The word Craftsman can mean many things. Creating a product with any existing material is called Craftsman. So, craftsmanship. Craftsmanship is perhaps one of Arda’s most essential professions because, in a materialist world, producing an object that no one else has automatically separates you from the general public. What makes you different is what will put your name in the history books.
All the names I will mention below, the most important craftsmen and names of the universe, have been circulating through the ages thanks to the objects they produce. But I chose this article because the famous objects created by the following names are directly or indirectly included in the series we watch or will affect the series somehow. So that’s why I would like to briefly discuss these craftsmen and the objects they created.
Aulë
If we talk about production, blacksmithing, and craftsmanship, the first person we should speak to is Vala Aule. Aule, one of the 14 Vala who came to Arda, was a master and unintentionally inspired many problems to be experienced in Arda. Aule is the one who taught Melkor blacksmithing. Despite his jealousy, Melkor learned a lot from him, adding his own knowledge and dark vision to use against them in the future. Likewise, Feanor learned a lot from Aule. He also developed the Silmarils that would build on what he knew and mess up the first age in the future.
However, there is one feature that distinguishes Aule from the others. Aule is the father of the dwarves. Desiring to follow in his father’s footsteps, Eru, and become like him, Aule creates dwarves hidden from everyone. But the “things” he made had no soul. Aule could not give life. No one but Eru had the right to create. But it had happened. What Aule had done went to Eru’s ear. Asking him why he did it, Eru then gave life to all the dwarves. But he told him to hide them, that they would wake up when the time came. But he specifically stated that your children and mine have a different place. “This is my children’s world; the rest are guests,” he said. Thus, after the Elves, the dwarves took their place in Arda and began waiting for the day they would awaken.
Feanor
Feanor was the fierce, rebellious, and skilled Craftsman of the Noldor. He had many features that set him apart from others. But the most important was his skill in crafting. Because this talent in craftsmanship would open up a lot of trouble for Arda. It would confuse not only him but all the Elven kind and middle-earth.
It is said that when Feanor saw Galadriel’s hair, he was fascinated and asked her to give him a strand. However, Galadriel refuses. Impressed by it, Feanor places the light of the trees illuminating Aman into the 3 crystals. He calls these crystal stones Silmarils. These stones created by Feanor become the cause of the bitter war that will continue for an age in the future. Years later, Melkor would come to Aman with Ungoliant, and after killing the trees of Valinor, he would go to Fermanos and kill Feanor’s father, Finwe, and then flee with the Silmarils. Feanor, who found his father dead and saw the Silmarils stolen, was also to give Melkor his new name, Morgoth, and would take all the Noldor with him to Middle-earth. Nearly all the Elves that exist today in the second age and that we will encounter are actually Elves who followed Feanor or Fingolfin.
Feanor may also be the creator of the 7 Palantiri. It is thought that he did it, as Feanor was the only one capable of making the Palantiri, which is known to have been made by the Noldor during the time of the trees of Valinor. We also saw one of Feanor’s Palantir’s in the series.
Telchar
Around the Blue Mountains in the first age, there were 2 dwarven cities: Nogrod and Belegost. The dwarves of these two cities were also the architects of the most important works of the first age. It was these dwarves who built Menegroth for Thingol, king of Doriath. The Elves of Belegost were also the people who made king Azaghal’s helm. That helm would then reach as far as Turin.
But the Nogrod elves have a more significant influence on the age. The Noldor dwarves were the architects not only of Menegroth but also of Norgothrond, Finrod’s city. When Finrod rewards them with the jewels he brought from Aman, the dwarves, in return gave the necklace Nauglamir, which would later be the cause of Doriath’s fall.
Telchar was one of the Nogrod dwarves. He was considered one of the most talented workers of Arda. He was the creator of two famous sharp weapons: Angrist and Narsil. The Angrist was the blade Beren used to rip the Silmarils from Melkor’s crown. The blade was so sharp that it broke as Beren tried to extract the second Silmaril; it ricocheted and cut Melkor’s cheek.
Narsil is the sword given to Aragorn, whom we all know in Lord of the Rings, in The Return of the King. The famous sword that managed to snatch Sauron’s ring from his hand. Narsil was forged by Telchar in the first age and then traveled from hand to hand, eventually reaching Aragorn. In the original text, Narsil is located in Andunie, in the westernmost part of Numenor, but in the series, we encounter the sword in Miriel’s tower.
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor, played by Charles Edwards in the question-marked series of Amazon, can be said to be the occasion of the Lord of the Rings story. At the movie’s beginning, this man is the protagonist in the story of the forging of the rings, which Galadriel tells in her secluded voice. Like every master, he is one of the names who add his vision to what he learned from another master. His master, not even a master, is the one who gave his tips: Sauron.
But Celebrimbor did not know that it was Sauron. Sauron had come to Eregion in the form of Annatar to overthrow the Elves, trying to steal everyone’s hearts by handing out beautiful gifts. But he could not steal Celebrimbor’s heart. Because he didn’t trust him. He was right to distrust. But he could not resist his hunger for knowledge. He couldn’t say no to what Annatar would show him, especially considering he was a Noldor Elf.
Thus, Celebrimbor began forging rings that would become a legend in the future, stirring up Middle-earth, making the dwarves even more greedy, and turning humans into slaves. Already the main story of the series, the forging of the rings. For this reason, we will be guests of Celebrimbor, the most talented master of the land, at that time.
Sauron
Although we have always known Sauron as the dark Lord of middle earth, he was actually a very talented craftsman. As much as we love the one-ring part of the story, we always miss that he has the ability to forge that ring. He was also a disciple of Vala Aule and had a similar technique to his other master, Melkor. It is not possible to count the products produced in order. For example, Grond, the mace used by him to scatter elven and human army, actually belongs to Melkor. I wanted to add it so as not to confuse you. But we know that Sauron was one of the most essential blacksmiths of the universe. So much so that he managed to forge a ring that had the power to rule all rings and corrupt those who wore it.
Eöl
Eöl was an elf who disliked his kind. They called him Dark Elf. Tired of his days in Doriath, he left and settled in the forest of Nan Elmoth, where the light could not even reach the ground. By King Thingol’s permission, he had become its Lord. But everything had a price. Eöl had succeeded in processing a shiny dark metal called Galvorn, in other words, a meteoroid. Knowing the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost, he had learned much from them. He made 2 swords from this black metal. One was named Anglachel; the other was called Anguirel. He gave the Anglachel to King Thingol for thanks and retribution. Anglachel, later named Guthrang, was destined to somehow meet with Turin, eventually causing the death of Glaurung, the father of dragons who had marked the first age. Anguirel was later stolen by Eöl’s son, Maeglin. Of course, we don’t know if the black sword we see in the series, which is broken and complementation with blood, can be connected to Eöl. I’d say it’s a very distant guess. However, it would not be surprising to bring a black sword in a drama where everything is mixed up.
Sources and Further Information
- Tolkien, J.R.R & Tolkien, Christopher. “The Silmarillion,” Houghton Mifflin Company (2004)
- Tolkien, J.R.R & İpek, Çiğdem Erkal “Translator”. “Yüzüklerin Efendisi,” Metis Yayınları (2007)
- Tolkien, J.R.R & Tolkien, Christopher. “The Children of Húrin,” HarperCollins (2007)
- Tolkien, J.R.R & Tolkien, Christopher. “Beren and Lúthien,” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2017)
- Tolkien, J.R.R & Tolkien, Christopher. “The Fall of Gondolin,” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2018)
- Orta Dünya – Legendarium Türkiye, YouTube
- Yüzüklerin Efendisi – Orta Dünya, YouTube
- Nerd of the Rings, YouTube