The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion

by

J.R.R. Tolkien

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Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Unity vs. Division Theme Icon
Fate, Doom, and Free Will Theme Icon
Pride and Arrogance Theme Icon
Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession Theme Icon
Inevitable Loss Theme Icon
Myth and Memory Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silmarillion, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession Theme Icon

Greed and jealousy plague the world of Arda in The Silmarillion. The primary objects of greed and obsession in the First Age are the titular Silmarils, three jewels created by the elf Fëanor. Melkor, himself jealous of the other Valar, spreads greed and jealousy among the elves and men to sow discord, like when he suggests to Fëanor that the Valar want his Silmarils. Later, Fëanor becomes obsessively protective of the Silmarils, and eventually won’t let anyone else see them, though they’re made of the sacred light of the Trees of Valinor, a communal resource. When Melkor steals them, Fëanor and his sons swear an oath to retrieve them at any cost, leading to hundreds of years of war and betrayal in Middle-earth. Ultimately, the Valar Mandos places a curse on Fëanor and his followers that subverts all their efforts, preventing them from recovering the Silmarils and giving all their endeavors an “evil end.” Beyond the Silmarils, conflicts arise from jealousy and obsession over power, love, land, and immortality. Greed spreads and corrupts; those with power long to keep it. Through its portrayal of greed in Arda, The Silmarillion emphasizes that, when what should be shared—such as light, beauty, and power—is instead hoarded, evil and corruption result.

Though the Silmarils contain the light of the Trees of Valinor, meant for all the elves and Valar to enjoy, they become the subjects of obsessive greed—resulting in conflict that doesn’t end until two Silmarils are lost and one is removed from Middle-earth. Envious of Fëanor, Melkor kills Fëanor’s father Finwe and steals the Silmarils. The monstrous creature Ungoliant, in turn, wishes to consume their light and tries to kill Melkor to take them. Fëanor and his seven sons, possessive and obsessed, swear an oath to take the Silmarils by force from anyone who tries to keep them, and Fëanor is quickly killed trying to reclaim them from Melkor. Nearly anyone who expresses even a passing desire for the Silmarils, like Thingol, is pulled into the conflict and consumed by greed. By giving Beren the task of bringing him a Silmaril from Melkor’s crown to win Lúthien’s hand, Thingol involves himself in the conflict and becomes obsessed with the Silmaril, carrying it day and night. A group of dwarves murders Thingol, steals the Silmaril, and lays waste to his kingdom. When his grandson, Dior, reclaims it, Fëanor’s sons attack and kill him. Elwing, Dior’s daughter, escapes with the Silmaril, and Fëanor’s sons hunt her down as well, attacking and killing their fellow elves for the third time in pursuit of the Silmarils. Hindered by Mandos’s curse and the powerful greed the Silmarils incur, Fëanor’s sons never succeed in claiming Beren’s Silmaril. The Silmarils are sought after and fought over like no other resource in Middle-earth; they aren’t cursed, but Fëanor’s obsession with them spreads like a sickness among the elves.

Greed in other forms similarly leads to chaos, violence, and corruption in Middle-earth. Eöl, possessive of his family, abuses and eventually kills his wife Aredhel and curses their son Maeglin before his own execution. Maeglin, in turn, is corrupted by the same greed as his father. Jealous when his own love, Idril, marries another, he betrays the hidden city of Gondolin to Melkor in exchange for power and Idril’s hand. Gondolin, the last real stronghold against Melkor, falls, and many elves die, including Maeglin. The island of Númenor, greedy for power and the ultimate potential of immortality (though it’s impossible for men), invades Middle-earth, alienates its own people, and eventually attempts to overthrow the Valar. Númenor gains nothing from its greed but its own swift destruction. Melkor and Sauron both hoard power jealously, planning to rule and enslave the people of Middle-earth and inciting centuries of war. Much of Melkor’s cruelty is motivated by “envy”—envy toward Ilúvatar who is able to create life, envy toward the Valar who are happy and beautiful, and envy toward the elves and men for whom the world was created. Once among the people of Middle-earth, he whispers in their ears, spreading his jealousy, greed, suspicion, and discontent to others.

Greed and obsession in The Silmarillion corrupt, not only causing destruction, but also spreading to others.  Once caught, they’re difficult to overcome. The bloody conflict over the Silmarils ends only when the remaining sons of Fëanor, Maedhros and Maglor, are forced to realize they have no claim on the two Silmarils from Melkor’s crown. Maglor is glad to see the third Silmaril sailing through the sky as a star, safe from conflict and visible for everyone to enjoy. He recognizes it for what it is: light and beauty meant to be shared rather than hidden. Still, he and Maedhros are unavoidably caught in the violence their own greed has created, Maedhros taking his life and Maglor wandering Middle-earth in regret. They, like Fëanor, Melkor, Sauron, and others, tried to keep at any cost what should be shared, bringing evil upon themselves and others.

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Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession Quotes in The Silmarillion

Below you will find the important quotes in The Silmarillion related to the theme of Greed, Jealousy, and Obsession.
Ainulindalë Quotes

But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren.

Some of these thoughts he now wove into his music, and straightway discord rose about him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first.

Related Characters: Ilúvatar, Melkor/Morgoth
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

Yet this is held true by the wise of Eressëa, that all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes. For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar; and naught that had life of its own, nor the semblance of life, could ever Melkor make since his rebellion in the Ainulindalë before the Beginning: so say the wise.

Related Characters: Ilúvatar, Melkor/Morgoth
Page Number: 50
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Thus ere the Valar were aware, the peace of Valinor was poisoned. The Noldor began to murmur against them, and many became filled with pride, forgetting how much of what they had and knew came to them in gift from the Valar. Fiercest burned the new flame of desire for freedom and wider realms in the eager heart of Fëanor; and Melkor laughed in his secrecy, for to that mark his lies had been addressed, hating Fëanor above all, and lusting ever for the Silmarils. But these he was not suffered to approach […] for Fëanor began to love the Silmarils with a greedy love, and grudged the sight of them to all save to his father and his seven sons; he seldom remembered now that the light within them was not his own.

Related Characters: Melkor/Morgoth, Fëanor, Finwë
Related Symbols: The Silmarils, Light
Page Number: 68-69
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

Then perforce Morgoth surrendered to her the gems that he bore with him, one by one and grudgingly; and she devoured them, and their beauty perished from the world. Huger and darker yet grew Ungoliant, but her lust was unsated. ‘With one hand thou givest,’ she said; ‘with the left only. Open thy right hand.’

In his right hand Morgoth held close the Silmarils, and though they were locked in a crystal casket, they had begun to burn him, and his hand was clenched in pain; but he would not open it. ‘Nay!’ he said. ‘Thou has had thy due. For with my power that I put into thee thy work was accomplished. I need thee no more. These things thou shalt not have, nor see. I name them unto myself for ever.’

Related Characters: Melkor/Morgoth (speaker), Ungoliant (speaker), Fëanor
Related Symbols: The Silmarils, Darkness , Light
Page Number: 80
Explanation and Analysis:

Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Dispossessed shall they be for ever.

Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have stained the land of Aman. For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Aman ye shall dwell in Death’s shadow. For though Eru appointed you to die not in Eä, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain he shall be: by weapon and by torment and by grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos.

Related Characters: Námo/Mandos (speaker), Ilúvatar, Fëanor
Related Symbols: The Silmarils, Darkness
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

But at that last word of Fëanor: that at the least the Noldor should do deeds to live in song for ever, he raised his head, as one that hears a voice far off, and he said: ‘So shall it be! Dear-bought those songs shall be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Eä, and evil yet be good to have been.’

But Mandos said: ‘And yet remain evil. To me shall Fëanor come soon.’

Related Characters: Manwë (speaker), Námo/Mandos (speaker), Ilúvatar, Fëanor
Related Symbols: The Silmarils
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Then Morgoth looking upon her beauty conceived in his thought an evil lust, and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart since he fled from Valinor. Thus he was beguiled by his own malice, for he watched her, leaving her free for a while, and taking secret pleasure in his thought. Then suddenly she eluded his sight, and out of the shadows began a song of such surpassing loveliness, and of such blinding power, that he listened perforce; and a blindness came upon him, as his eyes roamed to and fro, seeking her.

Related Characters: Melkor/Morgoth, Sauron, Lúthien, Beren, Finrod Felagund, Melian
Related Symbols: Darkness , The Silmarils
Page Number: 180
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

But Thingol perceived their hearts, and saw well that desiring the Silmaril they sought but a pretext and fair cloak of their true intent; and in his wrath and pride he gave no heed to his peril but spoke to them in scorn, saying: ‘How do ye of uncouth race dare to demand aught of me, Elu Thingol, Lord of Beleriand, whole life began by the waters of Cuiviénen years uncounted ere the fathers of the stunted people awoke?’

Then the lust of the Dwarves was kindled to rage by the words of the King; and they rose up about him, and laid hands on him, and slew him as he stood.

Related Characters: Elwë/Thingol (speaker), Melkor/Morgoth, Lúthien, Beren
Related Symbols: The Silmarils
Page Number: 233
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

‘If it be truly the Silmaril which we saw cast into the sea that rises again by the power of the Valar, then let us be glad; for its glory is seen now by many, and is yet secure from all evil.’ Then the Elves looked up, and despaired no longer; but Morgoth was filled with doubt.

Related Characters: Maglor (speaker), Melkor/Morgoth, Fëanor, Eärendil, Elwing, Maedhros
Related Symbols: The Silmarils, Light
Page Number: 250
Explanation and Analysis:

But the jewel burned the hand of Maedhros in pain unbearable; and he perceived that it was as Eönwë had said, and that his right thereto had become void, and that the oath was vain. And being in anguish and despair he cast himself into a gaping chasm filled with fire, and so ended; and the Silmaril that he bore was taken into the bosom of the Earth.

Related Characters: Maedhros, Maglor, Eönwë
Related Symbols: The Silmarils
Page Number: 254
Explanation and Analysis:

Yet the lies that Melkor […] sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.

Related Characters: Melkor/Morgoth
Related Symbols: Darkness
Page Number: 255
Explanation and Analysis: