Oath of Fëanor

The Oath of Fëanor was an oath taken by the Elf Fëanor and his seven sons to non-negotiable enmity against any person who would take a Silmaril or keep it from them, in the late First Age. Once Morgoth killed Finwe and stole the Silmarilli, this oath became the cause of some of the most terrible and tragic crimes in the history of Arda.
==History==
Learning of his father's death at the hands of Morgoth, Fëanor went back to Tirion, breaking the exile set by the Valar. At Tirion, Fëanor gave an impassioned speech in which he convinced the vast majority of the Ñoldor to follow him to Middle-earth to wrest the Silmarils back from Morgoth and avenge Finwë. At the end of his speech, furious and ever prideful, Fëanor swore the dreadful oath to Eru, calling Manwë and Varda in witness. This oath saw him pledge, on pain of calling upon himself the Everlasting Darkness, to pursue with violence any who would keep or hold a Silmaril from him, no matter who it was, and no matter what the reason or circumstance. His seven sons leaped to his side and swore the oath with him.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
Fëanor died soon after his return to Middle-earth but the remaining oath-takers, his sons, lived on in relative harmony with the Eldar of Beleriand, in no small part thanks to the diplomatic skill of Maedhros. For the remaining part of the First Age, the oath kept the sons of Fëanor united in one cause: to defeat Morgoth and retrieve the Silmarils, for so long as the jewels remained in the hands of the Dark Lord, they were irretrievable by force. And so the oath slumbered, as by fighting Morgoth, even hopelessly, the brothers were still technically attempting to fulfill it. 
However, the terrible dangers of the oath became apparent when Beren and Lúthien managed to recover one of the jewels from Morgoth.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX: "Of Beren and Lúthien" Now that the jewel was no longer in Morgoth's hands, it became possible for the brothers to retrieve it and genuinely fulfill the oath. Beren gave the Silmaril to King Thingol of Doriath who had demanded it as a bride-price for his daughter, believing that Beren could not possibly retrieve one. When the sons of Fëanor learned of this, they demanded its surrender. However, Thingol was insulted by the demand and had begun to lust for the Silmaril. He refused their request, and Curufin and Celegorm openly threatened to destroy Doriath. This threat was the cause of considerable turmoil and resulted in much grief, for Maedhros was attempting at the time to forge a coalition between the various Elven kingdoms to engage in a final, decisive strike against Morgoth's power. The threat caused Thingol to close his borders and send no aid to the military alliance. Though the Elves would not have had the power in any circumstance to overthrow Morgoth, the loss of Thingol's aid proved detrimental to the alliance. After the Elven defeat during Nírnaeth Arnoediad, a series of unfortunate events led to the death of King Thingol and the disappearance of Queen Melian, who returned to Valinor in grief. With her departure, the Girdle of Melian, which had protected Doriath from attack, faded. Beren and Lúthien's son, Dior, was crowned King of Doriath. He likewise refused to surrender the jewel, and the brothers attacked Doriath and sacked the halls of the Sindar, committing the second kin-slaying. However, the Silmaril escaped the destruction of Doriath and the oath drove the sons onwards.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXII: "Of the Ruin of Doriath" Eventually, they learned that it it had come into the possession of Elwing, who dwelt near the mouths of Sirion. They attacked the and slaughtered the defenseless exiles of Gondolin and Doriath, committing the third and most terrible kin-slaying.The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV: "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath"
But the Silmaril escaped them again and was borne by Eärendil into the West. That Silmaril was forever lost to the sons of Fëanor but two more remained in the crown of Morgoth. With the complete destruction of the Elven kingdoms of Beleriand, it seemed impossible that these would ever see the light of day again. However, Eärendil convinced the Valar to take pity on the Elves and Edain under Morgoth's power, and initiated the War of Wrath. This war saw Morgoth's power utterly overthrown, and the two remaining Silmarils were wrested from him. However, most of the sons of Fëanor had been slain in battle, and no few of them during the kinslayings by their victims. The only brothers to survive the third and final kinslaying were Maedhros and Maglor. They demanded the Silmarils from Eönwë, the standard bearer of Manwë, but because of the wicked deeds they had committed in the name of retrieving it, they were denied. By now sick at heart of keeping the dreadful oath, neither particularly wanted anything more to do with the Silmarils, and Maglor openly opposed attempting to retrieve them. However, Maedhros convinced him to help him lay hands upon the jewels, claiming that because of the oath, they simply had no choice. They snuck in to the camp of the victorious Host of the West, slew the guard around the jewels, and retrieved them. The camp was roused against them, and they prepared themselves to die defending their claim. But Eönwë simply permitted them to leave unharmed. However, due to the terrible deeds committed by the brothers in their retrieval of the Silmarils they found they could not handle the Silmarils without enduring searing pain. The two brothers parted and in his anguish Maedhros threw himself and his Silmaril into a fiery chasm. Maglor on the other hand tossed his Silmaril into the sea and was said to wander the coast forever after lamenting his loss and pain.
==The Oath==
The Oath itself, as given in Morgoth's Ring, is as follows:
“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!" The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 10: Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Eed van Fëanor
Albanian 	Betimi i Fëanor
Amharic 	የፌኖር መሃላ
Arabic 	يَمِين فِيانور
Armenian 	Ֆաանորի երդումը
Assamese 	ফিন’ৰৰ শপত
Azerbaijani 	Fëanorın andı
Belarusian Cyrillic	Клятва ў Феанор
Bengali 	ফেরানোরএর শপথ
Bhojpuri 	फीनर के शपथ
Bosnian 	Zakletva Fëanor
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Клетва на Феанор
Catalan 	Jurament de Fèanor
Cebuano 	Panumpa sa Feanor
Chinese 	费诺誓言
Croatian 	Prisega Fëanor
Czech 	Fëanorova přísaha
Danish 	Fëanors ed
Dutch 	Eed van Fëanor
Esperanto 	Ĵuro de Fëanor
Finnish 	Fëanorin Vala
Esperanto 	Ĵuro de Feanor
Estonian 	Fëanori vanne
Filipino 	Panunumpa ng feanor
French 	Serment de Fëanor
Galician 	Xuramento de Fëanor
German 	Fëanors Eid
Greek 	Όρκος Φέανορ
Georgian 	ფეანორის ფიცი
Gujarati 	ફેનોરની શપથ
Hebrew 	שבועת פיאנור
Hindi 	फैनोर की शपथ
Hungarian 	Fëanor esküje
Icelandic 	Fëanor Eið
Italian 	Giuramento di Fëanor
Japanese 	フェアノールの誓言
Javanese 	Sumpah Feanor
Kannada 	ಫೀನರ್ ಅವರ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ
Kazakh 	Феорордың анты (Cyrillic) Feorordıñ antı (Latin)
Korean 	페아노르의 맹세
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Фэанордын ант
Latin 	Iusiurandum Fëanor
Latvian 	Zvērestu Fëanor
Lithuanian 	Priesaika Feanor
Macedonian Cyrillic	Заклетва на Феанор
Malayalam 	ഫെനോറിന്റെ സത്യപ്രതിജ്ഞ
Malaysian 	Sumpah Fëanor
Maltese 	Ġurament ta Fëanor
Marathi 	फेनॉरची शपथ
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Фэанор-ийн тангараг
Nepalese 	ॐअथ ओफ़ फ़नोरे
Norwegian 	Fëanors ed
Pashto 	د فینور قسم
Persian 	واته وف فهانور
Polish 	Przysięga synów Fëanora
Portuguese 	Juramento de Fëanor
Punjabi 	ਫੇਨੋਰ ਦੀ ਸਹੁੰ
Russian 	Клятва Феанора
Romanian 	Jurământul lui Fëanor
Sanskrit 	फीनोरस्य शपथः
Serbian 	Заклетва Фëанор (Cyrillic) Zakletva Fëanor (Latin)
Sinhalese 	ෆීනෝර්ගේ දිවුරුම
Slovak 	Prísaha Fëanor
Slovenian 	Prisega Fëanor
Spanish 	Juramento de Fëanor
Sundanese 	Sumpah Feanor
Swahili 	Kiapo cha feanor
Swedish 	Fëanors ed
Tajik Cyrillic 	Оатҳ оф Феанор
Tamil 	ஃபெனரின் உறுதிமொழி
Telugu 	ఫినోర్ ప్రమాణస్వీకారం
Thai 	คำสาบานของเฟอานอร์
Turkish 	Feanor'un yemini
Turkmen 	Feanoryň kasamy
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Присяга Феанора
Urdu 	فیناور کا ہالہف
Uzbek 	Феанорънин Қасамёди (Cyrillic) Feanor'nin Qasamyodi (Latin)
Welsh 	Llw o Fëanor
Yiddish 	ױאַטה אָף פֿעאַנאָר
==References==
Category:Oaths and prophecies
cs:Fëanorova přísaha
es:Juramento de Fëanor
it:Giuramento di Fëanor
pl:Przysięga Fëanora
ru:Клятва Феанора