Celebrimbor: 30-Day Character Study by cloudyhymns

Day 7: Affiliations, Part One

Thoughts on Celebrimbor and Annatar repeating--or breaking--the ring structure they're in.

The obvious choice is Annatar. Therefore, I will not be considering Annatar here....or, I was not going to, until I realized that *not* exploring how Annatar uses Celebrimbor to repeat patterns would be a major oversight on my part.

All of Arda is Morgoth's Ring--and Silvergifting sure embody this! They're, in a way, a twisted circle, with Morgoth and Fëanor included.

• As Mairon was seduced by Melkor, so too is Celebrimbor seduced by Annatar
  • Both Mairon and Celebrimbor are almost solely defined by their work
        - In *The Silmarillion,* Mairon is only mentioned as one of Aulë's smiths, when he is mentioned at all (and not as Sauron or Annatar). He has no other recorded "life" in Aman, though I find it a little funny to consider if he had some hobby on the side.... knitting, maybe?
  •     - In *The Silmarillion,* *The History of Middle-Earth,* *The Nature of Middle-Earth*, and even *The Lord of the Rings*, Celebrimbor's work is what he is known for, with the exception of his separating from his father (Silm, 176) and him being one of the Teleri who followed Celeborn (NoME, 178). Besides his skill with *mithril,* his rule over the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, his Rings, and his contribution to the Doors of Durin, not much else is said about his life outside of smith-craft and parentage.
• Where Fëanor shut the door on Melkor, Celebrimbor lets Annatar in. Is this the right decision? While it opens the door to the One Ring and ultimately causes great destruction, it also opens the door to the Three, which heal.
  • Celebrimbor’s success has to come with his death, but in that, too, he closes out what Fëanor could not–instead of “If [the Silmarils] be broken, then broken will be my heart” (*Morgoth’s Ring*, 268), Celebrimbor gives his heart so that the Three remain unbroken.
  • Likewise, Celebrimbor does not repeat Fëanor's practice of refusing all aid and taking no counsel. He works with Annatar, to his destruction, but through their collaboration learns how to make the Three. At risk of repeating myself: unlike the Silmarils, which yield only destruction, the Three heal.

Therefore, through Annatar's use of Celebrimbor to repeat the original seduction, and Celebrimbor's taking in of Annatar (dividing him and his outcome from Fëanor's dismissal of Melkor), the lines of Before and After are distinguished yet closely tied. This is not a case of "history repeating itself," though--Celebrimbor's character is clear in that he strives to do the opposite of his forebearers in many ways, whether renouncing his father where Curufin became oath-bound to Fëanor or choosing to learn from others rather than isolate himself.

I'm sure there's more to investigate here. If I think of anything, I'll add it to the end; right now, I'm just wishing Celebrimbor and Annatar had more in-text references! I've already gone through them! Aargh!