alia-andreth:

skyeventide:

lifeisyetfair:

skyeventide:

lifeisyetfair:

So English used to have the formal/informal you distinction, and “thou” was informal. Tolkien makes use of this in his books, whether it’s Fingolfin’s brotherly closeness (”Thou shalt lead and I will follow”) or Eowyn and Aragorn sharing a moment after her recovery and engagement (Aragorn’s ”I have wished thee joy ever since I met thee”) where he had previously used the formal “you” while she, in love and desperate to stop him from taking the Paths of the Dead, had used “thee” (”because they would not be parted from thee–because they love thee”). In general, Tolkien uses “thou” to show moments of high emotion and closeness.

But “thou” can also be fighting words, when used inappropriately. (Remember Shakespeare’s Tybalt telling Romeo “Thou art a villain”?)

Feanor’s confrontation with Melkor is a moment of emotion, but not closeness. Feanor uses the informal “thou” as an insult, showing how he looks down on Melkor, when he says, “Get thee gone from my gate, thou jail-crow of Mandos!” In case the point wasn’t clear enough, he proceeds to slam the door in the face of “the most powerful being in all Ea.”

Melkor must be furious. Feanor, a mere elf, not only refused him, but refused him rudely, showing even in his pronoun choice that he looked down on Melkor despite all Melkor’s power.

I’d make a point that Feanor never uses formal you when talking (I may be wrong but I don’t remember one instance, even in Tolkien’s extended lore), nor does anyone else. It’s still pretty poignant, however, that he would do it both to Melkor and, notably, to the Herald of Manwe (maaaybe Eonwe, but the name isn’t in the text.)

Then turning to the herald he cried: ‘Say this to Manwë
Súlimo, High King of Arda: if Fëanor cannot overthrow Morgoth, at least he delays not to assail him, and sits not
idle in grief. And it may be that Eru has set in me a fire
greater than thou knowest. Such hurt at the least will I do to
the Foe of the Valar that even the mighty in the Ring of
Doom shall wonder to hear it. Yea, in the end they shall
follow me. Farewell!‘ 

In that hour the voice of Fëanor grew so great and so
potent that even the herald of the Valar bowed before him
as one full-answered, and departed; and the Noldor were
over-ruled.

Here’s Feanor using the formal “you” even when angry:

But good point about the Herald of Manwe part!

Boy how could I forget the speech to Olwe of all things lol

But thank you for the reminder! Though I wonder if it isn’t a plural instead of formal?

Feanor, answering his door in the middle of the night, shirtless, unshaven, and holding a can of beer: Melkor, thou ain’t shit.