Maglor
| Names: | Maglor (Sindarized version of mother-name) | Macalaurë ("cleaver of gold") |
| Canafinwë (kana/o = "commanding") |
Division/race: Noldor Elf
Born during: Years of the Trees
Born in: Valinor
Died: N/A, final fate unknown
Family: House of Fëanor
Parents: Fëanor and Nerdanel
Grandparents: Finwë and Míriel
Siblings: elder brother Maedhros, younger brothers (in this order) Celegorm, Caranthir, Curufin, Amrod and Amras
Appearance: I think he was dark-haired.
Marital status: I vaguely remember from one of the HoMe volumes that he was married, but left his wife in Valinor.
Maglor was the second of seven sons born to Fëanor, greatest of the Noldor, and his wife Nerdanel. He is also the only one of Fëanor's line presumably still alive; all his brothers died in their quest to fulfill their Oath.
It is said that Maglor inherited more of his mother's gentle spirit than any of his brothers (I like to think Maedhros was second). He grew to be a great poet and minstrel, specializing in the harp (the sound of it was "golden", hence his prophetic mother-name of Macalaurë) and second to none but Daeron of Doriath. "[His] voice was heard far over land and sea", but his only mentioned work was, sadly, the Noldolantë - the Fall of the Noldor.
One can only imagine what he would have been like had he not sworn the Oath of Fëanor with his brothers and followed his father into exile. As it is, he returned to Middle-earth from Valinor bound by the Oath of his father to ever pursue any keeper of a Silmaril, be s/he friend or foe.
He partook in all three Kinslayings, saw his father die shortly after, watched his brothers follow one by one (or rather, three by two by one), and at last was persuaded by Maedhros to steal the finally-recovered Silmarils from the keeping of the Valar. The jewel, unable to withstand the evils they had committed, burned their hands unbearably. Maedhros cast himself into a chasm; Maglor cast the Silmaril into the Sea and from then on "wandered ever upon the shore, singing in pain and regret beside the waves", never returning to the people of the Elves. And here ends what Tolkien said of his sad fate.
From what I can tell, the Oath is what caused his moral degeneration. He is to me yet another victim of the wrong circumstances who would have led a perfectly normal and happy life if not for Fëanor's troubles (I pity his wife).
There is evidence from The Silmarillion that he was a good person who desired peace - such as when he adopted the "orphaned" sons of Eärendil and Elwing ("For Maglor took pity upon Elros and Elrond, and he cherished them, and love grew after between them, as little might be thought; but Maglor's heart was sick and weary with the burden of the dreadful oath.") and what he said to Maedhros in the end: "The oath says not that we may not be forgiven and forgot, and we shall come into our own in peace". Maglor is my second favourite son of Fëanor (after Maedhros), and I find it rather tragic that he ended up like this.