In the Silmarillion, the Silmarils were described as being very powerful, holy jewels.
What form did this power take exactly?
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1Gathered all the displays of power in canon in my answer.– user8252Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 0:54
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1The simarils had the power to make you want them– Sam I am says Reinstate MonicaCommented Dec 21, 2012 at 17:52
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7 Answers
The Silmarils contained the combined blessings of the Valar, in addition to a significant part of Fëanor's strength.
Displays of power in canon:
- Helping Lúthien when she put Morgoth to sleep
- Breaking the Girdle of Melian
- Opening the path to Valinor
- Enhancing Dior's beauty beyond that of anyone in Middle-Earth
- Killing Lúthien
- Bringing prosperity to Doriath
The light of the Trees was no mere light, it was the physical manifestation of the blessing of the Valar upon the world, bringing beauty, knowledge and power.
Indirect manifestation in LotR:
- When Sam uses some of it via Galadriel: chasing a spawn of Ungoliant, breaking an invisible barrier.
Speculative powers:
It's widely believed by fans that each of the Silmarils are linked to one of the elements of Arda due to:
- Mandos saying that the Silmarils were linked to the Fate of Arda
- The Three rings of power being linked to the three elements
- And their eventual fate - one into the sky, one into the sea, one into lava.
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The Silmarils had no power in and of themselves. What was contained within them was the Light of the Two Trees, which had been killed by the spider Ungoliant at the behest of Melkor near the end of the First Age.
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Two Trees of Valinor are Telperion and Laurelin, the Silver Tree and the Gold that brought light to the Land of the Valar in ancient times. They were destroyed by Ungoliant at Melkor's behest, but their last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the Moon and the Sun.
Made by the Noldor, Fëanor, it was the light from the Two Trees that made them significant, no other construct could ever replicate the light from the Two Trees, once they died. The Sun and Moon were sung into existence from the last fruit of the two dying Trees.
What made them worthy of song were the struggles to claim them by all parties involved.
The Valar could have potentially returned the Two trees to life since the Silmarils contained their Light, but Fëanor refused to give them up.
Morgoth wanted them because they were the last, best creation of the First Age and holding the Light of the Two Trees was a treasure of incalculable wealth.
Fëanor's pride in the unmatched quality of his craftsmanship made him unable to part with what was arguably the most famous artifact ever made.
Even the combined skills and ability of all the Valar were unable to replicate their creation. Fëanor's work was unable to be duplicated. Thus the value of the Silmarils was their unique craftsmanship and the primal Light held within.
They would eventually burn Morgoth if he touched them unprotected as he became more corrupt in his nature. Morgoth would eventually lay claim to them and the War of the Valar would be to reclaim them.
answered Nov 20, 2012 at 23:42
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1They seem to have some powers. Morgoth's hands are burned when he touches them for example...– WOPRCommented Nov 20, 2012 at 23:57
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3That wasn't a power of the Silmarils; that was because "Varda hallowed the Silmarils so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean, nor anything of evil will might touch them, but it was scorched and withered." As for why Beren wasn't burned - well, I guess if it's Eru's design then Eru overrules Varda any day.– user8719Commented Nov 21, 2012 at 1:09
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1I'm still not convinced they had no intrinsic power cf "Of all the terrors that came ever into Beleriand ere Angband's fall the madness of Carcharoth was the most dreadful; for the power of the Silmaril was hidden within him."– WOPRCommented Nov 21, 2012 at 6:50
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8Think of Carcharoth as a mad dog whose insides were being burned away by the inherent holiness of the Silmaril. It did not make him more dangerous, except in the way an animal crazed with pain might be to us. It gave him no special abilities, only kept him enraged until he could be put down. Commented Nov 21, 2012 at 6:58
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2He may have simply been able to cross the Girdle of Melian because he was now so crazed with pain that the normal reasons for avoiding it were simply no longer applicable. The same reason a dog who is rabid might bite a beloved owner or a neighbor they have been friendly too their whole lives. Pain is a powerful motivator. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary. Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 19:02
Thaddeus has the right answer.
I will add, though, that power (especially magical power) is a very nebulous thing in Tolkien's world. Gandalf does a remarkable job (for a wizard) in using hardly any magic at all; he lights up his staff and makes fireworks. Galadriel, arguably the most powerful or second most powerful non-Ainur in the Third Age, doesn't really exhibit any powers (other than a little fortune-telling). But they both had power to stir people to do great deeds.
And so it was with many things like the Silmarils. They had Power, but they didn't have "powers". Power was an intangible, ethereal device in Tolkien's World (IMHO), and should not be taken too literally.
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2Who's the first most powerful non-Ainur in the third age, if not Galadriel?– vivaldi7Commented Dec 1, 2012 at 2:14
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4Elrond, Cirdan or Glorfindel could rank up there. Personally, I would put them Glorfindel (assuming he's the same Glorfindel that fought the Balrog), Galadriel, Elrond, Cirdan, Celeborn. Aragorn could possibly be in there before Celeborn, but then we get into what defines "power". Commented Dec 2, 2012 at 16:59
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8I agree with this answer so much it hurts :) I think magic in Middle Earth is intentionally nebulous. It is not described precisely; its boundaries aren't detailed as in a Dungeons & Dragons rulebook. This also applies to expressions such as "Darkness", "Shadow", etc; I think they are meant to be emotional terms, more than literal. Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 4:12
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It's nebulous, that doesn't mean that we know nothing. The silmarils are immensely powerful, with numerous displays of power in canon.– user8252Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 8:43
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3Excellent thoughts, that's also reflected in the Ring of Power itself, whose actual "power" seems rather nebulous throughout the trilogy, too.– TARSCommented Sep 15, 2014 at 22:15
First of all the power was in them to revive the Two Trees, if they were to be broken so the light would "return to its source" so to speak and second:
Then Elwing and the people of Sirion would not yield the jewel which Beren had won and Lúthien had worn, and for which Dior the fair was slain; and least of all while Eärendil their lord was on the sea, for it seemed to them that in the Silmaril lay the healing and the blessing that had come upon their houses and their ships. And so there came to pass the last and cruellest of the slayings of Elf by Elf; and that was the third of the great wrongs achieved by the accursed oath.
(The Silmarillion, Chapter 24, "Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath").
The light of Two Trees is in itself great power, each elf who have seen it is stronger and more powerful than others of his kind who do not:
The Noldor, outnumbered and taken at unawares, were yet swiftly victorious; for the light of Aman was not yet dimmed in their eyes, and they were strong and swift, and deadly in anger, and their swords were long and terrible. The Orcs fled before them, and they were driven forth from Mithrim with great slaughter, and hunted over the Mountains of Shadow into the great plain of Ard-galen, that lay northward of Dorthonion.
So maybe Silmarils could somehow enhance natural traits of beings who had them (sort of like the Rings of Power, but in their case through the holy light which the jewels contained), we know that Lúthien's beauty was increased (and I doubt that it was only the matter of stylish jewellery:)
But the wise have said that the flame of Lúthien wearing the necklace was so great that it was too bright for mortal lands.
This would also explain Carcharoth's passing through Girdle of Melian, also unstoppable rage caused by unbearable pain from holy light and enhancing native power, added significantly to his might, enough to fulfill the prophecy and kill Huan.
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Indeed. There is also a reference in Feanor's speech about the power of the jewels.– user8252Commented Dec 24, 2012 at 23:33
As far as I know, the "white star" Sam saw in Mordor was a Silmaril, and the sight of it made him feel hope, and caused him to become fearless enough to sleep.
Reading from the various examples across canon about the Silmaril, what I see closest describes their inherent power is the power of life and being itself. Vitality (which takes the form of physical strength, longevity, mental clarity and willpower). Having the Light of the Two Trees ingrained in your being makes you more "alive" and stronger in every way which a living being can be strong, be it mental, physical, or magical. Perhaps the Silmaril are simply crystallized ultra-adrenaline :)
Morgoth actually encouraged Ungoliant to suck the Two Trees dry and kill their light, so he didn't value that though they too had been hallowed.
Yet he desired the Silmarils with an unquenchable and jealous desire. Why?
Recall that before Ea was made, Melkor sought in vain "the Flame Imperishable, the Secret Fire", not realizing that it was Eru's alone.
Feanor had a skill of hand and mind that, as Gandalf avers, was "unimaginable" to the Ainur.
I suggest that Eru, for His inscrutable reasons, gave a touch of the Flame Imperishable to Feanor when He caused him to be created.
And that when Feanor imbued the Silmarils with some of his essence, he transferred this Flame to them. He therefore could no longer create their like.
This awoke in Morgoth his ancient longing from since before the World began.
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Can you provide any evidence for this theory? Or is it purely baseless head canon? Commented Nov 3, 2017 at 15:47