Genre
Fantasy
Setting and Context
Middle-Earth, a fictional setting created by Tolkien.
Narrator and Point of View
Omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the book is dramatic and mythological.
Protagonist and Antagonist
One of the protagonists of this text is Feanor. The antagonist is Sauron or Melkor.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of this book is the attempt to restore Middle Earth to harmony and peace.
Climax
The climax is when Melkor steals the Silmarils.
Foreshadowing
This book foreshadows Tolkien's writings set later, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
Tolkien makes many religious and biblical allusions, including to divine creation.
Imagery
Tolkien uses beautiful imagery to describe Lúthien:
"There came a time near dawn on the eve of spring, and Lúthien danced upon a green hill, and suddenly she began to sing. Keen, heart-piercing was her song as the song of the lark that rises from the gates of night and pours its voice among the dying stars, seeing the sun behind the walls of the world."
Paradox
Paradoxically, the narrator suggests that joyful things have tragic sources:
“For if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomable at the foundations of the Earth.”
Parallelism
Melkor and Sauron are shown to have similarities, therefore meaning they are paralleled throughout the text. For example, they share destructive and controlling ambitions.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"Help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter."
Personification
N/A
