The tale is a long one, and one which, forgive me, is difficult to tell. In brief - when we were young, in Valinor long ago, my father found a way to capture the Light that was before Moon and Sun, the Light of the Two Trees, in crystalline structures. The resultant gems were, are, the most beautiful jewels in all the world, and their light was, is, alive. The Lady of the Stars herself blessed them and made them holy, that no evil thing would be able to suffer their touch. But... they were so lovely that the Enemy of our world desired them and... he came while we were at Festival, and slew the Trees from which the light sprang, and so we knew Darkness for the first time. When He came for the jewels... we ran... but Granfather defied him, and for that he was slain, and the Silmarils taken.
Father... went a little mad that day. He ... there had been tensions, family troubles, which I will not go into here, and being as that day was a Feast day, the Valar, the powers of the world, summoned him to make peace with his brother... and so... he was not there, when the Enemy came. He... blamed the Valar, for not stopping one of their own, for taking him from where he was needed, for allowing his father's death and the theft of his most priceless treasure. And... he swore an Oath. We... all did.
I will not repeat it here but suffice it to say... we swore by the highest power and called down the worst of fates, that we would reclaim the Silmarils, no matter who or what stood in our way. Such an oath is unbreakable, and will pursue oathtaker to world's end, for so we swore. And so we went to Middle-earth... and as was foretold on our leaving, our every path turned to evil.
Three times, we made war on our own people, and through loss after loss we strove against our Enemy and could not overcome. And in the end... when Maedhros and I laid our hands on them... our souls were so stained that they burnt us. And so we knew that in the end our very Oath had destroyed us and all our chances...
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The tale is a long one, and one which, forgive me, is difficult to tell. In brief - when we were young, in Valinor long ago, my father found a way to capture the Light that was before Moon and Sun, the Light of the Two Trees, in crystalline structures. The resultant gems were, are, the most beautiful jewels in all the world, and their light was, is, alive. The Lady of the Stars herself blessed them and made them holy, that no evil thing would be able to suffer their touch. But... they were so lovely that the Enemy of our world desired them and... he came while we were at Festival, and slew the Trees from which the light sprang, and so we knew Darkness for the first time. When He came for the jewels... we ran... but Granfather defied him, and for that he was slain, and the Silmarils taken.
Father... went a little mad that day. He ... there had been tensions, family troubles, which I will not go into here, and being as that day was a Feast day, the Valar, the powers of the world, summoned him to make peace with his brother... and so... he was not there, when the Enemy came. He... blamed the Valar, for not stopping one of their own, for taking him from where he was needed, for allowing his father's death and the theft of his most priceless treasure. And... he swore an Oath. We... all did.
I will not repeat it here but suffice it to say... we swore by the highest power and called down the worst of fates, that we would reclaim the Silmarils, no matter who or what stood in our way. Such an oath is unbreakable, and will pursue oathtaker to world's end, for so we swore. And so we went to Middle-earth... and as was foretold on our leaving, our every path turned to evil.
Three times, we made war on our own people, and through loss after loss we strove against our Enemy and could not overcome. And in the end... when Maedhros and I laid our hands on them... our souls were so stained that they burnt us. And so we knew that in the end our very Oath had destroyed us and all our chances...