Amras

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Amras
Noldo
Biographical Information
Other names	fn Telufinwë (Q, fn); Ambarussa or Umbarto/Ambarto (Q, mn)
Location	Tirion
Affiliation	Oath of Fëanor
Language	Quenya
Birth	during Years of the Trees Tirion
Death	Y.O.T.T. 1497 Losgar
Family
House	House of Fëanor
Parentage	Fëanor & Nerdanel
Siblings	Maedhros, Maglor, Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin and Amrod (twin)
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Hair color	Red

Amras and his twin brother Amrod were the youngest sons of Fëanor. Through their mother Nerdanel they inherited red hair (probably a dark red), instead of Fëanor's black.

History

He joined his brothers in the Oath of Fëanor, but his mother Nerdanel begged that either he or Amrod be left behind, believing in her heart that one would not return. Fëanor, however, refused her this kindness, and paid for it. Amras was accidentally killed in the swan ships of the Teleri when his father ordered them to be burnt at Losgar. According to the Shibboleth, he claimed (to Amrod) to have felt uncomfortable sleeping on the ground after the Noldor landed on the Lammoth. It was thought later that he wished to return to his mother in the ship, being shocked by his father's deeds. Fëanor was probably aware of his dissention, and this may have been one of the elements of his decision to burn the ships even before all the food and stores had been got out. Yet he was in great dismay when he learned of his son's death, and doubtless remembered the foreboding words of his wife.

Other versions of the Legendarium

In the published The Silmarillion and in earlier texts he is said to have lived on to Beleriand and ruled with his twin Amrod over lands west of the Blue Mountains. Even in The Silmarillion his life, course and death happen alongside to his brother's and has not an individual role.

Etymology

Amras' father-name in Quenya was Telufinwë, "Last [of] Finwë", for he was the last of the sons of the House of Finwë and its short form was Telvo. His mother-name was originally Ambarussa ("Top-russet", referring to his hair), the same as his twin Amrod, but Fëanor insisted that the twins ought to have different names and Nerdanel prophetically called him Umbarto, "The Fated" (from umbar = "fate"). His father, disturbed by it, changed it to Ambarto, "Upwards-exalted" (from amba = "upwards, top" and arta = "exalted", "lofty"). Nevertheless both twins called each other Ambarussa.

The name Amras is the Sindarin version of Ambarussa.

In later notes found in The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien mentions that he wished to change the name to Amros because of linguistic issues. While this occured late in life, and there are no known manuscripts written later that contradict this, its canonicity is in dispute.

Genealogy

Names shown in italics are females.

Mahtan

Míriel

Finwë

Indis

Nerdanel

Fëanor

Findis

Fingolfin

Írimë

Finarfin

Maedhros

Maglor

Celegorm

Caranthir

Curufin

Amrod

AMRAS

Celebrimbor

Other Versions of the Legendarium

There is no trace of the death of Amras at Losgar in the published The Silmarillion, as it was a very late idea by Tolkien, omitted by Christopher Tolkien as he did not at the time see how it could be incorporated into the primary text of The Silmarillion. Where both Amrod and Amras are mentioned in the published text after the landing in Losgar, it should according to Tolkien's later wishes be Amrod alone. The information regarding Amras' naming, especially, comes from The Peoples of Middle-earth.

References

• The Silmarillion, Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië
• The Silmarillion, Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor
• The Silmarillion, Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor
• The Silmarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor
• The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor
• The Silmarillion, Of Beleriand and its Realms
• The Silmarillion, Of the Noldor in Beleriand
• The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
• The Silmarillion, Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad
• The Silmarillion, Of the Ruin of Doriath
• The Silmarillion, Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath
• The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, The Nauglafring
• The Shaping of Middle-earth, The Earliest Annals of Valinor
• The Shaping of Middle-earth, The Earliest Annals of Beleriand
• The Lost Road and Other Writings, The later Annals of Beleriand
• The Lost Road and Other Writings, The later Annals of Valinor
• The Lost Road and Other Writings, Quenta Silmarillion
• The Lost Road and Other Writings, The Etymologies
• Morgoth's Ring, The Annals of Aman
• Morgoth's Ring, The Later Quenta Silmarillion
• The War of the Jewels, The Grey Annals
• The War of the Jewels, The Later Quenta Silmarillion
• The Peoples of Middle-earth, The Shibboleth of Feanor

See Also

• Images of Amras