The Threat of Fëanor


”Fingolfin bowed before Finwë, and without word or glance to Fëanor he went from the chamber. But Fëanor followed him, and at the door of the king’s house he stayed him; and the point of his bright sword he set against Fingolfin’s breast.”

- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion, chapter 7: Of the Silmarils and the unrest of the Noldor


This is the second incarnation of this Silmarillion illustration.. sepia tone with a brown paper background done in Photoshop (Thank you for the idea and help, Ana! ). For the description I'll quote myself below:

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So, here Fëanor threatens his half-brother’s life – a deed that will result in his banishment from Tirion. Intended mainly as a character study for Fëanor and Fingolfin. (I have this ambitious idea of painting a huge triptych called “Lords of the Noldor” some day. Featuring Finwë with his sons in the middle frame, the sons of Fëanor to the left and the children of Fingolfin and Finarfin to the right – I don’t know when I would have time to do it, but before I start it takes a lot of drawings like this to define my image of each of those individuals.. and that’s 19 people!)

Well, anyway.. back to THIS drawing. I’ve always imagined Fingolfin being the tallest of the three sons of Finwë and the one that looked the most like his father. I picture him with longer hair and noble features and I’m sure he was fond of wearing flashy clothes like that robe and kimono-style overcoat (yeah, yeah -- I know it looks like a dressing gown ).. loose and comfortable yet somehow ceremonial. This is how I imagine most of the elves living in the carefree bliss of Aman were dressed like. Valinor’s latest fashion trend in shoes would have to be very pointy or “au naturel”, i.e. going barefoot..

Fëanor, on the other hand, I’ve always pictured with short hair and sharp features, donning more practical clothes and always wearing a lot of jewelry he had made himself. Here I went for something like a swashbuckler look for him.. I know that according to the book Fëanor was wearing a helmet and probably armour as well during this scene, but as this drawing is intended as much as a character (and clothing) study as an illustration, I wanted to draw both elves wearing what I imagine was the most common for them.

While the drawing has some errors in it, I’m quite happy with it; especially since I think I managed to capture the most essential feelings in the scene: Fëanor’s anger and Fingolfin’s calm defiance and silence despite his injured pride and his half-brother’s harsh words.

HB pencil and 0.5 mech. pencil, about 4 ½ hours in total.. most of which was spent drawing the decorations. This time I decided I won’t even try those Celtic knotwork designs, having had something like a nervous breakdown with them the last time.. I guess those random floral scribbles work too.. they could even be considered a bit more “elven” even if they don’t look quite as good.

B/W version here: [link]

EDIT: Better scan, new paper background