The Jury's Out

I was a part of the judges/jury in our trial regarding the moral responsibility for the Doom of Mandos and the Doom of the Noldor of Fëanor and his son’s binding oath. This role allowed me to consider both the prosecution’s and defense’s arguments equally. Listening to arguments and evidence from both sides through a neutral lense revealed to me that the consequences of this oath were far more complex than I originally thought. Furthermore, the ideas of free will, fate, and pride stood out to me.  

At the beginning, I did feel a little bad for the sons because they just wanted to recover the Silmarils which they cared for deeply. These are good intentions. They also might have been in a state of grief or anger because Morgoth murdered their grandfather Finwë  and proceeded to steal the Silmarils which their father Fëanor created. Over the course of the trial, it became increasingly apparent to me the immense suffering that came from the oath such as tragic wars and ultimate ruin for the sons. Even after seeing the poor consequences that came from following the oath, they kept on going despite possessing free will gifted by the creator Eru. This may be because the oath poisoned their mindset.  

In reaching a verdict, I revisited evidence like the list of charges that the prosecution provided earlier in questioning. These included sins of pride, sins of betrayal, dooming of their own people, swearing fealty to a false lord, armed theft of Teleri boats, arson of illegally obtained property, two separate counts of kin slaying, and not refusing illegal or immoral orders. In the end, I reached the conclusion that the sons of Fëanor were guilty due to their single-minded devotion to a poor oath and its tragic consequences. We were unanimous in this conclusion throughout final deliberation.