Curufin
| Curufin | |
|---|---|
| Noldo | |
 | |
| "Curufin" by Elena Kukanova | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Other names | Curufinwë (Q, fn) Atarincë (Q, mn) Curufin the Crafty |
| Location | Tirion Formenos Himlad Nargothrond Himring Amon Ereb |
| Affiliation | Oath of Fëanor Union of Maedros |
| Language | Quenya Sindarin Khuzdul[1] |
| Birth | after Y.T. 1190 Tirion |
| Death | F.A. 507 Doriath |
| Family | |
| House | House of Fëanor |
| Parentage | Fëanor (father) Nerdanel (mother) |
| Siblings | Maedros (brother) Maglor (brother) Celegorm (brother) Caranthir (brother) Amros (brother) Amarthan (brother) |
| Spouse | Unknown wife |
| Children | Celebrimbor (son) |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Black |
| Weaponry | Angrist |
| Gallery | Images of Curufin |
- "‘Do not flaunt the title of your wife before me,’ Curufin said. ‘For those who steal the daughters of the Noldor and wed them without gift or leave do not gain kinship with their kin. I have given you leave to go. Take it, and be gone. By the laws of the Eldar I may not slay you at this time. And this counsel I add: return now to your dwelling in the darkness of Nan Elmoth; for my heart warns me that if you now pursue those who love you no more, never will you return thither.’"
- ― The Silmarillion, Of Maeglin
Curufin (S, pron. [ˈkurufin]) was a Noldorin prince, the fourth of the seven sons of Fëanor and Nerdanel. Curufin was Fëanor's favorite and much like him in appearance, temperament, and skill.[2] He was also the father of Celebrimbor, master jewel-smith of Eregion, who forged the three Elven Rings of Power.[3][4]
History
Arrival to Middle-earth
Curufin was born in Tirion during the Years of the Trees and he received the name Curufinwë (Q, pron. [ˌkuruˈfinwe]), same as his father. Because his father, uncles and brothers also all had father-names that ended with -finwë, Curufin was called Curvo (Q, pron. [ˈkurvo]) by his family. His mother-name was Atarincë (Q, pron. [ˌataˈriŋke]). While in Valinor, he married at some point, and had a son named Celebrimbor.[5] But Celebrimbor was unlike his father, and later on he came to dislike his deviousness and dealings with the other Noldor.
As with the other sons of Fëanor, Curufin bound himself by an oath to recover his father's Silmarils, which had been stolen by the Dark Lord Morgoth. The Oath took him and his 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.
Life in Beleriand
Curufin dwelt with his brother Celegorm in Himlad, a pass that led into the Kingdom of Doriath, which the two brothers fortified and held until the Dagor Bragollach.[6]
Curufin and Eöl
In the summer of 400, while the Dark Elf Eöl was attending a feast among the Dwarves of Nogrod, his wife Aredhel, and his son Maeglin, fled from Eöl's home at Nan Elmoth. However, Eöl returned to Nan Elmoth earlier than was expected and when he found out that his wife and son had fled he was wrathful and went forth in a pursuit after them. On his way, he was intercepted by Curufin and his men, who advised him to drop the pursuit, foreseeing his death if he would not do so.[7] Curufin gave him leave to go, but unbeknownst to Eöl Curufin's folk had already met Aredhel and Maeglin and helped them on their way to Gondolin, and provided them with horses, remembering Aredhel's old friendship with Celegorm and Curufin back in Valinor.[8]
Celegorm and Curufin in Nargothrond
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Following the Dagor Bragollach, the two brothers were defeated and had to flee with their people to Nargothrond, where their cousin Finrod welcomed them.[9]
Shortly after, Beren also came to Nargothrond to collect on an oath Finrod had made to his father Barahir. Finrod decided to help Beren, but Celegorm and Curufin, remembering their own oath, persuaded the people of Nargothrond not to follow him, and not to wage open war against Morgoth, making them fearful.[3]
Finrod therefore had to leave with a handful of warriors, including Beren, and later died. His nephew Arothir was made to rule in his stead.[3]
The Attack upon Beren
Later, Curufin and Celegorm went hunting with Celegorm's hound Huan and found Lúthien, daughter of Thingol, searching for Beren. Feigning to help her, they took her captive and brought her to Nargothrond, for Celegorm had become enamored and would have Thingol give him her hand. However Huan helped Lúthien to flee, and they freed Beren and other thralls from Sauron. As these thralls returned, the people of Nargothrond perceived the two brothers' treachery, and though Arothir would not let them be slain, he cast them out of Nargothrond.[3]
The two brothers met Lúthien and Beren as they fled, and Curufin fought with the latter. Defeated, he had to flee with Celegorm, but sought to slay Lúthien even as he did, and shot Beren instead. [3]
Because of Celegorm's and Curufin's evil deeds, Thingol and Arothir would not join the Union of Maedros against Morgoth.[10]
The Second Kinslaying
Curufin fell in the Second Kinslaying, when the sons of Fëanor attacked Doriath to seize a Silmaril in the possession of the King Dior the Beautiful. Celegorm and Caranthir died with him during the assault.[11]
Etymology
Curufin's father-name was Curufinwë ("Skillful [son of] Finwë"), the same father-name given to Fëanor. Because Curufin was Fëanor's favorite son, he chose to give him the same name. His mother-name was Atarincë ("Little Father"), chosen because of his physical resemblance to his father. The name Curufin is the Sindarin version of his father-name. It is stated in The Shibboleth of Fëanor that of all the sons of Fëanor only Curufin did not prefer to use his mother-name.[12]
Genealogy
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "X. Of Dwarves and Men", "Notes", p. 318 (note 7)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Beleriand and its Realms"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Maeglin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: III. Maeglin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Doriath"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XI. The Shibboleth of Fëanor"
