Maglor

Maglor was the second son of Fëanor and Nerdanel. He was the greatest poet and minstrel of the Ñoldor and was said to have inherited more of his mother's gentler temperament.

Among the seven brothers, only Maglor, Caranthir, and Curufin were married, but no information about their wives were given.

Biography


As with the other Sons of Fëanor, Maglor was bound by an oath to recover his father's Silmarils, which had been stolen by the Dark Lord Morgoth. This oath took the seven brothers to Middle-earth during the First Age where they established realms in exile, waged war against the armies of Morgoth, fought their own Elvish kind, and eventually brought ruin upon themselves.

Maglor took part in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, and he made the lament Noldolantë, the Fall of the Noldor, in memory of the terrible event.



In Beleriand, Maglor and his brothers followed their father and fought in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath. Fëanor managed to disperse the armies of Morgoth but pressed on to Angband with his sons. Fëanor was mortally wounded and his sons bore his body back to Mithrim. As they drew near Eithel Sirion, Fëanor passed away after cursing Morgoth thrice.

Maglor and his brothers traveled toward the east of Beleriand. Maglor founded the area between the hills surrounding Himring and Blue Mountains, called Maglor's Gap. Years later, the dragon Glaurung passed Maglor's Gap and destroyed the lands about. Maglor and his people fled to Himring to join Maedhros before the Dagor Bragollach took place.

After the Dagor Bragollach, Bór's people came into Beleriand. He and his sons Borlach, Borlad and Borthand swore allegiance to Maedhros and Maglor.

Following the taking of the Silmaril by Beren and Luthien, Maedhros had formed the Union of Maedhros, an alliance between Elves and Men. Under him, Maedhros' host held the east to draw out the army of Angband while Fingon and his host would attack from the west. During the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Ulfang betrayed the Eldar and Edain. Maglor slew Uldor, son of Ulfang. The Union of Maedhros was broken and the brethren, though all were wounded, none was slain. They escaped to Mount Dolmed in the east. After the battle, they took a woodland life in Ossiriand.



Maglor and his brothers learned when Dior, the new King of Doriath, possessed a Silmaril and refused to give them the jewel that had been won by Beren and worn by Lúthien. In the Sack of Doriath, Maglor's younger brothers Celegorm, Curufin and Caranthir were killed, and the Silmaril was not recovered.

Afterwards, Maglor and his surviving brothers dwelt on Amon Ereb in East Beleriand. Hearing that Elwing, the wife of Eärendil, had escaped from Doriath with the Silmaril and was now living at the Havens of Sirion, the brothers did not act at once, repenting against their destruction of Doriath. But after a time, remembering their oath, they sent messages to the Havens of Sirion that offered friendship while demanding that the Silmaril be returned to them. And when these demands were refused, they mounted an attack on the Havens with their remaining followers, thus perpetrating the Third Kinslaying that resulted from the accursed Oath of Fëanor.



Although they won the fight, after spilling much of their kin's blood, they did not obtain the Silmaril for Elwing escaped over the Great Sea with it. After the carnage of the cruel bloodletting, Maglor and his brother Maedhros came upon the two young sons of Eärendil and Elwing, Elrond and Elros. With so much blood already on his hands, Maglor took pity on them and would not allow them to be slain. So, in the absence of their parents, he took them into his household and raised them as if they were his very own children.

After the War of Wrath, Maglor and his last surviving brother Maedhros stole the two remaining Silmarils taken by the Valar from Morgoth, even though initially Maglor tried to dissuade his older brother from doing this. But because of the evil deeds committed by the brothers to regain the jewels, they burned in Maglor and Maedhros's hands. Unable to bear the suffering, Maglor cast his Silmaril into the sea. Thereafter, he wandered along the shores of the world singing laments over the loss of the Silmaril, until he faded from memory, though the circumstances and date of his death, if it ever happened at all, are unknown.

Etymology
His father-name is Kanafinwë means "Strong-voiced Finwë" or "Commanding Finwë" from kano ("commanding"). His mother-name is Macalaurë, which means "Gold-cleaver" from the Quenyan mak ("cleave") and laurë ("gold"), possibly alluding to the power of his voice. Maglor is a Sindarin rendering of his Quenya mother-name.

Other Names
Maglor's Old English name is Daegmund Swinsere. Christopher Tolkien cannot explain the origin of the name Daegmund, but the Old English mund means "hand" and "protection". The word Swinsere means "musician" or "singer".

Other versions of the legendarium
In the earliest drafts for The Silmarillion, Maglor and the fate of the Silmarils have three different changes:


 * In the first draft, dubbed as S by Christopher Tolkien, it is said that Maglor alone steals the two remaining Silmarils from Fionwe's (Eönwë) keeping. He later casts his Silmaril into a pit, knowing that he no longer has right to it, while Maedhros breaks the retrieved Silmarils and restores the light of the Two Trees of Valinor.


 * In the second draft, dubbed as QI, both brothers steal the Silmarils and it is Maedhros (not Maglor) who persuaded to submit. Maedhros is captured by Eönwë and slays himself. Maglor throws his Silmaril into a fiery pit and wanders singing in sorrow by the Sea.


 * In the third and last version, dubbed as QII, Maglor and Maedhros share the same fate as is told in The Silmarillion, but here it is Maedhros who finds and saves Elrond.

External link


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