise'" (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-25730-2.)
6. "It is indeed said that Maedhros himself devised this plan, to lessen the chances of strife, and because he was very willing for the chief peril of asault should fall upon himself; and he remained for his part in friendship with the houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin, and would come among them at times of common counsel" (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-25730-2.)
7. Amrod, who had secretly planned to return to Aman, stayed in the ship. When Fëanor ordered the ships to be burned, Amrod died and did not set off on the shores of Middle-earth. Therefore, only six of the Sons of Fëanor remain. "...In the morning the host was mustered, but of Feanor’s seven sons only six were to be found. Then Ambarussa went pale with fear. ‘Did you not then rouse Ambarussa my brother (whom you called Ambarto)?’ he said. ‘He would not come ashore to sleep (he said) in discomfort.’ But it is thought (and no doubt Fëanor guessed this also) that it was in the mind of Ambarto to sail his ship back and rejoin Nerdanel; for he had been much by the deed of his father." (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Shibboleth of Fëanor". ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.).
8. "But Maedhros answered that if they returned to Aman but the favour of the Valar were withheld from them, then their oath would still remain, but its fulfilment be beyond all hope and he said: 'Who can tell to what dreadful doom we shall come, if we disobey the Powers in their own land, or purpose ever to bring war again into their holy realm?' / Yet Maglor still held back, saying: 'If Manwë and Varda themselves deny the fulfilment of an oath to which we named them in witness, is it not made void?' / And Maedhros answered: 'But how shall our voices reach Ilùvatar beyond the Circles of the World? And by Ilúvatar we swore in our madness, and called the Everlasting Darkness upon us, if we kept not our word. Who shall release us?'" (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-25730-2.)
9. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1986). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Shaping of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-42501-5.
10. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Problem of Ros". ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.
11. "...after the death of Fingofin...the Ñoldor then became divided into separate kingships under Fingon, son of Fingolfin, Turgon his younger brother, Maedros son of Fëanor, and Finrod son of Arfin ; and the following of Finrod had become the greatest." (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.)
12. ^ "He gives the green stone to Maidros...The Green Stone of Fëanor given by Maidros to Fingon." (Tolkien, J. R. R. (1994). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The War of the Jewels. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pg. 176-177. ISBN 0-395-71041-3.)
13. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1996). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Peoples of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. "The Shibboleth of Fëanor". ISBN 978-0-395-82760-4.
14. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1986). Christopher Tolkien (ed.). The Shaping of Middle-earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Quenta pg 153. ISBN 978-0-395-42501-5.

External links

• "Maedhros: Smarter then your average redhead". URL accessed on April 8, 2006.
• Maedhros at the Annals of Arda

• High Elves
• Fictional royalty