Guest Post by Connor Headrick, ENTP

The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien

Dominant Introverted Feeling (Fi): Feanor’s fiery commitment to his own values and desires above all else is his single most defining characteristic. His name means “Spirit of Fire,” and he consistently displays this fiery spirit by showing blazing passion, arrogance, and wrath. Like typical ISFPs, Feanor is idealistic and unswerving from his inner moral compass. However, Feanor’s ideals are not altruistic; they are self-centred and prideful. This unhealthy Fi turns him into a wrathful, violent ISFP in order to get what he wants.

The Silmarillion says that few ever persuaded Feanor by reason, and none by force. Feanor consistently refuses to listen to good advice, instead following his own desires. When he feels that his power is threatened, Feanor draws his sword and threatens the life of his half-brother, committing the first assault in Aman (the equivalent of Paradise). He becomes obsessed with the Silmarils, the magical gems he crafted. He refuses to sacrifice these gems, even though using the light of the gems is the only way to restore the light of the dying Trees that illuminated the world. When the villain Morgoth steals the Silmarils, Feanor gives an impassioned speech and persuades the rest of the elves to rebel against the benevolent Valar and leave the Undying Lands to take revenge on Morgoth. Feanor then leads his seven sons in swearing a rash oath that calls down everlasting darkness upon them if they ever stop pursuing the Silmarils. When the Teleri, the Sea Elves, refuse to let Feanor take their ships to follow Morgoth to Middle Earth, Feanor attacks his kindred, slaughters them, and takes the ships. And when Feanor realizes there aren’t enough ships to carry all of his followers to Middle Earth, he abandons thousands of elves in the freezing Northern regions and sails away without them. To make matters even worse, Feanor burns the ships once he lands in Middle Earth. Finally, his wrath drives him to forge his way ahead of his army during his first great battle in Middle Earth, and he is isolated and killed by Balrogs. As his spirit departed from his body, it was so powerful that his body disintegrated into ash.

Auxiliary Extroverted Sensing (Se): Feanor is incredibly gifted in creating objects with his hands. Feanor creates weapons and armour in his private forge. He is the first of all his kindred to discover how to create synthetic gems that are much brighter than natural jewels. And of course, he crafted the renowned Silmarils, magical gems that could not be destroyed naturally and that contained a holy light that burned all evil things. (One Silmaril eventually became a star, and the light of that star was in Frodo’s phial in Lord of the Rings.) It is also strongly hinted that Feanor crafted the Palantiri, the Seeing Stones that show up in the Lord of the Rings. Additionally, Feanor is a doer. When he inflames his people to wrath and convinces them to follow him, he makes a point to leave quickly before their tempers can cool. When the Teleri refuse to give him their ships, he charges ahead and boards the ships rather than weighing his options or drawing up a battle strategy. Again, rather than using critical thinking to solve the problem of not being able to get everyone across in the ships, he elects to take the most immediately obvious and fastest way of abandoning a large portion of his troops, not considering the future repercussions of such an action.

Tertiary Introverted Intuition (Ni): Feanor is gifted with foresight in some areas. For instance, he preserves some of the light of the Trees in his Silmarils before the Trees are destroyed. One of the Valar notes Feanor’s prescience in preserving some of the light. Also, when Feanor dies, he has a premonition that no force of elves will ever destroy the dark tower of Morgoth. Additionally, Feanor can perceive Morgoth’s desire for the Silmarils when Morgoth tries to manipulate Feanor years before he finally steals the jewels. Finally, Feanor also derives impressive creative ideas from within himself: he creates the Tengwar, the Elvish alphabet used throughout the Lord of the Rings. However, Ni is clearly not his strong suit because he consistently fails to consider the future consequences of his actions. He acts in the moment, in his emotions. Case in point: he leads his people OUT OF paradise, where there is safety and beauty all around, to a brutal land where his people will suffer and die in war against Morgoth for centuries.

Inferior Extroverted Thinking (Te): Feanor utilizes Te to achieve the goals dictated by his overpowering Fi. He realizes that he needs to convince the other elves to come with him if he wishes to have any chance of regaining the Silmarils, and he takes steps to make that a reality. He exercises leadership, guiding the elves in their exodus from the Undying Lands. He chooses the most seemingly efficient actions in seizing the ships and then abandoning some of his people. However, Feanor also fails in many logistical areas, such as failing to have any real tactics or strategy in any of the battles he fight or about retaking the Silmarils.

Author’s Note: Feanor most naturally seems like an ENTJ (because of his charismatic leadership and single-minded pursuit of his goal of retaking the Silmarils). However, I do not think he shows enough Te or Ni for those to be his Dominant and Auxiliary types. He consistently opts to just “do something” in the moment rather than thoughtfully considering the long-term effects or even the most efficient, practical way of action. Because he has such a prominent Fi and Se, I think the best option is to classify Feanor as an extremely unhealthy ISFP due to his Fi being self-serving, proud, and heedless of the needs of others.